We asked members of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us their animal adoption stories. Here are a few of the heartwarming and inspiring responses.

I adopted an orange tabby, Rowdy, who is a wonderful kitty. The night I brought him home, there was a small fire in the basement of our house. My roommate and I both slept through the alarms and the smoke was really filling the house. I only woke up because Rowdy was prancing over my bed and patting at me until he woke me up. He was the only thing I grabbed when we evacuated the house.

Submitted by Jessica Chi, Facebook

I have schizophrenia that is more intense at night, and my hallucinations make it extremely difficult to sleep, and it affects me daily. When I first met Bam Bam in the shelter, I would have never guessed how dependent on him I would grow to be. He sleeps nestled between my stomach and thighs, and feeling his warm body brings me so much comfort that I can now sleep through the night most of the time. I can't sleep without him anymore!

Submitted by laurenpratt1997