His Blackberry beeped as he was cleaning the kitty litter box. He scooped huge chunks of clumped kitty litter. There were only two poos, but Tiger had peed enough to fill the box. He scraped the side of the box to get the still-moist bits. If he didn’t clean the box every day, Tiger would pee elsewhere, so he kept it clean. Sometimes, Tiger wasn’t able to make it to the box in time and there would be a small stream of urine heading to the box. He never got mad at her for missing the box anymore. Cleaning the carpet was just a regular household chore for him now.

He checked the phone and it was a message from Jen, “Great news! Gotta see you!” He immediately called her, but all he got was her voicemail, “Hi, Jen! I got your message. What’s the news? Call me…” Once again, he chided himself at the sound of his voice and hung up.

Tiger was in the box again. There was the sound of rushing water and she stepped out. She crept toward the bed, but Cody stopped her. He gently lifted the skin around the scruff of her neck, testing for dehydration. He pet her gently, stood up and headed for 3A. “You got a minute?” Angie was wearing mismatched sweats and her hair was haphazardly piled on her head. “Yeah. I was just cleaning.” She followed him to his apartment.

They pulled her out from under the bed. “I thought you were going to clip her claws.” Cody gently unhooked each paw from the carpeting. “I was going to, but I kind of got distracted by Jen.” They brought Tiger to the kitchen. “Oh man, I should have waited to get you. I didn’t take out the Normosol.” Angie held Tiger in her arms like a baby and the cat didn’t squirm. She just rested in Angie’s arms. “I can wait. It only takes about 30 minutes, right?” She sat on the couch while Cody pulled a 60 ml dose from the bag. “You think we can try for 120 mls?” Angie looked down at Tiger, who remained still. “Yeah, she seems pretty calm. Why don’t you?” He prepared another syringe and pulled the second dose.

He sat on the recliner in an awkwardly upright position while they waited. Angie tried to find something to talk about. “So how long are you going to put up with this?” Cody shook his head, “She’ll tell me when it’s time.” Angie shook her head, cuddling Tiger. “What if she DOESN’T tell you when it’s time.” Cody put his hand to his forehead and wiped his face slowly pulling his hand to his chin. “Then I’ll wake up one morning and find that she is dead. I’ll probably be luckier that way. I won’t have to deal with the guilt of killing her.”

Angie stopped petting the cat. “Kill her? Are we still talking about Jen? You just said you got distracted by her…” Angie shook her head and held the cat close to her. Cody looked up, “Jen? Oh no… I was talking about Tiger… What did you say?” Angie pulled away from him slightly, “I asked you how long you were going to put up with Jen’s tricks.” Cody leaned back into the recliner. “Oh Jen… God, I don’t know. I don’t want to push her. She has been hurt in the past and I don’t want to pressure her. She doesn’t trust anyone… God, you thought I was talking about Jen?”

Angie laughed. “Yeah, your answer sounded a little psychotic. You know, having your animal put to sleep isn’t the same as killing them.” Cody shook his head, “Yes it is. It’s EXACTLY the same as killing her.” Angie started petting Tiger again. “When they are suffering so much, sometimes the best thing to do is have them put to sleep.” Cody stood up and headed to the refrigerator. “See this?” He held up the syringe full of pentobarbital. “The vet gave me this to kill Tiger. It’s pentobarbital. I looked it up on the Internet. It causes a heart attack within 30 seconds.” Angie stood up and looked at the syringe. “The vet gave that to you?” Cody threw it back into the fridge. “Yeah.”

Angie held Tiger closer to her. “I’m not going to be the one to hold her down if you want to give her that stuff.” Cody held the large syringes of Normosol in his hands trying to warm them up. “Then we agree.” Angie moved over to the recliner and rocked as she pet the cat. Tiger stayed still for her and Cody could hear her purr from the kitchen. They watched the clock tick away the minutes without any more words between them.

Cody held up the syringes. “I think these are ready.” Angie walked over the kitchen counter. She adeptly held Tiger while Cody injected the fluid under the cat’s skin. They emptied both syringes and released her. She turned over and sat, hunched. The lumps of fluid sloshed to her sides and she stayed still. Angie pet her, softly avoiding the pin pricks while Cody disposed of the needles in the sharps container.

“Hey, I’m sorry.” Angie was the first to speak, “I shouldn’ta stuck my nose in your business.” Cody shook his head. “No, you’re just fine. Most people wouldn’t even help me out like this. Man, my girlfriend won’t even help me out with this…” He lifted Tiger off the counter and the cat slinked toward the bedroom to her favorite hiding spot.