heartbreaking

For mothers, living in the animal kingdom is an extra difficult task. Having to look for food, fend for themselves as they hunt, find shelter, all while keeping their babies safe. The motherly instinct is strong. It's no wonder, then, that animal momma are loving yet stern. They have to do what needs to be done to protect their babies, even if it means saving them from danger at risk to themselves. 

That is what one momma cat had to do - running into a burning barn to save her kittens. According to Cole & Marmalade, the barn was this cat's home. She and her babies had been living on that farm for a while, and sadly, when the structure caught fire, her babies were still inside. 

Read more of the story below!

For over a decade, Sakae Kato has stayed behind in Fukushima, rescuing cats abandoned by neighbors who fled the radiation clouds emanating from the nearby Fukushima nuclear plant. He refuses to leave. 

His story is one of heartbreak and selflessness, and we are thankful for all the work that he's done. 

"I want to make sure I am here to take care of the last one," Kato said from his home in the contaminated quarantine zone. "After that I want to die, whether that be a day or hour later."

Read more about his incredible story below.

Most of you have seen the longcat meme but not everyone knows who the longcat is. 

Longcat, who's real name is Shiro-chan, but is referenced to as "Nobiko," the Japanese translated of "longcat." Shiro-chan took the internet by storm in 2006. Shiro-chan rose to fame when an image of the white feline reportedly stood at 65cm from head to toe. Eventually, Shiro-chan came to be known as Longcat, according to Know Your Meme. 

The news of Nobikos passing comes for a Hong Kong Journalist, Kris Cheng, who has written articles for The Washing Post. According to Shiro-chan's owner, they discovered the feline at home being very lethargic and was taken to the vet immediately. Sadly, Shiro-chan was too ill to undergo any X-Rays and just a few hours later, passed away. Shiro-chan's owners are coping with the loss as best they can, and so is the internet who are mourning the meme legendary.

RIP, Shiro-chan. We'll miss you and your extraordinary length.  Say "hi" to Grumpy Cat and Lil Bub, for the world. 

Cats, cats, and cats. Nothing but cats and that's how we like it! Each week, we love to collect the best cat pics and stories online and present them here. 

Each cat picture, or video, tells a different story and has a different set of emotions behind it. That's what makes this gathering a medley of a variety of things, number one being adorableness (which, granted, all cats naturally have), the second is the much-needed balance of humor, and the last being anything that tugs on the heartstrings (good or bad).

In this case, we have both. We have heartwarming stories of glow-ups and transformations. Yet, we also have heartbreaking moments of mourning and loss. We wanted to take a moment and send love to those who had recently had a pet cross the rainbow bridge. Your pet may be gone physically, but never emotionally, and never, ever forgotten. 

A heartbreaking tale with a happy ending. Sunshine Dog Rescue, a Non-Profit Organization located in Phoenix, Arizona, rescued a beautiful Australian Shepherd Mix named Georgia. 

Georgia was found living at a gas station near the border to Mexico. Georgia was pregnant, but sadly, none of her puppies made it. All her pups were born prematurely. 

Founder of the Sunshine Dog Rescue, Anita Osa, knew Georgia was heartbroken at the loss of losing all her babies. Osa told ABC15, "I've never had a mom dog lose a whole litter before. The best way I could describe it was she was frantic. It was so sad, she was looking for those babies. She tore up the toddler mattress we had her on, trying to find her babies." 

Osa quickly went to work and asked for help on Facebook. Osa was looking for any orphaned baby animals that were in need of a lactating mother. Osa ended up with three kittens who just so happened to fit that bill. 

Of course, with any interspecies integration, you have to worry about whether or not each animal would accept the other. Thankfully, Georgia and the kittens instantly bonded. Osa claims the moment Georgia sniffed the kittens, she calmed down significantly.

They do nurse on her. She cleans them and everything but the bond is strong. It's really something to see, she protects those kittens just as if they were her babies," Osa added. 

While we are heartbroken for the loss of Georgia's litter, we are grateful she found a family of her own with others who needed her. 

Check out the adorable videos of Georgia and her baby kittens below. 

Story via ABC15

Meet Monique, the beautiful 2-year-old moggy cat, who has, sadly, been at the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home for more than 115 days.

The loving crew at the shelter decided to throw Monique a birthday party, after she passed 100 days at the shelter with no applications for her adoption. The party was in hopes to build some hype and find Monique the loving family she so clearly deserves. 

I mean, just look at her! Monique deserves it all! 

