Give Atlas a Chance to Heal and Thrive

For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Atlas! I am a 7 month old pitbull, you might know my parents Ariana Medina and Josh Sheltra.

I am a very good boy and love to play with my brother Adonis and cuddle on the couch with mom and dad.

About a month ago I was super bloated and very lethargic so my parents took me to the animal hospital on my dad’s birthday aka Valentine’s Day. It was found that my red blood cell, white blood cell and platelet count was very low. My liver enzyme levels were also super high. I stayed at the Central Animal Hospital in Guilford for 4 days while they tried to figure out what was wrong with me.

There was no clear diagnosis but the doctors thought my symptoms were the cause of Hepatozoonosis. This is a disease not commonly found in New England as I was born down south. After many sleepless nights and a bag full of prescriptions and treats and a large hotel bill, they let me go home!

My parents have been bringing me back every few days to see my friends at Central and get checked up to make sure I’m doing all good! Full blood scans and ultrasounds were the Dr orders I was feeling like myself again and started to play and eat normally.

Then again on March 4th I was super bloated and really tired again. My mom took me in a week before my next appointment because she was worried. After getting an ultrasound and blood labs it looked like my symptoms were no longer getting better but getting worse again.

All of my infectious disease labs finally came in negative. The checked my belly and found clear fluid from the liver. My blood cell count is very low, so I will need a blood transfusion on Monday and then surgery on Tuesday to see if my liver can be fixed.

My parents are having a really hard time keeping up with all of my vet visits and I know they want to do everything they can to try and make me better again so I can stay with them.

Anything would help, even if it’s a prayer or a share!

Thank you for taking the time to hear my story and I hope to have many more stories to share over the years.

I wanted to take the time out to share Atlas’s story because it has been a rough ride the last few months. We know that everyone is struggling and we would never normally do this. But insurance is considering this a pre existing condition and vet bills at this point after Monday’s upcoming visit will put us well over $25,000.

Again we do appreciate any love and support. If you can’t donate we completely understand. Just share this and send us some good luck for Atlas’s visit. And we will keep you updated.

Many of our friends and family have met atlas and know we care about him more than anything.