In memory of Atlas 9/16/2019 – 9/23/2026
Atlas came to Shadow Cats from North Texas after being dumped on someone’s property. He was left out in the heat with no shade, food, or water for an unknown amount of time, after already being extremely skinny and unable to fend for himself. A Good Samaritan immediately wrapped him up and brought him home with them.
This boy was in extremely rough shape. At 6 years old and 6.5 pounds, he was so weak from malnourishment and dehydration he could barely walk. His paws were burnt from the asphalt, with nicks and scrapes all over, and so dazed it seemed like he had little to no vision. His name, Atlas, was given to him by his rescuer, for his strength and ability to carry the world on his shoulders. With a lot of fight still left in him, his rescuer knew he needed immediate help, but with no space in their home, nor the bandwidth to take on his care with all the other cats they were working on rescuing, they reached out to Shadow Cats.
Atlas was only with us for one week, but he got to experience the warmth of a full belly, the sound of birds from the TV we set up for him, and lots of love from people that cared for him. Despite his bad shape, he was so affectionate and sweet; standing in our laps making floor biscuits, and making his way around the circle of love we enveloped him in whenever we could.
We were all anticipating his recovery would come, up until his final day. But, unfortunately, this was not a state he could bounce back from. Once his testing results came back, we discovered he likely had cancer, pneumonia, or a respiratory infection, all of which required treatments his body could not handle. We are so sad that he never got the chance to thrive with us, meet so many other friends, and so many other people that loved him. But we hope the sliver of love he got from us carried him across that Rainbow Bridge, and we know there will be so many to take care of him over there.
We love you, Atlas, and we always will.