Story via Metro

Oh, Jenny Jinya. You've done it again. We are just a sobbing mess after reading your comics. 

Jenny Jinya, artist behind the popular "Good Boy" and "Black Cat" comics, has recently shared her newest comic. 

And yes, it's just as heartbreaking as the previous ones. 

All of her comics, as devastating as they may be, are in hopes to spread awareness and send a message to the world. 

For example, her previous comic was created in order to shed light on some real problems -- this time, the victim being birds and culprit? Plastic.

Check out her Instagram or Twitter for further updates! 

Both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. 

Three Snowy Mountain Koalas, who were rescued from the Australia wildfire crisis, have been named after American firefighters who were tragically killed in the region. 

Two Thumbs Wildlife Trust Koala Sanctuary have named the koalas, and the trio are now in the temporary care of Australian National University (ANU).

Dr Karen Ford, an ANU researcher and who is running the makeshift hospital at ANU, said in a university statement, "We have 11 koalas at ANU that have come in from the various fire grounds in the region.They just keep arriving. There is nowhere else that has the facilities to hold these animals or this many at the moment."

Ford also mentioned that a couple of the koalas are being treated for burns, while the others are "quite skinny" from malnutrition, due to their habitats being completely burnt. 

Koalas are known to breed so slowly that it could take 100 years for the population to rebuild — so saving just one is crucial. That is why the koalas have been a central focus of relief efforts as the blaze spreads across the region.

Story via CBS News

Two Aussie teens, 19-year-old Micah and 18-year-old Caleb, have been named heroes for driving around and loading up their car with injured koalas, in Kangaroo Island. 

Storyful reported that the teens delivered the koalas to their neighbor, who has a permit to care for wildlife.

Micah Lovegrove, one of the heroic teens, decided to go on this impromptu rescue mission after witnessing a koala with nowhere to go, when his uncle's property burned down. 

In a video first posted on Reddit, you can see a car filled with poor, exhausted koalas. And in the background, an eerie sight of a road that is lined by blackened trees. 

Unsure of how many koalas they rescued, they assume it's around 20 and of that 20, six of the poor marsupials were orphaned and two of them were mothers with children.

Still, that's 20 more koalas saved. And we're beyond thankful to both Micah and Caleb. 

It is very important to mention that these koalas from Kangaroo Island were not taken to the mainland where they could be affected by Chlamydia and therefore unable to return back to their home on the Island. 

Chlamydia in koalas can cause blindness, bladder inflammation, infertility and death. As the island's koalas are isolated and free of the disease, its introduction would devastate the population.

"It's understandable and heartening that people want to rescue these animals, but unfortunately it will mean that those koalas can't be returned to the island because of the risk of contamination of the population there," said Brenton Grear, Department for Environment and Water bushfire recovery coordinator.

If anyone out there reads this and decided to drive and rescue koalas -- do not take them to the main land. "We ask that anyone on Kangaroo Island who finds injured wildlife call SAVEM on 0477 055 233 or email info@savem.org.au," says Grear.

Story via LADBible

It's hard to share such devastating news. 

It has been reported that nearly 500 million animals have perished since the start of the raging fires. 

500 million. That's half a billion. 

According to the University of Sydney, ecologists now estimate 480 million mammals, birds and reptiles have tragically been lost since September. 

Entire species of plants and animals are endangered of being completely wiped out. 

If you're unsure just how insanely large this fire really is, The Guardian has published an interactive map stating the scale of the fire is 1.5 times the size of Belgium, just to give some perspective. 

We pray this horror ends soon without any more damage to the wildlife. 

Story via NZHerald

Humans are destroying sea life with our insane usage of plastic and it shows. And sometimes it shows in devastating ways, such as this baby turtle.

On the shore of Boca Raton, Florida, a baby turtle washed up. "It was weak and emaciated. I could just tell it wasn't doing well," Emily Mirowski, Emily Mirowski, a sea turtle rehabilitation assistant at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, told CNN. The baby turtle did not die of natural causes, it died because this turtle had an astonishing amount of plastic in it's belly -- 104 pieces of plastic, to be exact. 

The Gumbo Limbo Nature Center shared the heartbreaking photo of the deceased baby turtle along with all the bits and pieces of plastic that were found inside. 

"It was really heartbreaking," Mirowski said. "But it's something we've seen for several years and we're just glad people are finally seeing this image and hopefully it's raising awareness."

If this image doesn't make you take a second look at your plastic usage, we don't know what will. 

Story vIa CNN