About a month ago, I went on a trip that completely changed my world view, and all I did was play with cats for four hours a day, four days straight.

When my friend Natalee asked me to go on a service trip with her in April, I have to admit I wasn't the most excited. I didn't want to spend time with people I barely knew, and service can sometimes be hard for me with explaining my twenty-five pound weight limit to people who don't quite understand what Marfan Syndrome means. Whatever the case, the last week of April, I found myself on a fifteen hour car ride to New Orleans.

Animal Rescue New Orleans (ARNO) changed everything when I got there. The shelter was started after hurricane Katrina, as a shelter to rescue the animals that were left behind in the devastation of the hurricane. When Katrina hit, the rescue workers were instructed to leave family pets behind, and because of this, many animals were abandoned to struggle and survive on their own. ARNO now works as a no-kill shelter for the New Orleans area, rescuing and helping animals find their "fur"ever homes.

Walking into the shelter, we saw kennel after kennel of cat "condos," which were large cages big enough to house six or seven cats each. My group and I spent four days in a row cleaning the condos, refreshing food, water, litter pans and newspaper to keep them clean. We swept and mopped every inch of the floor, just intending to help out the volunteers that worked there. They told us how grateful they were for our help, and how cleaning helped them accomplish other things that they needed to do during the week.

However, I don't think anyone appreciated the help as much as the shelter residents.

Above are just a few of the residents that I had the pleasure to work with throughout the week. These two, and many more cats, sat with me for hours on end, so content to receive love and affection for once in who knows how long. I was amazed at how long many of them would just sit on my lap, soaking up the attention and comfort that all living things need. The cats, as well as the dogs that lived in the kennels outside, had been there for months, many left as kittens and puppies. The fact that they could simply feel comfort was enough to lift their spirits.

For the first few hours, I wondered, "How could people leave their animals like this?" While ARNO does a fantastic job of taking care of their residents, they obviously don't have the time needed to give each animal the affection that he or she needs. It made me sad to think that people would just leave their animals behind. Little did I know I would experience a drop off on the first day. The litter shown above was dropped off on the first day that we helped out at the shelter. The kittens were just a few weeks old, and the mother really cared about them. It was a long time before she even let us near them. I felt absolutely terrible when they were dropped off, and not for the kittens. The woman who dropped them off was absolutely devastated, and was sobbing as she left the kittens that she had so desperately tried to take care of. The shelter was at full capacity (120 total residents- 60 cats and 60 dogs) but because of the situation, they took in these kittens to keep them safe while they grow.

And here is one of them now:

Another cat that changed my view entirely is pictured below, and named Tyson.

Now, I have to be honest. Tyson is a huge cat. They told me on the first day that he is what breeders call a "bengal" cat. For those of you who aren't cat owners out there, a bengal cat is a direct descendant of the leopard. So, basically, you've got a small, two foot long leopard sitting in a cage. Tyson constantly yowled while he was in the cage, just begging for attention and wanting so badly to be out of the cage. He protested whenever someone would move near the cage, afraid of being move or otherwise uncomfortable. However, when we took him into the office and closed the door to let him roam, he was the happiest cat I had ever seen. He loved to snuggle up to me, and often perched at the window to watch the excitement outside. He was absolutely gorgeous, and I adored getting to see him when he was relaxed in the office. It just goes to show how being in a cage can really confine these animals, and how they needed time to be appreciated.

Getting to meet these wonderful residents changed my entire view about adoption centers, and about people who leave their animals. Sometimes, it just comes to the point where you recognize that you can't take the best care of an animal. That is when you leave him or her with someone who can. I am so thankful that there are places where these animals can be taken care of! I can't imagine ever adopting from a breeder, because the amount of love and appreciation that I received from these animals was like nothing I have ever experienced before. The cats I spent time with bonded with me, and I hated leaving them at the end of the week. I would go back and adopt all of them if I could! (Dad says I can't until I have my own house though... and the boyfriend says I can only pick one!)

If you are thinking about getting a pet sometime soon, I would highly encourage you to go to your local shelter and adopt. No-kill shelters take in so many animals to keep them happy and healthy, and even kill shelters do their best to rescue animals and get them off of the streets. I would love to see the numbers of animals in shelters go down, but it won't happen until we start to adopt them. If you would like to see ARNO's page and learn more about them, you can click here and be directed to their page. They will ship you cats if you find one you like! You can also check out their Facebook page, and like it to see cats and dogs on Facebook every day. Otherwise, please look into your local center and do what you can for animals in need around your area.