Saying Goodbye to Charcoal and Toasty

Have you ever stepped in for a mother cat and tried to raise her kittens? If so, you know how much time is spent providing the babies with what they need to stay alive. It's a commitment that requires getting up multiple times during the night to feed, stimulate, clean their carrier and give them any additional care required. Then this routine is repeated throughout the day.

This may sound demanding, and it is, but the hardest part of taking care of preemies, neonates and very young or special needs kittens and puppies is when, in spite of everything you have done, their heart stops beating. That is when the tears flow and you ask yourself, "Could I have done something differently?"

In the last two days SNUGGLE Pet Rescue has had to say goodbye to Charcoal and Toasty who arrived on June 13th. We know without a doubt we did do everything we could to support these two preemies. Sadly, it was not enough though. When we got them, they were both cold and that is the biggest threat to their lives. The mother had not cleaned them after they were born and the film of afterbirth on their bodies acted as an insulator keeping their bodies even colder. Each of them weighed half of what they should. They did eat well the first time we fed them, but the amount they were drinking decreased after that. Every trick we know to give extra support was done, but it reached a point where the fate of Charcoal and Toasty was out of our hands.

We are sorry to have to share this news, but we knew our followers would want to know how these two brothers were doing. Of course, we hoped to provide nothing but positive updates, but sadly it was not meant to be.