New Year's Day is typically a time of celebration, but for two kittens, it was a matter of life and death. 

A CN Railway worker in Humboldt stumbled across a little orange kitten hidden in one of the railroad’s warm-up shacks left with nothing but a bowl of food. 

It was cold, reaching down to -20 C, and his paws had frozen to the ice. The worker chipped him out and found a family nearby to take care of him. 

The next day, the worker came back to the shack and heard a faint cry. He went in and found another kitten in the snow, left frostbitten and in need of medical attention. 

The worker quickly chipped out the other kitten and took it directly to the Humboldt and District SPCA. 

“We are still all in shock. We just can’t believe someone could even do that to something so helpless and small,” says SPCA staff member, Kassidy Remenda.

That kitten was then named Doodlebug and is now being nursed back to health by the SPCA 

“Doodlebug is doing amazing, I can’t believe it. Her leg did have to be amputated, just because of how bad the frostbite was. We did try to save it to the best of our abilities, we were treating it, but it just didn’t work out for us unfortunately. Since then, she has been doing great.” 

Remenda says since the kittens are so young, being only 5 weeks old, the recovery time for the animals has been fairly quick, especially Doodlebug. 

“We can't believe it, she is just a bundle of joy. She is loving and playful, and although she can’t play much now, she tries, but we don't want the stitches to rip. We just can't believe how great she is doing.”

Doodlebug will have her stitches removed in the coming days, and she then again will be monitored at the SPCA. 

“We always try to encourage people to spay and neuter their pets, because that does prevent a lot of unwanted animals,” says Remenda. “If they are going to make a commitment to a pet, make sure they can keep it, but remember it’s a life-long thing.” 

Sadly the two kittens had a rough start to the New Year, but can now celebrate by finding loving homes.