I live in a small Mississippi river town where I am a local firefighter One evening as I was mowing my property I sensed something behind me and turned around to find a dog trotting down my drive way from the small two lane highway I live off of. !! Where did you come from, I asked her!! She rolled over on her back as I rubbed her belly a bit and then I went and got her a bowl of water and just as I was setting the bowl down my alarm goes off and its a call for a structure fire so I said "bye pup , I got to go"! and off I went to fight the fire !! I got home late and to my surprise there she was laying in the garage !!. . Now being on a highway like I am I didn't really want to have a dog for obvious reasons so the next morning, I went around a few of the farms near me and asked about her but found out nothing . So I went down to the store, got her some food and a collar, about two weeks passed and Smokie just hung around the property, She sleeps in the garage. Came home late one evening and turning in to my drive I caught the site of something near the shoulder and my heart just sunk !! It was Smokie laying down but had her head up. I gently tried to move her but she yelped and whimpered in obvious pain but then jumped up and limped back to the garage still hurting. She laid down on her bed and I laid beside her all night then first thing in the morn took her to the vet where they checked her out. Bruised and battered but other wise ok I got her shots, spayed and all fixed up and to this day she is always by my side and NEVER goes near the highway any more ! And that's the story about how Smokie adopted me !!

On New Year's Eve 2010, on a very cold Chicago night, a guardian angel disguised as a pedestrian heard a wee squeak and discovered a four-week-old kitten trapped in a chain-link fence. The little fella was nearly frozen to death: icy cold, and eyes swollen to the size of ping-pong balls. He wouldn't have made it through the night without being rescued. Another guardian angel rushed him to the vet, where he was warmed up and the fleas that were frozen into his fur were removed. They named him Link, and hoped he would survive.

He made it through the night, and the next night, and the next. The vet stopped talking about removing his swollen eyes when they shrunk in size and he was able to see. He moved into a foster home, where he was loved by all, even the cranky cats already in residence.

When he was seven months old, the woman who had taken him to the vet and fostered him -- his second guardian angel -- started looking for a forever home for him. I saw his photo and was wary because the description mentioned his chronic runny eyes and drippy nose, results of the night he was found. I wasn't even looking for another cat, so I tried hard to forget him, but his sweet face and the description of his loving personality stuck with me. I made an appointment to meet him, and a week later he came home with me.

Nearly two years later, he steals everyone's hearts. He has a little frostbite scar on his nose, and his eyes don't quite look in the same direction, but he's never met anyone he didn't love. He's rambunctious, smart and inquisitive, and his fur is soft and shiny. He follows me everywhere, and if I'm sitting, he wants to be petted or held. He is now "Simon," because I didn't want his name to reflect the worst night of his life, but it was also his luckiest. I am forever grateful to his guardian angels for saving this little sweetheart of a guy.

I adopted my baby girl August of 2009 from a shelter. I looked at another cat named Boo but he was the most hyper cat you have ever seen and I y mom was not willing to adopt him and I am so glad we didnt because I asked to see my second choice... Bambi. When the one of the workers placed her in a room where I was to meet her she crawled under a table into a corner and was terrified! I crawled under there myself and picked up her small trembling form and placed her in my hoodie.

The lady that worked there looked at me in shock because I was the first person that asked to see her that actually got her out of the corner. I held Bambi's head to my chest and let her listen to my heart beat and she stopped shaking and started purring! I later found out that they werent going to let her be adopted until they saw how I interacted with her. They asked if I wanted to change her name but I didnt... I couldnt think of a name that fit her better than Bambi.

To this day she is still skiddish, if she doesnt know you she will not come out from under my bed for a while and she is only herself around me. If you look at the picture I have posted her left eye (your right) is a little more closed than the other... She has something I have NEVER seen before.. In her pupil there is something like a crack going through it and you can see the color behind. It is truly unique. She also likes to sleep with her tongue sticking out!

She is a character and I love her so much! She comes when I call her and if she wants to be petted and you dont want to she will MAKE you pet her! She has woken me up by doing so. I am truly lucky my little Bambi let me in her heart.

I was on my way home from work on hot, 120 degree day in the middle of July in the Phoenix area. 3 blocks from home, driving past a field, I spotted what appeared to be a young dog running. She was emaciated, skin and bones. I slowed down, and came to a stop near where she was at. She stopped, sat down and looked at me. She then slowly walked around the front of my car, turned and walked around the back...like she was checking it out. She then returned to where she started, and sat down again. I slowly got out of the car, and held out my hand. She sniffed my wrist, licked it and then jumped in the car. Had her checked out, she was somewhere between 6 and 8 months old. Other than being severely underweight, and the pads on her paws torn and burned from the pavement, she was healthy. She is now 4 1/2 years old, spayed, current on all of her shots, weighs 43 lbs and is the sweetest, most loyal and loving little girl. She turned out to be a black lab/pit mix. She is now an indoor lady, who is as quiet as a Whisper...thus her name. Whisper.

