The End

Roadie took a turn. She wasn't able to jump up on the couch any more, she was almost falling over walking. She wasn't purring any more, or "wipering" on the door window, or eating much, and her eyes didn't look clear and alert any more. She would look at me, and just stare at me, she always used to do that but usually she would look...perky.  Now she just looked at me, and her eyes looked duller, sadder.  You can see the individual bones in her back end and spine.  She was always okay before, she wasn't okay this last week.  But yesterday and today it got obvious.  So I called, and the vet clinic had an opening today at 4:45 before they closed, that they said we could come in.  I talked to Kaylee, and she wanted to be there.  So I gave Roadie some squirt whipped cream, which is a treat she's always loved, and she licked it off my fingers until she was done.  Then we wrapped her in a soft blanket because it's so cold outside and she's got no cushion, and Kaylee held her, and we drove to Greentown to the vet clinic place.  They were super compassionate and sweet.  I paid up front so we could just leave afterwards, and they came in and gave her a sedative first.  They asked questions about her, talked to her, petted her, called her a sweetheart, and were complete opposites of Dr. Doom, which is why we went here for this.  They asked if we needed to leave, and I said no, we were there to be there with her.  It's a cop out when people leave. They are making it about it being hard for them, instead of being there for their dying loved one.  You can be sad later, but I don't get how people can just leave and let them die alone.  Anyway, the vet and the assistant were both super loving, and they both had tears in their eyes.  When it was time to give the final shot, the vet put her hand on roadie's head, petted her softly, and then said "Good night, sweetheart, rest well".  They stayed and listened to her heartbeat, and then said we could take as much time as we wanted.  When the assistant left, she stopped and said "I'll be right down the hall and I'll keep an eye out for you, so that when you leave, I'll come back in here with her.  So she won't be alone."  Those two made both me and Kaylee tear up more than even what we were doing. Their compassion and gentleness meant a lot, and that's why we drove her all the way to Greentown.  We stayed for awhile even after she was gone, and hugged in the room, and talked for a bit, and then headed out.  As we were walking out, we saw the assistant heading back for the room to be with her.

When we left, we stopped at Hydration Station to get a drink, and Steve texted and asked how we were doing.  He'd left the airport, and he was worried about Kaylee, so he actually drove over to Hydration Station to see us and check on us. 

We all feel weird not having her here now.  We still shut our door so she won't disappear under our bed, and we took all her food and brushes to give to Michelle for other cats.  I poured water on one of her pee pads on the deck just to give Steve something to do in memory of her.  She was a sweet cat, a good cat, and we Are sad that she's gone.  

The last two pictures I took of her