Seth

Dearest SETH,

We got to share an extra 71 days with you, 71 days that we were not supposed to have. Thank-you for fighting so hard that we had those extra days, i just wish i had been able to find a cure so that all of your fighting was not in vain.

On April 25, 2005 I rushed our cat Seth to the vet's. He had bloated up and was not acting like himself. Our vet could not figure out what was going on. His chest had filled with fluid and the fluid had started to leak into his belly. The vet's thought at that point he only had 2 - 3 days to live. To begin with they thought it was FLV, but the tests came back clean. Then they thought it was cancer, so we paid to have special cancer med's brought in. The med's didn't work. Through this whole time Seth fought. The cat that was supposed to live only 2-3 days kept going and going. He ran, he played, he cuddled, he still got into everything. The vet kept saying that if we didn't know any better, they wouldn't think he was sick.

On the first day that Seth was sick, the opinion had been thrown out there that this could be heart failure. But no one could see why a healthy cat of 4 1/2 years would be experiencing heart failure. When none of the treatments were working to heal him, our vets pulled a lot of favors and were able to get us into the best ultrasound and cardio vet in Canada. We took Seth down to Calgary on June 30/ 2005. There we finally got our answere. Seth had a very rare condition. He was experiencing right sided heart failure. For some reason the right side of the heart stops being muscle and starts turning into fatty tissue. The same condition exists in humans as in the cat. There is no cure, no idea how to reverse or stop the damage done to the heart, and no way of knowing what causes it.

We brought Seth home from Calgary. He was still Seth, though now we knew his time was coming and nothing, short of a heart transplant, would stop what was to happen next.

On July 3, 2005, just days after finding out what was wrong with him, Seth lost his battle. He fought so hard through those 71 days, he stayed long enought so that we knew what was taking him from us.

I miss him still everyday and i can't stop crying tonight as i write this. I wish there had been a cure, i wish i had more time, i wish i had loved him even more. He was my little boy and i will always love him.

Seth sent my husband and i and his kitty siblings a gift though. 1 1/2 months after he passed the vet called asking if we wanted another kitten. Tommy acts so much like Seth, it scares me sometimes. And i don't know if Seth has come back, or if he is just letting me know that he is okay and that everything will be fine, but i know something is up.

I'm glad we fought so hard for Seth. We spared no expense. I know in my heart that no matter what i did, God wanted my little boy, and that is one power you just can't beat.

I'll see you soon Seth. I love you and miss you terribley!

Love always, your Mommy