A miraculous rescue
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
When Elizabeth Beach resident, Lenece Pek hadn’t seen her cat, Bubbles for 11 days, she feared the worst.
“I came home from work one day and Bubbs was missing,” Lenece explained.
“A frantic search found no trace.
“We alerted the neighbours, no one had seen or heard anything, and I contacted all of the Forster and Tuncurry vets, National Park rangers and put a notice on the local radio.
“I was distraught. She’s 18 and a half years, old, that's 130 in cat years, and on top of that she’s deaf.”
I am so grateful to the Green Point Fire Brigade and would like to publicly acknowledge their contribution to the community in all ways.
- Lenece Pek
More than a week passed, and Lenece admitted she had given up hope.
Then, a miracle.
Lenece was on her way to Wollongong for a funeral when she received the call she believed would never come, Bubbles was alive!
“She had been found, trapped in a drain for 11 days with no food or water, and freezing cold nights,” Lenece said.
“The Green Point Fire Brigade was called, they managed to get the drain open, and my neighbour, Jenny crawled down into the drain to rescue Bubbles.
“Thank goodness it hadn’t rained!”
Lenece returned home to find Bubbles a little worse for wear from her adventure, but safe and sound nonetheless.
“She was cowering in fright, dirty and smelly, like a little drain rat,” she said.
“I still let her sleep in my bed, then I washed all the bedding, washed her face, cleaned her up. She is back to her sweet self, but now only weighs two kilos, before she was three, and her spine is protruding through her back,” Lenece said.
“I am so grateful to the Green Point Fire Brigade and would like to publicly acknowledge their contribution to the community in all ways.”
A once in a lifetime friend
“Bubbles is the brightest, smartest, most loving little soul I have ever met,” Lenece explains.
“She was given to me for Christmas in 1999, a little scrap who would change my life.
“After staring at me, somewhat disconcertingly, for the first few days, she latched onto me, and Bubbles and I have now been besotted with each other for an incredible 18 and a half years.
“She used to go everywhere in the car with me, she would sit on the rear parcel shelf, the following cars would be agog. Eventually I had to ban her from the car, she started using the lights and horn.
“One day at home, Bubbles called me a few times, but I was busy so I ignored her. She has learned a few words over her time, and she then said, “Mum, ARRGGHH!!!”
“That got my attention so I followed her, and there was a huge red bellied snake in the garden. She had invented a word to convey the horror she felt. Such use of language from a little cat who cannot even hear!
“We bought a little toy piano for a grandson, and Bubbles woke us all up in the middle of the night, she was sitting there playing the piano. She could not hear it, but she liked the flashing coloured lights.
“When she can’t sleep at night she turns the TV on with the remote, and changes channels too, she likes football. If I don’t want to be woken up at night I have to put the remote under my pillow.
“These days Bubbs is so old, equivalent to 130 years.
“She still wakes me up by smothering me in kisses, and we still share a yogurt after dinner, I have the first half, she has the second. Her favourite flavour is vanilla, but she doesn’t mind berry either.”