A few years ago my world was turned upside down and I ended up in this crummy efficiency apartment with nothing to look forward to. I've always been an animal person so when I noticed the neighbor's cats in our yard I started leaving out cat food in hopes they would come over and "say hi". One afternoon I was sitting in my apartment with the screen door cracked when this little black cat I'd never seen before walked into my room, jumped onto the back of the couch and laid down. He looked like he was saying "I'm home". It got to the point where every day "Blacky" as i named him would come running up to the door when I came home and stay in the apartment every night. He was skiddish and no one else could get near him but I could pet him as long as I didn't make any sudden moves.

After a few month's I decided to ask my landlord about him. Turns out they had adopted him as a kitten only to be turned loose a few months later because they "weren't good pet parents". My landlord said he was happy I was feeding the cat because they couldn't get near him to feed him. I was appalled that someone would let loose such a young cat but I was also glad because it brought him to me and quite simply, Blacky was the ray of sunshine in my cloudy world.

I've had him over a year now and we have since moved out of that crummy little space. Blacky is still afraid of everyone and everything but around me he is the most loving affectionate animal I have ever owned. I don't know why he is so comfortable with me and nobody else but I truly believe animals know when we need them. Maybe that's why he picked me. I can only guess but whatever the reason, I'm glad and I tell people all the time he rescued me instead of the other way around. I cant imagine my life without him.

There were some comments by folks who doubted whether the two photos of Eloise were the same. Maybe this will help.

Top left: Eloise coming out from under my dinghy to greet me, February 2003

Top right: Eating the food I brought in for her daily, February 2003

Bottom left: After being on my boat a month, March 2003

Bottom right: The day her puppies were born, April 2003

Top left: Last remaining puppies hoping mom will pay attention, June 2003

Top right: Eloise playing on deck, July 2003

Bottom left: After a swim, heading up into the sand dunes, July 2004

Bottom right: Digging for garter snakes in Washington, July 2006

I have hundreds of photos of her, as you can imagine, but I hope these give the folks who questioned whether the two original photos were of the same dog an answer that satisfies them.

This is Booh-Booh. My grandaughter was outside playing September 25th, 2011 when she heard this kitten crying. She looked all over, then found this tiny ball of fur under a tree with the umbilical cord still attached. She looked every where, but the mother was gone. She brought the tiny yelling furball home and I was at a loss. I have never had a kitten this tiny to take care of. I looked up kitten care on the internet, and made my own formula using ideas from the articles I read. She lived, and gained her name due to all the scratches she put on me when she would climb up me as a baby. She is going to be 2 years old, and is my baby. She sleeps on me doing a head stand, and out of my 5 rescued kitties, she is my baby still.

One day I had received a picture message from a friend. It read "Laura rescued this beagle from a person that had tied him to a tree, and left him. Let me know if you know anyone interested in taking him." My family had 2 dogs at the time and were a little weary about taking on a third. Well we decided to go get him. His ribs were showing, and he will forever have a red mark on his neck. The red mark was from people that chained him up outside.They named him Dexter, but not fitting at all. We named him Tressel at first, then the name that slowly changed into Bubba. He was a lucky guy we saved him, but even more he taught us how to love an animal to the moon and back. He is our baby :)

In March 2012, I was looking into adopting a cat. My friend who works at a small rescue organization informed me that a cat was recently brought in to their shelter. When they found her she was a year old living in an alley way in the middle of winter and 50 days pregnant. She was scared and freezing. They picked her up and brought her to a foster home where a day later she gave birth to 4 kittens who all got adopted themselves as well. She was at the shelter for 2 weeks when I went in to see her. She had these huge eyes, small head and a huge round belly from her pregnancy. I couldn't help but smile the first time I laid eyes on her. She was nervous at first and hid behind the shelves when we took her out. I felt like she belonged with me and adopted her that day. It took her 3 months to adjust to living with myself and my golden retriever. It is now over a year that I've had her and she is the sweetest, most loving cat. She gets along well with everyone and loves to sit on your lap and purr forever while giving lots of kisses. I couldn't imagine myself with any other cat.

