Fun DEBBIE DOWNER story about tiny animals:

I used to volunteer at this no-kill shelter in Chicago called PAWS. We were always looking for people to foster dogs and cats before we got them ready for the adoption floor, and this one time, I got a Fosters Wanted email that just about broke my heart.

Apparently there was this big animal hoarding house that contained dozens of cats. Among them was a litter of kittens, including one particularly sweet little kitty named Smudge. PAWS thought it would be terribly easy to adopt out all of the kittens, since they appeared healthy and lively.

But when they went to their vet exams, it turned out that Smudge wasn't a kitten at all. Smudge was a 9-year-old cat so inbred that she never got bigger than kitten size.

Pretty sure her foster adopted her, but I never stopped thinking about tiny animals and the amount of inbreeding that has to happen for them to exist.

DEBBIE DOWNER!