Charlotte Would Answer, "Yes," if Asked

We are asking our Facebook Followers if you want to hear another story about a kitten that has died. Our guess is, most people will say, "No". If that is your choice, then you probably don't want to read any further.

Do we want to share yet another story about one of our fosters who died tonight. Absolutely not, but we owe it to Charlotte to make sure her life meant something.

Did Charlotte deserve to live for only 1 day? No, she should have gotten years to grow into the beautiful cat we know she would have become. But that was taken from her.

If Charlotte had a voice in this matter, we suspect she would want her story shared even though it is hard to hear. About all we know is she was born to a feral barn cat in Richwoods, Missouri who was run over by a car just hours after she gave birth. For most of Charlotte's first day of life she and her sibling were cold, alone, hungry and unable to even see where they were. Thankfully, the one thing Charlotte could do was cry. The woman who lived at this country home, where strays are routinely dumped, heard a kitten's faint pleas for help. When she found where the sound was coming from, she discovered a dead kitten and one that was barely hanging on.

We discussed whether to tell Charlotte's story and eventually concluded it could not be filed away, untold. It would not be right if we did not acknowledge she existed, even if her life could only be measured in hours and not days, or months or years. The other reason we decided to bring attention to what happened is that we hope it makes people mad to the point that they quit just saying, "Oh, how sad," and instead take action and do something to prevent more kittens like Charlotte from coming into this world. No kitten should have to go through what she did.

Because Charlotte was cold for too long, her organs began to shut down. This led to her starting to bleed from her nose, mouth and anus. It is a horrible death and for our Foster Care Volunteers it is pure agony not being able to reverse the damage that has already been done. Witnessing the unfairness of it all is a memory that does not get erased.

Charlotte did not suffer long and during her final minutes she was wrapped in a nice warm blanket and cuddled. No one could have loved this precious baby more at that moment than the person who was hoping beyond hope she had gotten Charlotte in time to save her.

We often talk about quality of life. The unwanted kittens who keep being born never find out what this is. If a little Calico kitten convinces you that you can and need to do more to get cats spayed and neutered, then we know we made the right decision to not push this story under the rug and try and forget it ever happened.

For more information on low cost spay and neuter options in the state of Missouri, click on the link below:

https://www.missourianimals.org/spayneuter

Don't delay! Get busy making a difference now. Do it for Charlotte.