Please give the biggest warm hello to the superstar that is…Roberto!
Every donation you give, however small, makes a huge difference to our animals, and we’d like to tell you about Roberto’s Fundraiser.
Roberto is hoping you can help the SAA continue to look after him and to help lots of other cats by raising awareness that FIP can now be treated successfully.
Jo, one of our Animal Carers, explains why we’re fundraising for Roberto…
“Roberto came into our care mid March (pictured) after a private vet asked us for help to take on a cat needing cage rest for a newly repaired broken leg, Roberto had been found as a stray with a very painful swollen leg. The private vets he was taken to treated had repaired his broken leg.
Roberto soon won over everyone’s hearts. Six weeks passed and he went back to the vets for his post-op check. He passed with flying colours, his leg was healing really well and he could now move onto room rest and slowly increase his exercise and finally think about finding his forever home…until just 7 days later he began to act strangely.”
He was showing slight neurological signs and just wasn’t his usual chatty self. We took him to the vets, he had a fever and was a little painful around his head, the vets ran some bloods which didn’t really tell us much at that point. He came back to the sanctuary on some anti-inflammatories and was closely monitored.
Sadly things rapidly deteriorated from there, just 3 days later on 7th May he was admitted to the vets as he had become more neurological, more painful especially around his abdomen and had become anorexic. More bloods were taken and an ultrasound of his abdomen was performed.
The vets suspected either toxoplasmosis or FIP. He was started on antibiotics and pain relief and samples were taken to send off to the lab for diagnosis. Whilst at the vets Roberto continued to deteriorate despite receiving supportive and intensive care. Our team back at SAA did lots of research into FIP and with the support of our vets and a specialist FIP group we decided we needed to start Roberto on FIP treatment asap as he was deteriorating so quickly and we just didn’t have the time to wait a week or 2 for confirmation from the lab.
Roberto started his FIP treatment journey on 11th May. Until recently FIP was seen as a death sentence, no licensed treatment was available. But now, although expensive, there is a treatment available, a treatment which has been proven to be successful.
Prior to his treatment, Roberto could not stand, he was extremely ataxic and wasn’t eating for himself, he was being closely monitored by the vets for seizures and was on iv fluids, he had also lost alot of weight going down to just 3.03kg. Although he was so poorly he was calm and settled albeit mostly ‘away with the fairies’. Day 2 of treatment and he was pretty much the same, on fluids, ataxic and only taking small amounts of syringe feeds, he was stable.
Day 3 he started chatting to the nurses who were treating him, he was still pretty out of it but showing very small improvements. On day 5 of treatment 2 of our team from SAA went to visit him at the vets and we were amazed by his progress, he was standing on his own, he was engaging with us and actively wanting to eat some cooked chicken! Day 7 of treatment and he was discharged from the vets, eating ravenously and walking around, a little wobbly but walking!
He has continued to go from strength to strength, he has gained over 1kg in 4 weeks, at his lightest he was 3.03kg and he now weighs 4.24kg. He has just had his 4 weeks check up blood test and the vets are amazed with his progress.
Roberto is not out of the woods yet, and his treatment is extremely expensive, and we would really be thankful if you could donate to Roberto’s Fundraiser help bring that cost down for us”.
– Jo, Animal Carer – Society for Abandoned Animals.
Until recently FIP was seen as a death sentence, no licensed treatment was available. But now, although very expensive, there is a treatment available, a treatment which we are delighted to say is proving to be successful!”
Any amount you can give to Roberto’s Fundraiser is greatly appreciated by all of us at SAA (and Roberto ❤)
*Update 5th July 2023*
“Here’s a video of Roberto taken today, he’s still got a long way to go but he’s definitely turning back into his old cheeky monkey self. Thanks so much to everyone who’s donated to Roberto’s Fundraiser so far and made it possible to save our lovely Roberto. Anything you can spare to help us continue to pay for his treatment would be greatly appreciated”
– Holly, Animal Carer – Society for Abandoned Animals.
Click here if you would like to donate towards Roberto’s treatment.