Feline Saddle Thrombosis in my poor Cappuccino

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My Christmas tree story mentioning the sudden death of my young cat reminded me of the cause of his death. Well the cause of his death was euthanasia but the reason for it was because he had developed feline saddle thrombosis. What is that you ask. It is a blood clot that is thrown from the heart that winds up blocking the part of the artery where it splits to provide oxygenated blood to the hind limbs. It is extremely painful. I know this from research but also from the frantic meowing (almost screaming) from him while we were at home, during the drive to the vet, and while he was there until he was put down. I rescued that cat--an orange tabby that I named Cappuccino--from a wood pile with his brother when he was about 4 weeks old. They were completely feral and would hiss at me even at that age when I approached the dog crate I had them in to feed them or change their litter. After about a year the brother was adoptable and adopted. Cappuccino. . . not so much. He never caused problems and got along well with our other cats and all of the cats that we fostered. He would bolt though if a person approached him and seek refuge under our bed. Eventually over the years he would venture out of the bedroom more and even got to the point where he would sleep on the bed with us down by our feet. If we moved though BAM he was back under the bed. If he came out into the kitchen or front room and we closed the bedroom door he would absolutely flip out and start howling. We didn't do it to torture him but it was necessary when we had to apply flea treatment or trim his claws. By the time he was 5 or 5.5 years old he was finally confident enough to sleep on the bed closer to our heads so we could pet him. He would even snuggle up next to us. It has been awhile now so I don't remember if he purred while we did it. He had really made a lot of progress. On the last afternoon of his life I was taking a nap in bed after work. I remember he kept approaching me to be pet but I was exhausted and pushed him away. I eventually got up to start making dinner and that is when he started meowing and howling and freaking out. He ran under the bed and I had to flip the mattress off the bed to get to him. I called the vet and said "I don't care if you are closing in 15 minutes but I will be there in 30." The receptionist must have heard the cat screaming and said "okay". You know how it ended. I will always regret pushing Cappuccino away while napping when he just wanted to be pet.