I've been fostering and volunteering with a pet rescue for almost two years. In that time I've fostered over 25 cats and kittens. It's been so rewarding, but these past two weeks have been the most heartbreaking for me. A litter of four, three males and one female, were dumped at the county shelter two weeks ago. County shelters don't have the time or resources to bottle-feed kittens that young, so if we didn't pull them right then and there the shelter was going to euthanize them. Just like we do for other kitties on the euthanasia lines, we pulled this litter from the shelter to give them a fighting chance. I lost the little female within the first 48 hours. The boys held on with me for a little while longer but two started fading inexplicably this past Sunday. I've lost both of them since then. So there is now only one left, pictured here, and he carries the hope of his passed siblings. I am trying to not feel guilty. I remind myself at least we gave them love and kindness and warmth for a little while. I remind myself that if we had left them at the shelter, not only would all four be dead now but no one would have mourned their loss. I remind myself of the others I've helped save, like Callie and her kittens. I want to scream at the fact that this is how our "shelters" are forced to operate. But mostly I just want to cry for the lives I couldn't save. All I can do now is pour my heart into this little fighter, and to ask you, please, don't buy a pet from a store. Save a life by adopting from a rescue or shelter.