Nine lives of Snowball

By Jade Lawton
SNOWBALL is one determined
cat.
Proud owner Faye Prins, of Narre
Warren, reckons her feisty feline
walked home from Pakenham, after
accidentally hitching a ride in her
son’s ute.
The ‘Homeward Bound’ style
adventure began about a month ago,
when Ms Prins noticed her beloved
Snowball was missing.
“We could not work it out at all –
she usually doesn’t go past the front
letterbox,” Ms Prins said.
“We printed out 500 flyers,
offered a $500 reward, put the
posters up around Pakenham and
Narre Warren and walked every
morning looking for her.
“The only thing we could figure
out is that she must have got in my
son Darren’s ute, and got under the
spare tyre. She likes to go under
there but usually she gets out.”
Darren’s first stop, and opportu
nity for Snowball to escape, was at
Bunnings.
With hundreds of posters paper
ing Pakenham, it wasn’t long before
Ms Prins started receiving reports
of Snowball sightings.
While some callers reported see
ing other cats, at least one Pakenham
resident commented on a distinctive
spot on top of the tortoiseshell’s
head, confirming the identity of the
missing moggy.
Ms Prins said Snowball, who is
microchipped, was later sighted in
Officer.
With Snowball’s brother Monty
pining at home, the family did not
give up hope that they would be
reunited with the wayward puss.
Then on Easter Sunday, Ms Prins
woke to loud noises.
“I woke up at 2.30am and all I
could hear was this screeching at the
front door,” she said.
“It though it was a cat on heat or
cats fighting … I turned on the porch
light and there was Snowball. As
soon as I opened the door she
grabbed onto me.”
Ms Prins said Snowball was a bit
tired and a bit hungry, but otherwise
in good health.
It’s not the first time Snowball has
cheated death – two years ago Dar
ren plucked the kitten from a river,
after her litter was left to drown.
Snowball is now more clingy than
usual and does not like Ms Prins
leaving her sight.
Ms Prins contacted the Gazette
with her ‘tail’ of hope after reading
last week that several cats had gone
missing in Pakenham.
“It’s incredible. I mean you hear
about dogs coming home, but not
really cats,” she said.