A veterinarian technician with a heart of gold has revealed how an adopted puppy with a cleft palate became her best friend after she spent a year caring for him leading up to his surgery. Over a year ago, an Imgur user known as kaffekalle saved a chocolate lab from euthanasia without knowing whether the tiny pup would be able survive longer than a few weeks. While the puppy was fighting for his life, the vet started a heartwarming photo diary of her new pet, beginning with his hourly feedings and ending with his surgery in April.

Heart of gold: An Imgur user and vetinary technician known as kaffekalle saved a chocolate lab from euthanasia when he was a puppy.Full of hope: The adopted puppy was born with a cleft palate and had a tough road ahead of him.Kaffekalle explained that it was her 30th birthday when a chocolate lab had a c-section in her veterinary clinic and had nine puppies. However, one of those puppies had a cleft palate and a tough road ahead of him, so the owners opted to have him euthanized.

'Knowing the sucker I was, another vet tech got the family to sign the puppy over and got me to foster the puppy,' she explained, while sharing a sweet photo of the pup in her arms. Kaffekalle explained that it is a 'blessing to be able to provide humane euthanasia to puppies with cleft palates' because depending on the severity of the cleft, the 'puppies usually do not thrive'.

Hard to handle: The vet tech said it broke her heart to watch her cat Quinn play with the pup on his first night home with her because she wasn't sure how long he would live for.Journey: Kaffekalle kept a photo diary of her new pet, starting with their late night feedings and ending with his surgery a year later Full-time job: Kaffekalle said that the dog quickly latched to his binky, and she would bring him to work with her so she could feed him every two hours.'The space in the roof of their mouth does not allow them to suckle properly, and they eventually die of starvation,' she added.One of the images sees the puppy meeting her cat Quinn, who 'took an interest in this squealing creature'.'It broke my heart because I told her that he probably wouldn't live two weeks,' she recalled of her dog's first night at home.

Adorable: Kaffekalle realized that 'this little boy was a fighter', and named him Bronson after Tom Hardy's character in the 2008 film of the same name. He is pictured at six weeks old.Getting bigger: The vet tech snapped this picture of Bronson having his eyes fully open.

Protective mom: Kaffekalle said she refused to let him walk on the ground when he was younger because she was worried about infectious disease.During the first week of his life, the vet was up every one or two hours to tube-feed him Esbilac, a replacement for puppy milk.'I am exhausted, but realizing my little "science experiment" might actually survive,' she wrote. 'I took him on knowing that he might not live.'Because she worked in a veterinary clinic, her new dog was able to travel to work with her every day so she could feed and stimulate him every two ours.