This story is twofold. Our first kitten was a ginger farm cat born to a mother with an open festering wound. I knew that he would not get the proper nutrition from her as it was doubtful she would survive. We took him home and named him Prince Harry as he bore a resemblance to him. He also has his fun, irresistible and naughty personality. He has fit in with our family seamlessly and our son loves him to pieces. Our other rescue was a calico that was hanging out in my mother's backyard. I went out with a bit of hotdog and she eventually would take it from my hand. The poor girl was skin (fur) and bones and probably wouldn't have lasted out on her own much longer. She came home with us that very night and we named her Pippa, Pip for short. She was so small we thought she was a kitten but when we took her to the vet he told us she was at least a year old. She weighed only 4 pounds at that time which is why we thought she was so young. It broke my heart that she had lived so long suffering as she must have, but it also spoke of her determination to survive. Both our cats have adapted well living with two dogs and a very busy 8 year old boy. In fact, they are quite spoiled.

When I got my apartment after my divorce a friend of mine gave me a beautiful 4yr old Siamese who was nonsocial and very small for her age. Not fixed and never been in heat she still looked like a kitten. After a few months she became my little daughter Ayla and finally hit puberty. Well over the years I began feeding feral cats in the neighborhood and fixing them. As litters were born I would have all the kittens and mom fixed and since they eat in my yard they also gave birth in my yard. Well an adult Grey had her kittens and everyone was healthy but then the momma got hit by a car and I had to put her down. All but one of the kitten were big enough at 5 weeks to survive in my yard but the runt was only half the size she should have been. A black sweetpea that became my princess Isis. Then in fall of the same year right at nightfall I heard a very sad, very cold mewling coming from a neighbors yard. None of the cats I had could have given birth so I hunted down the sound and found a lone mid-hair Grey only 1 day old according to the vet. I began bottle feeding Bella immediately and she grew so beautifully the vet was shocked she survived at all. She was then adopted by my oldest cat who having never had kitten began nursing her in lactating. Then a sweet grey stripe tabby Sammy was found in my engine bay. Only 6 weeks old and so exhausted she feel asleep in my hands, slept for 2 days and woke up mine. Now I have 22 ferals and 4 domestic and wouldn't change a thing!!

I was visiting my daughter when I found this beautiful but terrified big black Lab (Gus) running in circles in the left turn lane of a main road near her house. When I stopped my Jeep and opened the door, he jumped right in and laid down in the back seat. I took him to the shelter and nobody claimed him in 10 days, so I brought him home to live with me and he's the most loving, gentle giant (135lbs). Shortly after that I was looking for a companion for him when I stopped at a rescue in town. The room was full of beautiful puppies and pure-breeds. However, I heard someone say "She looks too weird with that eye of hers", so I looked over and saw a scraggly, black mutt, Lab mix, just sitting there as if she knew nobody was going to look at her twice, and hadn't all day. I rested my hand on her cage and she gently licked my palm. I was told that she was rescued from a terrible abusive situation, and she had recently had puppies who were in another cage across the room. She had one bright blue eye, and the other was brown. She wagged her tail as if she was afraid to get excited but felt hopeful anyway.. Of course, at that moment I knew that I wasn't leaving without her. I had to go home and get Gus to make sure they got along before I could take her with me. They got along wonderfully, and they are not only each others' best friends now, but my sweet best friends as well. I named her Ruthie after an elderly neighbor, now deceased, who used to give dog biscuits to the neighbors' dogs each night before she went to bed. I am grateful that they came into my life, and I am dedicated to giving them the best life possible . They're my angels.

Yes, that picture is the same dog. Teddy, a Yorkie, came into my Yorkie rescue from a couple that no longer wanted him. They nearly starved him to death before handing him over. He was 8 or 9 years old they thought. When they handed him over to me with not so much as a toy, a leash or even a collar, and so weak that he couldn't even stand, I couldn't get away from them fast enough. That was on Christmas Eve of 2003. My vet wasn't in so I held Teddy Bear in a fleece blanket for 2 days till he could be seen. When they took one look at him they immediately thought he had Cushings but the bloodwork they did would take 2 weeks to determine this. In those 2 weeks, I prayed they were wrong and Teddy began to get stronger, walking, eating, even wagging his little tail when he saw me. Finally the call came in from the vet...the test was negative for Cushings. I hugged him so tight and told him he was spending the rest of his life with me. Never a more devoted little dog you could find. I could take him in the biggest crowd and he wouldn't take his eyes off of me. Teddy was with me for almost 4 years when I lost him to Lymphoma. But that little dog changed my life forever. He is the reason I work so hard to help dogs get good homes. RIP Teddy Bear. You were very loved and deeply missed.