TUSCUMBIA — Haley Nichols has always been an animal lover, but until recently didn’t know just how deep her 2-year-old cat’s allegiance was to her.

“Baby Cat,” a black cat with a white star on her chest, was always a good companion but, as is characteristic of most cats, was fiercely independent and just a bit contrary.

When two kittens were born, Nichols, a single mom of two children, was unable to care for the three animals, primarily because her apartment complex required a $100 pet fee.

“I just couldn’t pay it, and couldn’t do everything for them I needed to,” Nichols said. “I loved them, but I had to let them go.”

Nearly two months ago, the local Pets Are Worth Saving (PAWS) group heard of Haley’s plight and got involved. PAWS member Tambra Howard left a note on Nichols’ door that she could help.

Nichols knew Howard, who’d been her art teacher years earlier in school.

She took up Howard on the offer for help. Howard collected the three cats and the organization vaccinated the animals and found a good home for them, several miles away in a mountainous area of Spring Valley. The cats had a loving family and barn in which to romp and play.

But that apparently wasn’t enough for Baby Cat. She disappeared from her new home.

Weeks passed.

In the meantime, Nichols, 29, learned she had stage three cervical cancer.

“I was in shock, you know, I’m only 29,” she said. “It was all I could think about, especially with two babies to care for, ages 2 and 6.”

Her doctor performed what she dubbed a radical hysterectomy last week, and Haley is cancer free, but radiation will be required as soon as Haley heals from the surgery.

Haley returned home from the hospital Friday night, sore and a bit dejected about the circumstances in her life.

“I was telling my fiance that night how depressing my recovery will be because I’ll be all alone, with the baby in day care (because Haley can’t lift) and my older child in school,” she said. “I was really pretty down about it all.”

She awoke Saturday morning and slowly began to stir.

Then she noticed something outside the window.

It was Baby Cat waiting to come in.

“I couldn’t believe it was her,” she said. “But it was. She had the same white star on her chest and it was definitely Baby Cat’s meow, more like a whiny little song.”

PAWS officials figure Baby Cat had been on the road to home for about four weeks.

The kittens weren’t with her.

Howard said Baby Cat is proof that “there’s more going on in those little brains than people credit them with.”

“It’s like (Baby Cat) knew she had to get back to Haley,” Howard said. “We knew at that point that this cat just had to stay with her. It was just meant to be.”

Nichols said Baby Cat is different since coming home.

“She stays right with me, never leaves my side,” Nichols said. “She hates water, but even wills herself to go in the bathroom while I’m showering. When I take her outside, she comes right back in, and before, I’d have to haul her back in. Before, she didn’t like to be held, and now, she wants to be right by me, usually laying her head right on my stomach. She really is the perfect companion for me, a real blessing.”

Nichols said Baby Cat may just be repaying her.

“When she was a baby, I bottle fed her because she was so tiny,” she said. “And now, when I need her, she found her way back to me.”