UPDATE ON BERLIN:

My vet called me tonight at 5:30pm to tell me that Berlin was getting worse as the afternoon went on and that I need to move him to Animal Emergency as they have 24 hour medical services and they didn't.

I went and picked up Berlin from my vet and talked to him the whole way to Animal Emergency. He cried like he normally does when I call his name. He was responsive and purred the whole way. I was warned that the stress of moving him could kill him and I figured if he was purring and crying he was still alive.

We get to Animal Emergency and since they knew we were coming they took Berlin immediately from me.

Upon taking him out of the box he went into respiratory failure and stopped breathing. The doctors did CPR on him and revived him quickly (which they say is a good sign). He immediately started purring (thank goodness).

Berlin is currently in an oxygen cage and has been diagnosed with heart disease. The next 48 hours will be critical, if he survives.

The doctor gave me a funny statistic - they have a 75% success rate on CPR but those that are revived only 4% walk out of the hospital.

The doctor and I together made a decision to continue forward on medical services as long as Berlin isn't suffering.

Berlin has a rough night ahead of him, I hope he hangs in there.

Luckily, Animal Emergency is only 30 seconds from my house.

I didn't know they could do CPR on cats. I learned something new today. I never thought a 6 year old cat could have heart disease either.

It hit Alex earlier tonight that Berlin was most likely not going to make it through the night and he was very sad and empathetic to me. Alex has never had a pet and never experienced the death of a pet. It in no way can be compared to losing a human life (Alex's father passed away 12 years ago) but it is still very hard.

This so completely sucks.