Ten

His face haunted me as I made plans for his transport. The words "starved to near death" were not strong enough to describe his appearance. We named him "Ten" for 2010, but the "perfect 10" he would become.

Our first priority was to provide supportive bedding for his emaciated condition and to slowly introduce a proper diet to allow him to keep his food down. He was fed tablespoons of food with yogurt throughout the day with added medications and supplements. The demodectic mange and resulting secondary infections had not only destroyed him externally but had invaded him internally as well. We had to attack the infection, but also provide the nourishment to allow the medications to work. We kept a warm water bottle under his bedding as he was constantly chilled from the lack of fur and open sores. We bathed him every three days in an attempt to debride his skin. Each day was a gift as he held on to life and we held on to him.

Two weeks after rescue I was cleaning his skin, and I began to sing a silly song. He began to slowly wag his tail. Though I know in my head the glisten in his eyes were from the return of tear production, my heart tells me we both were sharing tears of joy. From that moment on each day was a milestone, and today he has exceeded all of our expectations. Indeed, he is a perfect "Ten."