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Foxy entered my life unexpectedly on the first night of 2006, a brutally cold and snowy night in New Hampshire. I opened the door to let the dog out and found a scrawny, partially frozen calico kitten clinging to the outer screen of the storm door. She weighed 2 1/2 pounds, the knobs of her spine were easy to see and her pelvic bones jutted up like the fins of a '57 Chevy.

PHOTO: flickr.com/leasqueaky

I began feeding her immediately, barely able to snatch my fingers away in time while offering her leftover Christmas turkey. When I brought her to the vet, he prepared me as best he could by telling me that she might not make it. There was a danger that she would go into organ failure.

What he didn't count on was this small cat's will to survive. She gobbled up five cans of cat food a day and at night, she would snuggle up to me for body heat. Eventually she lost part of an ear to frostbite.

When my husband returned home from Iraq, he was somewhat dismayed to discover that while the dog was happy to see him again, there was this fluffy, fat cat that stood between us, growling, hissing and refusing to let him enter the house.

She's mellowed a bit over the last seven years, extending her loyalty to my spouse (after the prerequisite amount of blood had been shed on his part), reveling in the desert climes of Arizona (she doesn't miss snow at all)...but sometimes I will catch a look from her that seems to say, "I won't ever forget that night and how you saved me."

PHOTO:Anonymous

I may have opened my home and heart to her...but Foxy taught me about bravery, how to accept help with gratitude and reward it with loyalty. She proved that there are times when the only thing that stands between life and death is the will to survive.

I've loved many animals...but she's the first one I've ever admired and aspired to emulate. I hope she is with me for many, many more years.

Story submitted by Anonymous, from Mesa, AZ.

These rescue stories were originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Share your very own rescue story here!