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When I took out the trash one day and was walking back to the door, I saw a kitten playing on the deck. My husband and I pulled out three one-month-old black kittens. A week later, I saw two more, as well as a scrawny tortie watching them.

CAT. PHOTO: PIXABAY / JULIE

Again, my husband and I caught the two kittens (one black, one orange), but mama cat ran. We left food out for her, and she learned to come morning and night. She let me sit by her while she ate, and eventually let me pet her. She started getting chubby, but we hoped it was just the nutrition.

We tried to catch her, but she was too wily. One Saturday morning, she showed up for breakfast chubby and for dinner skinny. It took us a week of scouring the neighborhood, but we found the kittens. We managed to get her inside the house and slam the door to keep her inside, and then we got the four kittens (two black, two orange).

CAT. PHOTO: PIXABAY / José Paulo Vasconcelos

Two kittens total were adopted out, but one adoption didn't work and she came back. We already had six cats, and suddenly we were up to 15. Five years later, we still have 11. Everyone is fixed, insured, vaccinated, and healthy.

Emme (M for Mamma) went from being a scared feral to the most loving cat we've ever had. She's snugglier than her babies. I think she really appreciates the difference between surviving on her own and being someone's kitten.

PHOTO: CATHY B.

So, yes, 11 cats is technically too many. Yeah, the house smells like cat, and we have dust bunnies the size of real bunnies. Yes, 90% of our trash is cat litter, and sometimes the feline politics get a little tense. But we are one big, happy (most of the time) family. We wouldn't change it for anything!

Story submitted by Cathy B. from Phoenix, Arizona.

This story was originally shared on The Animal Rescue Site. Share your very own rescue story here!