We lost a pet :(

In Memory of Diesel
(March 15 2007 - Jan 3 2008)

Today has been a rough day for us. For the last few days Diesel started acting off. He was gagging and coughing like crazy and lost his appetite. We tried everything we could to treat what we thought was a hair ball but nothing would work. Today I tried again to help him with it and he was in a lot worse condition. He couldn't breathe hardly at all. His gums were blue and he was drooling really badly. At one point I thought I lost him then because he started defecating uncontrollably which is a sign of death or dying. But he crawled to his normal sleeping/hiding spot and calmed himself enough and I guess kept fighting. When Tim got home from work we immediately called the local vets, of course us living in a small town and it being Saturday all of the vets close to us closed at 12. So Tim called an emergency vet in Charleston that is open 24 hours, even on holidays. They told us to bring him right in so we did. When we got there they took him back immediately and before I finished the paperwork they asked if they could do Xray's. About an hour later that asked me, Tim and Candy to come into a room and the vet, Dr. Flemming, told us that he had bad news. He showed us the Xray and said that it wasn't at all a hair ball but a disease called Feline Infectious Peritonitis. Which is fatal in all cases with no treatment or ways of preventing it. Its something that the vet said was caught by his mother most likely when he was born. Diesel had only 20% lung capacity when we got there. 1 lung was completely filled with fluid and the other was almost completely filled. He wouldn't have survived the night. Even though it wasn't something we caused or could have prevented and he was born with it. It still doesn't make us feel any better. We had no choice but to euthanize him because he was in complete agony. After we said our goodbye's we stayed in the room until the end, then we decided to bring him home and have a burial here. They wrapped him up for us safely and when we got home Tim dug him a grave and we said our goodbye's again. Diesel was Tim's best friend. He was really really attached to that cat and spoiled him unconditionally. He meant a lot to both of us because we rescued him and raised him from 4 weeks old. We wouldn't trade anything for the few months we had for him but we wish we could have spent a lifetime with him instead of this. He wasn't even a year old yet. :( Tim's taking it especially hard. I am asking everyone to keep us in your prayers please.
Because this is the 2nd cat we have lost since we have been together, and because of the way we had to lose Diesel and the disease he has which is contagious for all cats.. We have decided NOT to adopt anymore cats. Since it can be transmitted through anything Diesel was around we have decided that it would be a risk to bring any more cats here because they could catch it and then we would be doing this again which is not something we want. This was one of the hardest things we have ever been through.
I will never forget this cat, he was such a blessing in our lives. He was such a good boy full of spunk and love, and I have NEVER been around a cat as smart and loving as he was, especially for a cat born in the wild. He will be missed and I pray that one day Tim and I can be greeted by his big loud meows and kitty kisses when we finally reach those big pearly gates.