Beth & Atlas
Very Active Member
Because every newbie should know & exp. caregivers should know.
Script from Atlas' contest video:
On a cold winter day in January 2010, a poor little bedraggled scrap of a cat was brought into the Berea Animal shelter. Near death from starvation, he was severely dehydrated, his ears full of mites, covered in fleas and filth, and he wasn't given much of a chance to live. This poor cat although full grown , didn't weigh more than 5 pounds, he had trouble eating because his mouth was filled with ulcers, and his skin fragile to the touch. Nobody knew where his travel had taken him, and the shelter named him Atlas.
From the beginning the volunteers fell in love with his will to live, he would purr at your touch, struggle to stand when he was so weak it was impossible, his pleading eyes motivated all of us to give him our very best.
The long road to treatment began with the elimination of the obvious problems, he seemed to respond, then take two steps backward. Each treatment or test seemed to only present another problem; bloodwork finally indicated he was diabetic.
Atlas started a conservative dose of 1 unit of insulin twice a day. A foster home with an experienced feline diabetic caregiver was located. No one knew how long this orange tabby had to live, but his new mom took him, "for however long he had left."
It was already March and he only weighed 6 pounds, not much more than when he came into the shelter. It was determined he needed surgery; however the little guy was too weak for surgery. A day and a half later he would stop eating, and was taken to the ER by his foster mom. Once there he was fed with a syringe and IV fluids given. The emergency vet said he had only a 50/50 chance for survival. Another guardian angel stepped forward for him at this point, Dr. Topham the ARF veterinarian.
You see, if Atlas was to live, risky surgery needed to happen NOW, as an abdominal infection was interfering with his insulin regulation. After 5 weeks at the clinic, he was returned to his foster home to continue his long journey to recovery (8 Units of insulin N twice a day).
As his health improved his insulin needs declined, he gained weight and was soon pushing 8, 9, 10, and 13 pounds. He began to play, snuggle and his personality blossomed.
Feline diabetes when caught early enough and properly treated need not be a death sentence nor a burden, it's extremely treatable and feline diabetics can go on to live long and happy lives.
Despite having to be poked and prodded several times every day for his insulin injections, Atlas remains a joyful, loving cat who lives life to the fullest every day. We were elated when his foster mom, Beth adopted Atlas. We at Berea Animal Rescue love him dearly and consider Atlas to be one of our greatest success stories. We live our pledge to be a No Time Limit Shelter.
Today Atlas is at 2u of Lantus BID
The shelter was here to film Atlas and tell his story today. Post filming discussions were recorded and both Feline Diabetes.com and Diabetic Cats in Need, were mentioned and cited by the shelter cat advocate.
I believe my shelter has learned a lot from this horrible experience. And I know for a fact that recent events in my area prompted them to contact me again...and DCIN to act in intervention to a young cat who the owner desired the cat to be surrender due to diabetes.
As of right now the cat is still in his home and being treated.
Script from Atlas' contest video:
On a cold winter day in January 2010, a poor little bedraggled scrap of a cat was brought into the Berea Animal shelter. Near death from starvation, he was severely dehydrated, his ears full of mites, covered in fleas and filth, and he wasn't given much of a chance to live. This poor cat although full grown , didn't weigh more than 5 pounds, he had trouble eating because his mouth was filled with ulcers, and his skin fragile to the touch. Nobody knew where his travel had taken him, and the shelter named him Atlas.
From the beginning the volunteers fell in love with his will to live, he would purr at your touch, struggle to stand when he was so weak it was impossible, his pleading eyes motivated all of us to give him our very best.
The long road to treatment began with the elimination of the obvious problems, he seemed to respond, then take two steps backward. Each treatment or test seemed to only present another problem; bloodwork finally indicated he was diabetic.
Atlas started a conservative dose of 1 unit of insulin twice a day. A foster home with an experienced feline diabetic caregiver was located. No one knew how long this orange tabby had to live, but his new mom took him, "for however long he had left."
It was already March and he only weighed 6 pounds, not much more than when he came into the shelter. It was determined he needed surgery; however the little guy was too weak for surgery. A day and a half later he would stop eating, and was taken to the ER by his foster mom. Once there he was fed with a syringe and IV fluids given. The emergency vet said he had only a 50/50 chance for survival. Another guardian angel stepped forward for him at this point, Dr. Topham the ARF veterinarian.
You see, if Atlas was to live, risky surgery needed to happen NOW, as an abdominal infection was interfering with his insulin regulation. After 5 weeks at the clinic, he was returned to his foster home to continue his long journey to recovery (8 Units of insulin N twice a day).
As his health improved his insulin needs declined, he gained weight and was soon pushing 8, 9, 10, and 13 pounds. He began to play, snuggle and his personality blossomed.
Feline diabetes when caught early enough and properly treated need not be a death sentence nor a burden, it's extremely treatable and feline diabetics can go on to live long and happy lives.
Despite having to be poked and prodded several times every day for his insulin injections, Atlas remains a joyful, loving cat who lives life to the fullest every day. We were elated when his foster mom, Beth adopted Atlas. We at Berea Animal Rescue love him dearly and consider Atlas to be one of our greatest success stories. We live our pledge to be a No Time Limit Shelter.
Today Atlas is at 2u of Lantus BID
The shelter was here to film Atlas and tell his story today. Post filming discussions were recorded and both Feline Diabetes.com and Diabetic Cats in Need, were mentioned and cited by the shelter cat advocate.
I believe my shelter has learned a lot from this horrible experience. And I know for a fact that recent events in my area prompted them to contact me again...and DCIN to act in intervention to a young cat who the owner desired the cat to be surrender due to diabetes.
As of right now the cat is still in his home and being treated.
