Help Morris the Cat After His Scary Ordeal

Help us save Morris the cat! Morris is a sweet orange tabby cat that showed up on our property on 11/21/24 with a can firmly stuck on his head. He was limp and didn't start to move until I picked him up and walked with him for a few steps. I quickly realized that I was not able to get the can off myself. I called our local vet and said I was heading over there with him. Once I got there, it was determined that he would need to be put under for the can removal. That was done, and we discovered that he didn't seem injured except for scratches on his ears and chin. He got his rabies and FVRCP and came back home with us. All of this totaled about $180. We made several social media posts, but no one claimed Morris, so he became a member of our family.

About a week or so later, we noticed that Morris had loose stools, and we took him to the local vet for a once-over and a fecal. No parasites were seen in the fecal sample, and he seemed otherwise healthy, so we assumed it was just him getting used to being on a steady diet of healthy cat food.

Fast forward to the period between Christmas and New Year's. We started to notice Morris drinking a lot of water, urinating frequently, and being very hungry. He also seemed to be losing weight after the can incident. We called around to several vets trying to get him in to be seen, but we were told it would be 7-14 days before he could get in anywhere. Sadly, New Mexico has a severe shortage of veterinary professionals.

On January 2, 2025, Steve called me at work and said Morris had taken a turn for the worse and was getting very lethargic. I told him to bring Morris to Mosaic Animal ER, and I would meet them there. Unfortunately, it was a busy night at the ER, including a dog that had been hit by a car, and it was about 4 hours before Morris was seen. I thought he might pass away before they got to him. In fact, I pulled him out of the crate because he had gotten so lethargic and his breathing so shallow that I couldn't tell if he was still alive in there. So Steve and I held him until they could see him.

Once the vet on duty was able to see him, everyone was very prompt and sympathetic. As I had begun to suspect, Morris was diabetic. Unfortunately, not only was Morris diabetic, he was also in diabetic ketoacidosis. Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a serious complication of diabetes that occurs when the body does not have enough insulin to use glucose for energy. Without insulin, the body breaks down fat for fuel, producing acidic substances called ketones. Without treatment, DKA eventually leads to death. The vet said Morris would likely need to be hospitalized for 2-4 days to reverse the DKA. During that time, he would need IV insulin and continuous monitoring. Shockingly, the cost is estimated to be $3,000-$6,500.

We don't have that kind of money, and Morris wasn't yet insured. In fact, I was thinking about canceling the insurance for our other pets because the rates have gotten so high. But I couldn't bear to let Morris suffer or put him to sleep because of what is a very manageable condition once controlled. So out came the credit card. Please help us save Morris. Anything collected over and above Morris's end bill will be used to start a rescue. Just in the past year or so, we have taken in 3 animals (Morris and two pitbull mixes) that were dumped near us and left to fend for themselves.