Smokey and Rat must have been soul sisters.
 

And shared secrets.
Unless there's a special telepathic bond for kitties who aren't all there.

Rat suffered from epilepsy for most of the 15 years she gifted us with her
presence.
We took every measure possible to prevent her seizures, they could be
extremely violent and at the very beginning so frequent she could suffer one
every couple of minutes. Thanks to her Dr she was diagnosed and medicated
hours after she had her first fit.
She could escape fits for weeks but over time that required medicating her
every 3 to 4 hrs, night *and* day.
For years I slept a couple of hours at most in a stretch, twice most nights
if lucky, could barely leave her side, she was a frequent car passenger, but
it was that or say our permanent goodbyes. No way, with proper care her life
was still worth living, she was my little treasure. This summer, very
suddenly and incredibly rapidly, her body completely gave out, and I can't
say that my heart or my body have recovered yet - or that they ever will.
Losing her I lost part of who I was, who she made me, I believe a better
person, even if she did it in a different way than the others.

For her safety she was eventually moved permanently to the bedroom, where
she also had the "run" of the adjoining room.
My little Rat's activities were limited, as well as her mental abilities,
she only needed a spot to sleep and enough space to run after herself in
circles, litterally.
She took very well to her new lodgings and would always sleep on my lap, or
my hip, on top of the duvet.
The epilesy also stole the mental power required to figure out if she was
too hot or too cold, or what to do about it, so I had to decide that for
her. Hence during the cold winter months, she would be "shoved" under the
duvet.
Now add to those facts that, during intense epileptic fits, our sweet
squirrel-looking pussy cat could lose control of a full bladder while
seizing violently, it's not hard to predict what measures we had to
implement - no one likes to sleep in the wet spot.

For her own comfort as well as ours, we had to find an adequate solution to
remove all traces of her rolling in her own urine.
We started with showers, I don't know if she even realised she was soaking
wet, but the shower head wasn't powerfull enough to remove the stench from
her.
It evolved into some sort of spa session involving some long deep massages
and a long soak in kitty shampoo, then what followed surprised us.
It was more than a success, it was wonderful for Rat, the best discovery
possible/best thing that could have happened to her, short of a cure.
In this little plastic box, where both her and my forearm would fit
perfectly, I'd position myself so she could rest her head in the fold of my
elbow, it also prevented her from getting a mouthful of soapy bathwater or
drowning in it, the rest of her body submerged in hot fragrant water, my
hand securing her bum.
She would be so relaxed she would end up floating and often fell asleep,
what a reward for both of us.
It was really incredible, almost magical and so unforeseeable, especially
for this little one who could be so tense due to her condition.
After seing her in a such an extreme fit where all her muscles were so
intensly contracted it looked extremely painful - even if her brains were
fried enough that she would not register it all, it was still so
heartbreaking to witness, I felt truly privileged to be able to share this
moment and provide her with some well deserved relief - something even her
medication couldn't reproduce, not even close.
After a nice nap in her bath she'd get towel dried, blowdried - I don't
think she completely registered the hair dryer either - despite loud noises
being one of her triggers, then swaddled [another odd but positive
discovery] and taken to bed, where she would have part 2 of some of the most
peaceful naps I've ever seen her enjoy.
The only downside to the baths was that they couldn't be too frequent or
she'd get a U.T.I., it happened only twice but it was another reason to feel
sorry for her.

She endured everything life threw at her very gracefully in her situation,
but most of all, never showed any sign of aggressivity, she was never mean
and still managed to be a happy cat, in between fits.
Sorry it was so long, but thank you very much for letting me share her story
and leave a permanent mark in digital history of how unique and truly
wonderful Rat was.