On January 29, 2019, CAWS was contacted about a family who brought their 1-year old, Bella, into one of our partnering vet’s office. The family did not realize their cat was pregnant, nor that she had been in active labor for 2 days. Bella had a kitten stuck in her birth canal and needed an emergency C-section to save her life and the lives of her kittens. Unfortunately the family, who truly loved Bella, did not have the money to cover this very expensive surgery. After talking with the family, CAWS entered into an agreement with them that we would pay for the surgery (to include Bella’s spay and the resident male cat’s neuter), as long as the family agreed to surrender the kittens to us. It was also agreed that Bella would be kept with her kittens at a CAWS foster home until the babies were weaned. Then she would be returned to the family. The family jumped at the chance to save their beloved Bella. Sadly, all of the kittens were born dead, except Pumpkin and Blackberry. The CAWS foster mom did everything she could to give these two beautiful souls every chance at a healthy life, but at just 5 weeks, Pumpkin died. It was most likely from Bella’s lengthy and complicated labor and possibly inbreeding issues, since the baby-daddy was also Bella’s litter mate. Blackberry, now the sole survivor, continued to fight for his life. Fast forward 3 weeks. Blackberry, now 8 weeks old, is thriving! When he weighs enough, he too will be neutered and will be ready to find his forever home. As for Bella, she is going home to her family within the next few days! This story illustrates the mission and dedication of CAWS and shines a light on our work to end the flow of homeless pets by educating pet owners and assisting (whenever necessary) with spays and neutering of cats and dogs.