Shawn Simons said she accidentally started herding and domesticating feral kittens for adoption. What began as a hobby has turned into one of the best rescue stories of the decade. Simons is making a difference for feral and homeless feline across Los Angeles county. She even enlists high-profile celebs to help with her cause.

Two researchers from George Mason University in Virginia have calculated a savings of more than $11 billion in health care costs in the United States as a result of pet ownership. On average, the 132.8 million pet owners in the country visit a doctor 0.6 times less than the average non-pet owners. With the average cost of a visit to the doctor's office at $139, that calculates to more than $11 billion pet owners did not spend. Not only that, but the dog owners who walked their pet five or more times a week had a lower incidence of obesity and were responsible for saving $419 million in related health care costs, according to the study.

A recent study says that dogs and cats whose humans smoke are at greater risk of cell damage, weight gain and some animal cancers. Researchers in Scotland discovered that, "An examination of the testicles removed from castrated dogs found that a gene, which acts as a marker of cell damage, was higher in dogs living in smoking homes." But if you have cats, the risk is greater because cats groom themselves, which increases the amount of smoke chemicals that enter the body.

A very smart cat used its litter box to stay afloat during a devastating flood that had water almost up to the ceiling of his house trailer in Missouri. Two members of the Disaster Response Team from the Humane Society of Missouri pulled up to the trailer in a boat and were able to gently extract the wet cat from the litter box as it floated by a window inside.