We recently had to put down our kitten Zeus due to Feline Infectious Peritonitis. He was just one week shy of being 9 months old when we had to do it; he was approximated to have a birthdate of 4th of July. He was a Maine Coon or Maine Coon Mix; although he showed every single character trait of a purebred Maine Coon. He had a rough start on life; he was found by a family hiking in the woods. He was so small and malnourished; the family wasn't sure he would survive when they took him home. The family turned him over to a local no-kill shelter because they were not able to keep him because they already had too many pets. The shelter got him back to health, which included 3 surgeries on his stomach. Once he was able to be adopted, they posted his profile on their website; which we found one day while browsing after we decided we were ready to adopt. We went to the shelter and the moment we held him we knew he was for us! We took him in and after about a week, we had a follow-up call with the shelter to see how he was doing and everything was going fine. They did inform us that the family ended up coming back for him because they changed their mind and wanted to keep him; sadly for them, WE GOT HIM!! :) For about 4 months, he was with our family before he was diagnosed; within a month, we had to let him go. It was a sad day for us and the hardest decision we had to come to terms with; in the end, we knew it was for him, he was in obvious pain. To this day, he is still just as much of our family as ever, even if it is just in our memories. We love him and miss him dearly.

I have attached a photo of Zeus; it is one of our favorites and was taken before he was diagnosed. His I.D. tag has been made into a keychain for myself and goes everywhere with me. Although he had a rough start, we hope he had a peaceful end.

We thank Dr. Norstrem and the entire staff at Crestwood Animal Hospital for taking such good care of him and our other fur-babies.
-R. Kerschner and D. Spicer

Rhiana K.