Lady with a Fur Coat was found as a stray in Madison, Wisconsin, in early December and was sent to the Dane County Humane Society right away. As soon as she arrived, everyone at the shelter could tell she was in pain and started trying to find out how to help her.

“Our specialists gave her a full examination and determined that she had chronic ear infections and hematomas in both ears,” Ash Collins, a donor relations specialist at the Dane County Humane Society, told The Dodo.

Because of her pain, it was decided that removing Lady’s ear flaps was the best option. As she recovered from her operation, she remained at the veterinarian’s office, where she was given regular attention and love. As her pain decreased and she started to hear a little better, the gorgeous cat came out of her shell more and more each day, and once she was back at the shelter, everyone there fell head over heels for the earless cat, too.

“Lady is such a sweet kitten,” Collins added. “She likes hugging and giving head rubs, and our staff and volunteers loved spending time with her while she was recovering.”

Lady’s new shelter friends were worried that her lack of ears might scare prospective adopters away after she had completely recovered and was ready to find her forever home. Of course, Lady is equally gorgeous without her ears, but when Collins wondered whether anybody else would notice, she had the sweetest idea.

“I decided to utilize my crochet skills to help her stand out with a stunning purple ear bonnet since we were afraid that her adoption procedure could be delayed because she looked a bit strange,” Collins added.

Collins lovingly put Lady’s new ears on her head and took a few photos, and the reactions they got from the rest of the world were fantastic.

“Our staff and volunteers thought she looked fantastic with her new ears, and we’ve had a lot of positive response from our fans,” Collins said. “Lady was adopted the same day she was placed up for adoption thanks to her photograph on Facebook with her crocheted ears!”

Lady was so cute in her photos, both with and without her new ears, that she was adopted right away, and she is now settled into her new permanent home. She’s already doing so well, and everyone is pleased that the eccentric cat has finally had her happily ever after.

“I was delighted to play a little part in Lady’s second chance,” Collins said.