I saw your site and completely understand the pain and frustration you are experiencing. God bless you. I have lost three Maine Coons to HCM. Two with sudden death like your sweet boy, Thorin.
Actually, sudden death is kind when compared with congestive heart failure and saddle thrombus like one of my boys experienced. He and I went through hours of horror and tremendous pain before he died, all of those hours were spent at the emergency clinic and the vet's who performed the echo. It was the most traumatic event of my life. I still feel the pain as if it happened yesterday and I know I'll never get over losing him that way.
It sounds as if you loved Thorin very much. I hope you will feel better soon and will be able to find another special boy like Thorin one day.
I encourage you to talk with lots of breeders/fanciers about HCM and pedigrees, and read all you can about it. It's very possible that Thorin may have lived longer with early diagnosis and treatment, but it's not a certainty. Many medicated cats also die.
I enjoyed reading about Thorin and I agree that he was one fabulous cat, not to mention beautiful. You did a good job describing how special he was and paying him tribute. I feel like I knew him.
German Breeder
I found your website today and it is so sad to hear that you lost your beloved cat Thorin with that terrible HCM disease.
I'm a German maine coon breeder and very interested in keeping away with my breeding lines from HCM risky pedigrees but it is so hard in the cat fancy to get info of HCM affected maine coons.
Most breeders makes lies about this, but only honest breeders can help other breeders to avoid buying breeding cats from risky lines.
I have two HCM positive neuters too, I bought them in Germany from "reputable" breeders too and is was just the same reaction of the breeders, they both were not interested in the heart disease of their cats, there was no help, no comfort and their only sorrow was that I could make this HCM disease of my both affected cats public...
There was no interest in the cats, just interested in keeping their catterynames clean.
It is hard to explain and to find the wright words in another language, but I was very sad and disappointed in the behaviour of the breeders of my two HCM cats.
But compared with your sad destiny I'm still on the lucky side and my two cats with the ill heart are still alive and I hope I can share many years in the future with my two lovely furr-monsters :-)
I hope you can find comfort with the time goes by and maybe there will be place in your heart for another cat one time in the future. We both made very bad experiences with not serious breeders, but there are other breeders too who are more interested in breeding healthy cats, which go for heart screening test with their breeding cat and who breed more honest and more serious.
Sorry for my bad English and many condolences for Thorin, we will all meet him one day over the rainbowbridge...
Best regards from Germany
OurMaineCoonCat.com
**WE WOULD LIKE TO MAKE AN IMPORTANT NOTE:
THORIN HAS *NO CONNECTION* TO OAKENSHEILD'S Maine Coon's in The Netherlands. Who, By the way, does quite extensive testing to prevent genetic diseases.
Jen Harris
Wow! As a Maine Coon owner I cannot imagine the heartbreak you must have gone through to loose one of these amazing cats so early. Thank you for sharing your experience so we can all become informed. These Gentle Giants will change your life forever & I can no longer imagine life without my Maine Coon Cat curled up beside me with his beautiful tail tightly wrapped around his body.