I Miss Him So Much!, Why him? Options

[missy]

Hello, this is my first post. I am so upset about the death of my sweet Opie.
Opie was a sweet flame point siamese cat. I got him 3 years ago as a kitten.
I had seen an ad on the internet to purchase this adorable little flame point kitten. I already had a one year old seal point and I thought the kitten would make for a good companion for her. The breeder was from out of town and she agreed to drop him off. When she arrived she quickly put the kitten in my cage out front of my building. I didn't get to see him until I got inside. When I opened the cage I was horrified to see a little kitten near death! He was skin and bones and couldn't breath! We rushed him to the vet and he spent 3 days in Intensive Care. Then we brought him home and syringe fed him every hour. He recovered! It was a miracle! Everyone at the vet office couldn't believe it, they really didn't think he would make it. He then grew strong and became the strongest cat I ever saw. Solid muscle. And the SMARTEST and MOST LOVING cat I ever met. He wanted to be held all the time. He was ALWAYS purring. He would lick your face like a dog. He was really like a dog in many ways. He waited by the door when I went out. He was still there waiting when I got home. He slept in my arms every night. IN MY ARMS. With our chests touching and his arms around my neck. I would wake up to him still there every morning. He knew a bunch of words. So very smart. He loved to play games. But most of all he loved me so much. I bought him to keep my other cat company, but he quickly out shined her and became the main focus of attention.
I did everything in my power to make sure he didn't get sick. I had already dealt with a cat who had diabetes. I had to give her insulin every 12 hours and then after 3 years of diabetes she passed away at age 10. I didn't want the same for Opie. I waited on him hand and foot. He would get me up at 6 for breakfast. I made sure nothing bad would ever happen to him. My boyfriend loved him so much too. He worried about Opie dying. I would reassure him that he would live to be 18 or so. Opie was so strong and healthy.
Then, out of nowhere this last December Opie started acting strangely. He would have these 'episodes" where he would hallucinate and become aggressive. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. I took him to the vet and he thought it was a behavior problem. I knew that wasn't it. He was having the episodes more and more frequently. I did some research on the net and thought they sounded like some sort of partial seizure. I looked up treatment and found that the medicine was very damaging for the liver. I decided that I would just live with him having these episodes every week. They got worse and I noticed his third eyelid was showing during and after them. I noticed he felt hot. Then a week and a half ago, I was woken up at 4 am to Opie having a grand mal seizure next to my bed!
It was surreal! I couldn't believe this was happening! It was my biggest fear. I worried that these episodes would turn into this, and they did! He carried on for the next four hours running around in circles and acting like something was hurting his head by flattening his ears and squinting his eyes and backing up. It was horrifying to see! I couldn't bare it. It was like he was going mad. He was also acting like he was in pain. I wanted to help him, but there was nothing I could do.
We rushed him to the vet right away in the morning. The vet said all they could do was try him on the meds, but it would be every 12 hours and that the meds would damage his liver. He also said that Opie would probably continue to have seizures since they were very aggressive happening every week. It would be a life long condition. Also, the meds would change his personality and make him sluggish and over weight. Liver problems were guarranteed
The thought of him going through all this, with the meds and still having seizures was too much. I read that they can die during a grand mal seizure because of many things like suffocating, heart attack, core body tempurature going up too high. I couldn't bare it, so we chose to have him put to sleep. I was in shock. Seriously in shock.
I had just seen this grand mal seizure and now he is being put to sleep.
I have been beside myself with grief ever since. I felt at the time it was the right decision because I didn't want him to suffer anymore...but of course you second guess yourself. I miss him so much I can't stand it.
Now the first cat is confused as to where he is. She keeps looking for him and this upsets me more.
I don't think I will ever be the same. I am so upset that a healthy beautiful special cat could be taken away from me at only 3 years old.

[janika]

Dear Missy

Firts of all let me say how sad I am for you with the loss of your darling Opie. He truly sounds such a little character who has had an extraordinary life with his dear Mummy, dad and kitty sister. How amazing that he recovered from his terrible problems as a baby and grew to be such a strong and wonderful companion for you all. Your relationship has been the best by the sounds of it and you will be feeling his loss so badly. Please know that I am thinking of you and sending love and prayers for you and your family. Opie is now free from all the horrible suffering that would have been his life living with these awful seizures and future liver problems. I know from experience as our black lab, Sooty suffered with Epilepsy and was on Phenobarbitone which eventually did cause his Liver to fail. His last day with us he had 7 massive seizures before we could get him seen by the vet, he left us on the journey there. I think if we'd known how his life would be living with this debilitating illness we would have been stronger and like you made the decision to end his suffering.I know you will feel so sad that you had to make the decision, but you did what was right for your sweet Opie, believe me. Just so sad that these things happen to our fur babies when they are so young, but just remember what a wonderful, and cherished life he had , he most probably had 20 years worth of love and companionship in his dear precious few years.
If you feel able it would be lovely to see a photo of your Opie and also your little girl kitty who will be feeling lost without her buddy. You will be a great comfort to each other.

Love Jan and My Angels and Pixie x

[missy]

Thank you so much for your kind words. It really helps me a lot.

Here is a picture when Opie was young with Lily his sister.
(Opie is the flame point, and Lily is the seal point)



Opie recently