Early this morning our two-year old Maine Coon mix, Kenshin, started
making weird noises, gasping for breath and lost use of his two hind
legs.  We rushed him to the Michigan State University Small Animal
Clinic where he was diagnosed as having congestive heart failure.  We
already knew of the possibility of a murmur that the vets weren't sure
they could do anything about other than take a wait and see approach
to.  Vet had told us about a year ago that heart problems aren't
uncommon in cats, but that usually this sort of problem happens without
warning and that you don't know something's wrong until it's too late
to fix.  Anyway, apparently a clot broke through and went to his legs,
causing them to not work.  He was in a lot of distress and discomfort.
With other options being less than optimistic, emergency vets advised
us the best thing to do was to be humane and put him out of his misery.
We know we did the right thing, but it doesn't make it hurt any less.
At their request, we donated his body to the Vet College for heart
research, hoping our little guy might somehow help other kitties down
the road.

Bye-bye Kenshin.  We'll always love you, Angel Kitty.