We said goodbye to Chloe this morning

I mentioned that she had chronic kidney disease and high blood pressure. She did pretty well the first week after she was diagnosed, although a lot of that probably had to do with the IV fluids they gave her. And initially she was all about eating the new special kidney food.

But that didn't last and by Wednesday this week, I could see that she'd dropped more weight. Since she really had nothing to lose, she looked like a bag of bones. And also on Wednesday she stopped eating her new wet food.

Now if you knew Chloe, then you'd know what a departure that was for her. That girl loved her canned food, it was the highlight of her day and she made sure we knew it was time to feed her, usually a couple of hours before it actually was time to feed her.

Then yesterday I realized she wasn't drinking either. Chloe has always loved going into the shower after I'm done and licking up the water on the floor. Only yesterday she just perched there, not drinking. And she would always come watch me fill up the cat water fountain every day and then drink up. Only she was watching but not drinking.

Honestly she was so lethargic last night that I wasn't sure she would make it through the night. Since we leave tomorrow for a family reunion, I knew we needed to do the right thing by her. I've always promised her that when it was time to go, I would be there with her and I would love her enough to make that decision.

Kent and I were with her. She was on my lap on the bright pink crocheted blanket that was always her favorite. The vet completely agreed with our assessment of where she was. In fact when he gave her the sedative to relax her before the second final injection and she didn't complain at all or even twitch, he said this was absolutely the right time and the right decision.

So she had that peaceful, painless death. We said our goodbyes, paid the bill and now we're seeing our old girl out of the corners of our eyes. I know it will be that way for a while.

Rest in peace, Chloe Kitty Cat (1999--2019).