Achilles @1997 - 2012
Achilles @1997 - 2012
We first saw Achilles, with his beautiful green eyes, as an adoption poster at the old Food Court court at Osan AB, back in early 2002. The owners had to give him up because the husband came down with leukemia, and the doctors were afraid that Achilles might cause him complications. After a little bit of deliberation, Brenda and I decided to bring him home to meet Linus and Lucy.
When we first got Achilles home, it seemed things were going to go OK, but when Lucy saw him, she realized this wasn't Linus, and let us know she wasn't happy. Linus, however, took to him immediately and became a buddy to him. Lucy, over time, learned to pretty much ignore him.
Although Lucy didn't care much for Achilles, Most of the others did. Achilles seemed to get along with all the other newcomers.
Achilles looks on with amusement as a very tiny Flea tackles a tomato. Flea enjoyed playing with Achilles, and I think he missed her when she passed away in 2010.
Achilles, along with the others, loves to sleep on the bed, although sometimes he misbehaved, which caused him to be banished from the bedroom at times.
He loved sleeping in boxes, and sometimes shared them. Here he is sharing an MRE box that has an empty back pack as bedding with Ginger.
When Linus passed away in 2011, Achilles became a bit of a recluse. He slept on the bed a lot, but during the summer of 2011, started sleeping in a box on a small table we had in the video room. The box was filled with crumpled paper, and it seemed he liked to nestle into it he also became less tolerant of the other cats, especially the new additions, Smokey and Oliver.
Achilles always had this sad look about him. I guess it was the markings.
Although he ate well, he had lost a bit of weight in the last couple of years. He seemed to be doing pretty good until a couple of weeks ago. We noticed that his tummy was a bit bloated, although he didn't seem to be in pain, and was eating and drinking well. We took him to a local vet, who did some tests and noticed that he appeared dehydrated, especially along the spine and ribs. She thought maybe he had a little constipation. We went home and awaited the results. They came back negative. But his tummy continued to swell a bit, and we brought him back in. This time, X-rays showed fluid was building up in his abdomen. We knew that this would probably mean FIP, Feline Infectious Peritonitis, which is what Linus passed away from in 2011. The vet used a syringe and drained about a half cup of clear fluid from his lower abdomen. She sent that in for a test. A couple of days later, the results came back positive. We brought him back in a few days later to remove more fluid from his abdomen, as he was eating and drinking well, but his tummy was getting bloated and tight again. This time, almost 2 cups of water was removed. Achilles stopped eating that night, although he was still drinking a lot of water. It as obvious by Friday that this was going to be a losing battle, and soon he would stop drinking. After a long sleepless night, we decided to take Achilles in to the vet's office Saturday, for the last time. He was not in pain yet, but his green eyes asked us not to let him continue as he soon would be.
Achilles didn't complain when we took him in. He meowed only a little when we put him in the carrier, and purred when we petted him. When we took him out at the vet's, he didn't struggle. He sat calmly, then laid slightly on his side as the vet hooked up the IV. He was then gently sedated, then put to sleep, purring, which faded in a few minutes with his heart. He was at peace at last.
Goodbye, Old Man. You will be missed.
