In Memory of Ashes Larabie 11/02/06





At 9:15 this morning Ashes died peacefully with me stroking her forehead and letting her know how much she was loved. Late last night she had some kind of episode and wasn't able to stand up for more than a few seconds. Corey & I took turns holding her on our laps & keeping her warm with the bed buddy (has rice in it & you heat it in the micro...holds heat a long time). For a while she just snuggled & purred. About 12:30'ish she had a seizure of sorts while on my lap and after that wasn't focusing on anything with her eyes or responding to noises. We knew this was the end. We laid her down on a fleece blanket on the floor next to our bed & said good bye in case she didn't make it through the night. This morning she was still on the blanket and made her first pitiful (confused? scared?) meow/cry. We snuggled with her some more and called the vet. We told the kids the time had come to say good bye and Morgan asked to come with me. Corey offered to come but he had meetings that I didn't want to ask him to miss so he said good bye at home. The vet examined her and said it wasn't a stroke but he felt kidney failure and the toxins building up were causing everything else to shut down & causing neurological problems. He said he felt we had timed it just right based on what I said happened & when. He said she wasn't in pain but would be a very miserable kitty within a day if we had tried waiting it out. He said her symptoms resulting from the kidney failure were severe. Morgan said her good byes and decided she didn't want to be in the room when she received the injection. I stayed. It was honestly as peaceful as you could ask for. She was ready, my sweet baby kitty. A huge part of my life has been affected and a "era" is over. The decision itself wasn't hard. How could I let her suffer? What kind of mama would that be? But oh my goodness, it doesn't make it hurt any less. She was my first baby. I got her when she was 1 day old, bottle fed her, and was her mama. She was very much a member of our family. She will be remembered with love and happy memories. I had 18 wonderful years with her. She moved with me to Potsdam and gave Corey quite a fight before accepting him. Once she did though she bacame a "daddy's girl" and wrapped him around her paw. ;-) She adapted well each time we moved, including this last move to Tennessee. Pretty good for an old lady kitty. As she got older she became more and more the character. She took to "begging" when we ate and felt like she deserved the people food as much as we did. When we moved to the house & got a real dining table she quickly learned that it meant FOOD. If we sat down (even for games) she would wander over and meow to see if we had anything to share. She had a great, long life full of love and she gave as much as she received. She will be missed.