That happened to my older cat, too. also got him when I was five, he lasted until I was 22, living out of state... the summer heat got to be too much, and the next time I went home it was like... wow. Nothing here makes sense now.

I'm sorry about your girl... it's a really rough thing to go through, and harder when you're in school, trying so hard to be diligent and focused, and then you get a phone call like that and everything goes out the window...