Heart of Gold...Part 2

We met Cat Lady Kimberlynn a few days ago and learned about her miraculous heart transplant; now meet her band of furry friends. Kim herself tells us a little about the healing power of pet love:

"I moved to Florida in 2000, four years after my transplant. I had one dying 18-year-old cat named Rico. He was my joy and my best friend. Even when he was a small kitten, he would lay in bed with me when I had bad days before my transplant. Rico, being a small kitten, should not have been laying in bed with his mom--he should have been out playing like a normal kitten would have been. So Rico was an extraordinary cat.

"When he passed, I was in emotional pain, not for him but for the loss of a very special friend. My husband traveled quite extensively which meant I was alone...Not for long! I started to go to a nearby animal shelter to pet and entertain the kitties but always left with my huge Jackie Kennedy sunglasses on so no one saw the giant gator tears in my eyes.

"I eventually just started to adopt the ones that had the saddest stories. I even adopted a 13-year-old Siamese, Miss Missy, for my 88-year-old widow grandma. Grandma is still here at 95 but Miss Miss is gone. But she lived to 21. So that brings my total rescues from that shelter to 5.

"My neighbors in Florida were moving. When the movers came, they loaded up every one of their pets but Sly (the one on my shoulder in my portrait). I asked why they were abandoning him and Sly's mom said, 'I can't take him he pees everywhere'. So I took him. It took me 6 months of going up to where Sly used to live to coax him down to my house each night. Finally he moved into the garage, then the laundry room, then into our house and our hearts. He gets along with everyone and he's only peed once.

"In 2000 we moved back to Pittsburgh with my Pekingese Holly and the six cats ...Since then we have rescued our Lab/Airedale mix Cooper, our furry cat Chloe, another Pekingese Bentley and the kitten someone dumped in the woods, Sweetie."

Be sure to read more about Kim's inspiring story at her website:
Kim's Story. She is the creator of “Goodnight Lines” which is an overnight facial moisturizer and she donates $1 from every bottle sold to Angelcat Haven Feline Rescue.