Tabby’s Place is known for accepting cats in dire circumstances, and Achilles was in a desperate situation indeed when he arrived here just before Christmas of 2013. He was terribly emaciated (despite being fully grown, he weighed less than five pounds). But even worse was the severe laceration running almost the entire length of one hind leg. It was so bad that we couldn’t even do surgery to close the wound at first, as there wasn’t enough skin to close it. Our staff did multiple bandage changes per week for months until the leg wound could be closed surgically.

Post-surgery complications kept Achilles in our hospital until just recently (it’s August 12, 2014 as I write this). He’s now recovered enough to live in one of our suites. The affected hind leg has atrophied slightly during his lengthy recovery period, but we believe that the ability to walk around his suite (and climb, jump, etc.) will be very valuable to Achilles, though it’s possible that he’ll experience a slight decrease in range of motion for that leg. We think his recovery will be greater because he’s not elderly (we believe he was born sometime in 2009).

Achilles is a handsome brown tabby boy. He was terrified of people when he came to us, as you’d expect. He remains quite frightened, but we have had to handle him a good deal during his time with us, and he’s made some good progress with having humans around him. He adores wet food and treats, and he enjoys having his chin scratched, as well. We believe he’d be best off in a home without young children, though, and right now we’re not certain how he is around other felines.

Achilles will require an adopter with a lot of patience, but we’re confident that there’s a wonderful companion animal under his fear. He’s had a very bad time of it, and we’re searching for a special someone who can love him just as he is and give him lots of TLC. Could that be you?