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One day as I was walking home from nursing school, a little thing ran out of the bushes. It was a tiny kitten (who looked more like a bat) with huge ears. Mud and grass covered his eyes and nose.

I scooped him up and ran to the vet, fortunately a street away. It was a day when you just came and waited your turn for an appointment.

I held this tiny kitten, and people looked at us with pity and sorrow, as he looked so scraggly, small, and sad. But as I held him, I knew he had the will to live! When the vet saw him, he seemed discouraged.

"Well, we will have to give him adult meds, and he has a 50/50 chance."

I exclaimed, "Let's give him the chance, then!"

The vet's parting words were, "He will need lots of TLC."

"No problem!" I proclaimed!

I named him Hugo because the hurricane Hugo was supposed to hit Baltimore that night (but didn't). I made him a little bed with a heating pad and wrapped up a ticking clock to imitate a mother's heart beat.

My friends were amazed that this tiny thing survived and credited me with "saving" his life. But Hugo taught me the greatest lesson anyone in the healing field could learn: I didn't save him. He had the will to live. I provided him with what he needed to heal, and he did the rest.

He lived to the age of 17: My first adult soul cat and wise teacher, sometimes a trickster. HIs spirit lives on!

Story submitted by Martha Ciattei.

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