One night during the wild March rainstorms, Daddy Boy didn't come home.

The gray and white tabby, a beloved pet of the Heininger family in Hawai'i Kai, was the most reliable of the outside cats. Others would come and go, but Daddy Boy was always there at the back door.

The cat got his name because of the number of neighborhood kittens who bore a striking resemblance to him. Daddy Boy was mostly an aloof drop-in visitor until he showed up one day a few years ago with injuries. The family took him to the vet where he got fixed up and "fixed." During his recuperation, he bonded with the Heininger family. Turns out he was a real sweetie under that bruiser persona. He made their house his permanent home ever since.

"You could count on his chubby face in the driveway when you got home," said Jodi Heininger.

But one rainy night, when the kids were doing a regular cat-check to towel dry anyone who showed up at the door, Daddy Boy was conspicuous by his absence.

Keith Heininger checked with the Humane Society. Jodi posted Daddy Boy's picture online on The Advertiser's Pet Project page. They eyed the storm drain fronting the house. Sometimes, the neighborhood cats went in there. They feared the worst.

"We had a terrible feeling that he had been in there and maybe got swept down it," Jodi said. "Still, being optimistic, my husband went down to the marina hoping that he was a strong enough cat to weather the ride."

But there was no sign of Daddy Boy.

Two weeks passed. Then, the day before Easter, the cat came back. Jodi's 6-year-old daughter 'Eleu spotted him first and yelled, "It's Daddy Boy!" Jodi said it was the best Easter their family ever had.

"I swept him up, dirty and stinky, and we all hugged and kissed him," Jodi said. "But he could only walk for about 3 feet at a time before falling down and his leg did not look like a cat leg should look."

Dinner was abandoned as the family made a trip to a 24-hour animal hospital.

"They took some X-rays and determined that he had broken his pelvis on 2 sides and broken his ankle so it was turned outward."

Finding a surgeon to fix Daddy Boy's injuries took some work and some waiting. Finally, a Kahala veterinary surgeon agreed to take the case.

Daddy Boy was operated on last week. It took 4 1/2 hours to try to correct the pelvis injuries, then the reconstructive work moved on to Daddy Boy's foot. The injuries were complicated by the amount of time it took for Daddy Boy to get back home. Scar tissue had started to form.

Said Jodi: "The doctors who have seen him were all pretty amazed because his injuries were 'old.' If he did take that storm drain ride and it battered him back in early April, he spent the next couple of weeks making his way back home on his broken and battered body. It would make sense, then, that his injuries were not fresh."

Daddy Boy is now home from the animal hospital. The family has instructions for rehabbing his legs, and will give him physical therapy at home to restore range of motion and strength to his limbs. The Heininger's downstairs bathroom has been transformed to "kitty ICU" and Daddy Boy is being a very good patient.

"He tries hard. He's walking around. He's awesome. He's such a loveable cat," Jodi says.

One estimate has surgery costing the family several thousand dollars. But the Heiningers marvel at this cat's will to live.

"My husband and I agreed that if he had it in him to drag his broken battered body all the way home from however far away he ended up, we had to do whatever we could to make it worth his while. He made the effort. We can, too."

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.