Celeste

Last night was a tough one for the SNUGGLE Pet Rescue Foster Care team. The group relies on one another to provide support when another kitten or puppy has passed away. This connection is vital to giving each person the strength to get back up and refocus on the other babies we are caring for that are still alive. Yesterday our network was working overtime after a kitten was brought to us late in the afternoon.

There are gaps in Celeste's story. What we think happened because of the type of injuries she sustained and having been found in the grass, was that she was run over by a lawnmower. When we rushed her to the emergency vet, they confirmed what we suspected.

After examining Celeste, it was added to her records that she was in shock, had lost her left ear, the skinless left leg was broken and there was the wound on the top of her head. She was given oral pain medication and placed in an incubator to keep her warm as she was unable to regulate her own body temperature. Sadly, due to the extent of her injuries the prognosis for this 3.5 to 4-week-old kitten was not good. It was decided Celeste would be monitored for 24 hours and if there was no improvement we'd make the difficult decision to have her put to sleep.

The other thing that concerned us was that Celeste had fly eggs around the open wounds. In the photo the person who found her sent us, you could see three flies on Celeste's fur as well as the white area, which we knew right away was fly eggs, that would hatch and turn into maggots. A flea comb was used to remove the eggs since a bath would have been risky because it could lower her body temperature even further even if warm water was used.

Celeste stopped breathing a couple minutes after midnight. We know how hard it is to learn of tragedies like this. For this reason, we debated about sharing details and including a photo. The reason we decided to tell Celeste's story is because we want her to be a reminder to people to please check the areas where you will be moving before you start up the mower. If someone had taken the time to do that, more than likely what looked to be a healthy kitten before this accident would still be alive today.