Everyone thought this rescue kitten wouldn't make it but he had the will to fight alongside his siblings

Some folks have a heart inside them that just cries out to help the helpless. Such is Shelby, an avid animal rescuer and foster mom from Sherwood, Oregon. After visiting Cat Adoption Team last September, she went home with her arms full. What she carried looked like it was a bundle of heartbreak.
Five kittens in very poor condition had been taken in by the shelter, and Shelby wanted to give the tiny babies all the help she could, hoping against hope that they would survive.
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She was haunted by the memory of seeing the ill kittens in the cage, one of them with his faced squished against the bars. It was so sad, she just knew she had to try to save them.
The infant felines all had weeping eyes and mucous encrusted noses. No one really expected them to make it, especially the littlest one, whom she called Atlas.
It was touch-and-go for a few days, even after the shelter had given them much needed medical care. They were just so small and sickly, Shelby hoped they'd at least make it through the first night at home.
"After he managed to survive the first night, his fight was far from over," Shelby remembers. Then, a few days later, Atlas and his sister Phoebe started to crash. Their future looked bleak as they struggled to live.
Shelby, fully expecting to lose both kittens, held them through the night, praying for the babies to slip peacefully away if they weren't going to make it.
But that night, Atlas seemed to have made a decision. As Shelby petted his tiny body, he stretched out one little paw and grabbed hold of her hand. It was as if he was stating that he was not ready to give up.
"It took all of that week and a half for me to get them to a point where I felt confident they'd make it," said Shelby. Finally, though, all the kittens were starting to feel better and beginning to thrive.
It took lots of love, excellent veterinary care, and many soothing belly rubs and ear scratches, but all the kittens made it. Atlas was the last one to come around, but he did it!
When the little feline family was healthy and old enough, each of them was adopted into a forever home. Atlas and Phoebe, renamed Jon Snow and Bella, got to go to a new home together, where they are the special friends of a little girl who couldn't love them more. After four months of care, Shelby was so happy to release them to forever homes where they will continue on their journeys.
Watch the video of Atlas' struggle, and share it with your friends. Isn't it amazing what love and committed care can do for a needy animal? Maybe there's one at a shelter nearby that is waiting just for you. If you don't help, who will?
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Resources fosterkittenlove and Love Meow