Our Libby

I've had this post ready with {half of} the pictures for a week and I had first titled it, "The latest on Libby", well things changed for the worst in just a matter of days ... and as you all know by now, we said our final goodbyes to our Libby girl yesterday, April 28, 2016.

This picture was taken before she got the upper respiratory infection.

Libby was diagnosed with an overactive thyroid and began taking medication for it on 4/9/16. She weighed 5 lbs. Then on April 13th I noticed she had discharge coming from her right eye and her breathing was  labored. I took her back to the Vet and they said she had an upper respiratory infection. They gave her a shot for it. She had gained a few ounces since her last visit. She weighed 5.4 lbs.

She seemed to be improving. Her right eye cleared out and she looked better. She was still eating and walking around.

On April 26th is when things turned for the worse. I noticed she didn't eat her food. I even gave her tuna but only ingested the liquid. She would just lay down with her eyes open and not move. She would move spots often and at times she would go by the back window and meow and touch the window as in to tell me she wanted out. This is when I knew that she was close to dying. Cats like to be alone when they feel they're gonna die but I didn't want that to happen. I didn't want her to go outside and leave us without me knowing where she went. She was getting even more skinnier.
Sophie even came downstairs and sat next to Sydna while she was holding Libby and just stayed there. She didn't even tried bothering Libby. I'm sure she could sense that Libby wasn't well.

I spent all morning cuddling Libby the day before we took her to the vet for the last time. I cried and talked to her and told her I loved her.

She would occasionally look up at me then would put her head down. She barely had the energy to do that. This broke my heart.

Sydna also held her a lot the last few days.

I wanted to take a picture of her paws. I love how furry they were and I would constantly pull her fur gently. She would sometimes let me and other times she'll try to bite me. Her body was already starting to lose body heat. She felt very cold.

And here she is right in the middle of us the night before she passed. Sweet girl. She hardly moved. We had to carry her everywhere.

The last place she spend time at was in Nathan's room on his bed. We had her covered up and she just laid on her side, staring in the distance.

The following day we took her to the vet. It was so sad taking her out of our house for the last time while she was still breathing.

Riley got to touch her one last time.

And Jacob. Nathan was also with us but he just looked on, it was too much for him, for all of us.

I couldn't stop crying. I told her it was ok to go and just before they took her to the back room to administer the shot to put her down I told her I would see her later and that I loved her. It's such a heart wrenching feeling to know that she would soon take her last breath.

The vet did say that because she had not bounced back from taking her thyroid medication that she had been on for about three weeks, she suspected that Libby may have had cancer from what she could see and because she had not eaten in three days and deteriorated so quickly she said that she already was having liver failure.
I didn't want her to suffer any longer this is why we knew that it was best to put her down. I just couldn't believe that this is how she was going to leave us.

Losing Libby was the hardest experience we've gone through as a family. She was our very first pet death. We love her so much.
She died at 12:00 pm on April 28, 2016 .... Jacob's birthday. I told him it was fitting given that he was the one who picked her out at the shelter when we adopted her.
We all miss her and we all cried hard but it's been the toughest on me. She was my little companion for almost fifteen years. I was around her the most. And to those of us that's lost a beloved pet, only we truly understand how bad it hurts. My heart hurts for my Libby girl. I can't believe she's gone. I find myself crying in waves. I've even left the house just so I can distract myself because when I'm home I find myself missing her too much.

I believe that animals have souls. They have feelings. So I believe that I will see her again in heaven and I find hope in that.

I love you Libby ... I'll see you later.