After I had lost my persian cat to kidney failure, I was missing having a cat in the house. So I took myself to the local shelter and found Max. He was already 1 1/2 years old and I knew he wouldn't be adopted as easily as the kittens that were there. I was told that his brother had been adopted and that Max's time was up. He was to be euthanized that very next day. After spending some time with him in the shelter I took him home. It took him a little while to warm up to me, but we had a great life together. He spent most of his days out on our sundeck lying in the sun relaxing or chasing the birds, leaves and anything else that moved. He finally passed away (at home in his sleep) at age 17 from cancer. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him and I miss him terribly, but I know that he's a happy kitten again, waiting at the Rainbow Bridge for me.

Axle was found when a car pulled up in front of our shop and we heard loud wailing coming from the car. We didn't see anything at first; then we saw him, stuck on the rear axle of the car! We don't know how long he was stuck there while the car was driving around. He must have been hanging on for dear life. He was no bigger than half my hand. A little 5 week old kitten. After 45 minutes of trying to lure him out, finally, out he came right into my hands. We took him to the vet and with a little medicine, some cleaning up and a lot of tender loving care, he was ours! He may look innocent, but he's quite a handful and we love him very much!

We had just lost our Trouble, one year to the day that our beloved Skimbee had passed away. Trouble was Skim's grandkitty. Heartbroken, we looked online at a local animal shelter - not the one where I volunteer, but another that utilizes euthanasia for unadopted pets. And there she was, the image of Skimbee, but tiny (he and his grandkittys all went 28 pounds or so), with her freckle on the other side of her nose. But the same huge green eyes and grey mask on a white face. She'd been on the street for some time, in what was one of the coldest, snowiest winters in the town where she was found.

When we saw her for the first time, it was love at first sight. She wrapped herself around my husband's arm and there was no turning back. Today, she has been with us for a year, and totally rules our household. Even has her own place at the table (as did Skim and Trouble). Her name is Fennore, which means ghostly spirit in Gaelic. So often we see a passing moment or feeling of Skim or Trouble in those expressive celadon eyes. When she's "zippy" as she often is, we think of her as our Tiny Mighty Fen!

This is Lucy. We adopted her from Adams County SCPA when she was 4 months old. She had already been adopted by a family but was returned for "exhibiting puppy behavior!" Huh?? Well, she was a PUPPY and required training and lots of love!!!

That's were we came in! We have adopted before and even rescued a litter of feral kittens.

Lucy is a JOY!! She is now four years old and the most loving, easy-going dog. She now has a sister, Twiggy, who was also adopted (she was a stray) and two kitty-siblings, Thomas and Ozzy, both rescued.

If everyone who wants a pet would ADOPT instead of buying from a pet shop or a breeder, this world would be a better place for both humans and the abandoned animals...IMAGINE!!

Bebee is from the city of Bebee (which she is named for after the fire department rescued her) in Arkansas and a survivor of the outbreak of tornadoes that swept through the state in January 1999. She was brought into the clinic with broken bones sticking out in her front leg, a dislocated knee, full of maggots and weighing only 3-1/2 pounds. She was but one of the thousands displaced and brought into Little Rock over a period of weeks. In all her pain and suffering when I placed my hand in the box, she purred, and that sealed our fate. I had only planned to foster her but after 3 surgeries and living under my bed for 6 months, she became a family member. She was the first of our 3 rescues we now have. She is a healthy inside, 17 pound door greeter and just had her 12th birthday. Sometimes in tragedy the most beautiful gifts are found. More then 100 animals were adopted from our clinic alone among the reunions to owners and families.

This is 10 month old,"Tuffy". His mama, who lived in the woods, deposited him and his sister on the door step of a near by house. She did this several times before the lady of the house got the hint and took the babies in. She gave the two kittens to her neighbor who owned a dog grooming shop. That's where I found Tuffy. He was only 1 1/2 pounds and about 4 weeks old. He had been weaned and had very good bathroom manners. It took 24 hours for him to get used to being handled and now he can't get enough "handling"!

Georgie always looked like he knew far too much about bad situations in his past. But he had a strong constitution for going ahead with life and hoping things would get better. I hope his time with me was as good for him as it was for me. I got Georgie in his middle to late years, as I don't know how old he was. He had been living with a distant neighbor who was moving and wasn't real sure what would become of Georgie or his mother. I took both cats home. Sadly, Georgie's mom had inoperable cancer, but she was given lots of love and TLC in the last 3 months of her life. Georgie loved to come and sit on the couch with my boyfriend and I and be petted. He had never lived inside before. He had a favorite catnip mouse that he used to carry around in the middle of the night while meowing loudly. He loved to lay in the sun on the slate patio, especially near the end of his days with us. One summer he was outside and didn't come in before dark as per usual. We had a storm which caused massive flooding in the neighborhood. Our grounds were underwater, and he would have had to swim home for the next 3 days. Of course I was frantic and put up signs and went looking everyday. On the 10th day, when I got up for work, his little face greeted me outside the french doors to the patio! I was never so happy to see anyone! And he never strayed far from home again!

We found Phil (orange tabby) first at Phil's gas station laying in grease and oil so weak he couldn't get up. We bought him home and he is doing great. Two months later we found Gracie she had a rough start, her mom rejected her and she was going to be put down. We stepped in and bottle feed her every two hours for months Phil and Gracie where the best of friends always together always side by side. On February 29th ago we took Gracie to Forgotten Cats ( a cat resue) to be neutered and she passed during the operation, they say this is rare but we are heart broken(:0( Gracie's best friend Phil was so lonely without her. We found Phil a new friend name Cole a pure black stray. We will never forget our Gracie.

One evening I heard a cat meowing as I fed my 2 barn cats their dinner.

I looked up to see an orange and white kitty sitting just on my fence line

in the grass. I told him to come on over, and it didn't take long before

he was joining Totti and Pinky daily for supper. I took him to my vet for

neutering and his shots, and he has called this home ever since.

It took a bit of time for the other 2 cats to welcome him wholeheartedly

but they are all friends now. Julius likes to play and climb trees and

talk!

In fact if it weren't for his insistent cry that first night, I might have

missed the chance to get to know this sweet boy.

I saw him scamper from the front of the restaurant towards the back. A

swoosh of orange and white. A small swoosh at that. I followed and up a

tree he went. I told him I would be right back with some chicken for him,

but when I came out, of course he was gone.

I returned later that day with a trap borrowed from a friend who does

animal rescue. After setting it with some delectable tuna, I left. I spent

a few hours wondering if I would be successful, and to my delight, he

was indeed inside when I came back just before dark.

He was named Biscuit, after first trying "nugget" on for size. He has come

a long way from the scared kitten he first was, and will let me pet him and

we are learning to like a comb too! He loves playing with another of our

strays - they chase each other back and forth and up and down! What a face!