The larger cat on the left is Gustav, my 12 year old boy from the Phoenix Humane Society. He was an angry, mangy, underweight and cross-eyed kitten, separated from the other kittens and kept in a solitary cage high up on a wall of cats. When I tried to pet him, he yowled and bit me. I took him home thinking that nobody else would, figuring he was just under the stress of his situation. I was quickly proven correct when he turned into the biggest ham and most cuddly friend I could have asked for. He's hysterical and kind to everyone, even in his upper years. When his companion died in 2002 it took us a while to decide to get him a new friend. We were both sad and couldn't imagine replacing a family member, but in 2004 Hildegaard, the smaller cat on the right, came home to live with us. I found her at the NYC Union Square Kittykind shelter in Petco. Once again, I picked the yowling, un-pettable, crazed kitten that the volunteers told me had been confined for 3 straight months since she wouldn't let anyone hold her. I adopted her, she was soon brought home to Gustav and I, and after about an hour of stressed stares and unsure sniffs, they were instantly inseparable. Her kitten antics revitalized his old man attitude, and now they play, wrestle, clean, sleep and explore every bug and new toy side by side, happy to be home together. I truly believe that shelter animals have a sense of the situations they are in and when they come home to live with a human family they can finally let all of the stress go and just live in the love they've been holding on to, waiting to share.

Karen
New York, NY