Goodbye Tiki

Yesterday we had to put our much loved cat, Tiki, to sleep.
She was almost 18 years old and was starting to suffer. We knew about 2 weeks ago that this needed to be done but we just were not quite ready to let go. We spent the past 2 weeks with her, loving her, petting her, making sure she got to lay on her favorite blanket in the sunny window everyday. She got to eat her favorite foods...turkey and tuna and she got lots of love. We took lots of pictures of her and plan to put pictures from her 18 years of life into video slide show. She was cremated and we will pick up her ashes in about 2 weeks and have them in a special urn on the shelf next to Dr J. ( rays kitty that died years ago).
Tiki outlived many of the other pets she lived with. There were 2 dogs who tiki lived with back when she was much younger, link and otis. Tiki would play with them and then drive them crazy but running away from them. They would catch her and lick her all over. We fondly called this game "get the kitty". Link and Otis both died a few years ago and I have no doubt that tiki is with them now playing get the kitty.
Tiki was always a small cat but recently lost so much weight that she was just skin and bones. She loved everybody in the family but also had a very big mean streak in her and we all have scars to remind us of her and her claws.
Tiki was spayed when she was just a kitty so never was a mama kitty but she sure nurtured me through my pregnancies. She would lay by my side or on my belly. I have pictures of her laying near me while I would breastfeed. She seemed to just be able to sense when I needed her nearby.
As much as it breaks my heart to not have her here with me, it was out of love that I was able to let her go and not have her continue to suffer. She was getting sicker and sicker and we knew there was nothing else we could do to fix her.
Tiki lived a full life and was always loved and taken care of.