In October 2006, I went to the local humane society and adopted a calico kitten that I named Kallie. Kallie had an eye infection, an upper respiratory infection, and a horrible flea infestation. I took her to the vet immediately and got her on medication.

I went back the next day to adopt her sister, but the shelter told me the majority of cats and kittens that were there had been euthanised due to all the disease and infestations that were passed through the shelter. I thank God that I found Kallie when I did.

The next month, my boyfriend and I pulled into the driveway and heard a bird-like sound coming from the bushes. My boyfriend went to check it out, and found a tiny, dirty kitten hiding in the bushes. Let me tell you, Wisconsin is NOT warm in November. I took the tiny kitten to the vet. They said he was probably about 8 weeks old.

He was severely neglected. His white fur was yellow, he stank like rotten fish, and had cuts on his face. He had an eye infection, upper respiratory infection, fleas, ticks, barely any fur on his tail, and the worst case of ear mites the vet had ever seen! He weighed about 1.5 pounds and was obviously starving. He had so many burrs in his fur that he couldn't even properly go to the bathroom without it ending up all over him. I ended up spending well over $100 on his first vet visit alone. He got his first bath and all of the burrs were removed.

He is now a beautiful long hair with bright eyes and a full, fluffy tail. It's sad to think what would have happened to him in a harsh Wisconsin winter!

The final cat I have was adopted from the Springlake Animal Shelter in Michigan. The shelter was suffering from overpopulation and not enough funding. All of the cats were out of the cages and the place just stank like urine. Linus was very skittish and hid for a long time. He is now a happy, healthy member of the family and absolutely loves attention. He is content sitting on someone's lap all day and loves to wake us up with scratchy kitty kisses.

I am also happy to say that the two shelters I adopted from did extreme amounts of fundraising and have built new shelters to accomodate the large numbers of animals they deal with. Thanks to all the volunteers and the people who donated time and money to make it all possible. They're the real heros