Almost ten years ago, my dad and I were walking a popular trail located in our city. It was a sunny day and clear skies when all of a sudden, we heard mewling. It was very faint, but as there was no residential around we thought perhaps it was a lost animal. After following the sound, we found a deep ditch with mud at the bottom where a tiny kitten's upper body was barely visible. My dad cautiously slid down and dug the kitten out.

Surprisingly, it was a busy trail, yet either no one had heard it, or it hadn't tried to mew at the other trail walkers. We cleaned it off as best we could with the sweaters we had around our hips, and what do you know, it looked like a kitten after a while and barely fit in the palm of his hand. My dad didn't want another animal after the loss of a cat that he had for over fifteen years, but I wanted to keep it. He put it down and began to walk away, I watched as after just a few steps, it ran up behind him and continued to follow him. I walked as well and to our amusement, it followed. At each street crossing we did, he would pick up the kitten, cross, set it down, and it would continue to follow us. The trail was a mile long, a few times the kitten was tired, and each time he would pick it up and carry it for a while, then set it down; but was steadfast about not having another animal. After half the mile to the car, he said if it made it to the car, we'd keep it. And little kitty did.

Ten years later, Linxie is spoiled rotten by him.

I had just lost one of my cats, Taz, at age 15. He had been part of my fur family since the day he was born, I had rescued his Mama. All my animals were mourning along with me and we weren't ready for another cat. About a month later, one of my co-workers showed me a picture of a Siamese kitten who had been abandoned in a rent house along with his brother. The had been found by the realtor in the garage with food, water, litter boxes, toys and beds. His brother had already found a home, but this one hadn't. I don't know if it was because he only had a little nub for a tail or there was another reason. I took one look at him and fell in love. A couple of days later I took him home. It took a while for everyone to adjust to him, my mini-dachsunds had never seen a cat smaller than them and weren't sure what kind of 'thing' I had brought home. Everyone is the best of friends now (now that he's big and they know he's a cat!). He is the most loving, sweet, cuddly cat. I can't understand how someone could just abandon an animal. It is their loss and definitely my gain.

One Friday morning in 2007, I said to my son that I could hear a kitten crying. I realized that it was coming from our loungeroom wall and that there was a kitten stuck in our wall cavity. After ringing up the local council and animal rescue places, I had to pay Aud $340.00 for a animal rescuer to get him out. The man came the following day, so that in that time I made a connection to the kitten that I named Lucky. What happened was that Lucky's mother brought him through a hole in our roof and he must of fallen into our wall cavity. The Animal rescuer said that he was about four weeks of age, I had to bottle feed him and he used to suck the milk off my hand. He was such a little guy, I decided to keep him. I was very emotional because a few weeks before I had to have my dog put to sleep. God works in mysterious ways, I believe Lucky was sent to me to look after. He is now 5 and a half years and brings us much happiness and a part of our family. Julie

After my sisters passing in 2010 i was so alone exept my family

so i moved back in with my mom but i was still missing something.

my aunt got me a hamster for my birthday it worked awhile

then he died. After hes passing i still needed something or someone

in my arms so my niece gave me a rabbit i named daisy she was sweet

but i couldn't handle her.i made her a indoor pet .so i gave her to good

home. Then when christmas 2012 rolled around i new what i wanted been missing

in my life since the passing of my sister i needed a cat to fill that hole thats

when my aunt got me this kitten i her name is buttons shes the sweetest cat

ever. I think she knew she was mine from the first day she was brought to

me she has made me smile and laugh just watching her play,

Buttons lights up my world

One day, while feeding my cats in the garage, they alerted to the cat door leading in from outside. I saw a shadow and asked "who's there?" I heard a meow and a very skinny young cat came in for breakfast. It was obvious she had recently had kittens, so I decided not to bring her inside in case she still had kittens to feed. After a few days it was obvious she was done nursing, as she never left my property and no kittens were ever found. I named her Mattie and took her to the vet to find that she had several medical issues needing attention and she then had a bad reaction to anesthetic after being spayed, but is now a happy and healthy (and spoiled) cat. The young cat my husband said was the skinniest cat he had ever seen now zooms in and out of the house through cat doors thoroughly upsetting my older cats. When she's running through the house at full speed, my husband warns the other cats that "mom has released the Cracken!"

I adopted Franklin from the Humane Society - This picture from Petfinder stole my heart. He has been with me through my Mom's death, which I thought was the hardest thing I'd go through. Then 2 yrs ago I found out I had cancer. I'd come home exhausted and sick from chemo and radiation, and his sweet face and eagerness to just rest with me carried me through all of it. He's now 9 years old, and I'm almost cancer free. He is truly my precious gift!