The "gopher" or "scooter"

has been sitting in the carport for five and a half months now. 
We got rid of the car years ago.
The Senior Cat made the decision to cease driving a car. It was something he never really enjoyed doing. He was not a particularly good driver but the only accident he ever had was genuinely not his fault. He was stationary at the time. The taxi driver reading a street map who rolled into the rear of the Senior Cat's car was at fault.
But, the Senior Cat wanted wheels...wheels of some sort. A gopher/scooter - call it what you will - seemed to be the answer. 
He bought one. It was red. He used it a lot. He actually rode that one from our home on one side of the city to visit Middle Cat in hospital on the northern side of the CBD. I wasn't even too worried about that. He was thirteen years younger than he is now.
The problem with the red one was that there was no protection against the weather.  The Senior Cat got too cold. He got wet. He thought about it. 
The Senior Cat's mate N... used to work servicing those vehicles. He knew a lot about them. No, that one could not have a hood. They looked for one that might be able to be fitted with a hood. The Senior Cat finally found one. He traded in the old one and happily zipped around in the new one. 
It took him to church, to the doctor and to the all important hardware and gardening centre. He was a happy cat. He had wheels. If he needed to go further than those wheels would take him then he would get a taxi or Middle Cat or, sometimes, friends would take him. Problem solved.
And then, about eight months ago, people along my regular route began to hint to me that perhaps he should not be using it. Then one day one of them told me outright that he no longer thought the Senior Cat was safe.  
I observed. I agreed. The Senior Cat did not want to give it up. He agreed to restrict his use of it but it still worried me. 
Just before Christmas the walker he was using with the gopher broke. He bought a new walker and discovered that he couldn't lift it onto the bar at the back of the gopher. My BIL tried lowering the bar but it couldn't be done safely.
The Senior Cat insisted on trying for a bit but then the doctor told him, "No!" 
The Senior Cat came home growling. I felt both upset and relieved. The gopher sat there...and sat there. 
Did I want to use it? No. Thank you very much but no. To me it is big and clumsy and I would not feel in control of it. For now I can manage pedal power. If I need a gopher I want something much smaller than that. 
But Middle Cat? Middle Cat has had both knees replaced. Would she like it? Yes!
Nothing happened of course. They still have to work out how to store it at her place. 
But yesterday Middle Cat came. They cleaned the gopher. They checked the tires. Middle Cat helped the Senior Cat into the seat. He switched it on. Would it work after all this time? He wasn't sure even though it had been on trickle charge all the time.
But yes, he drove it out of the carport and up the driveway slope. Middle Cat looked at me and then said,
     "Just give it a run along the street. Let me know if it feels all right."
He gave it one last short drive. I watched to see how far he would go. Two houses down he turned around and came back again at the slowest speed. It was enough.
Middle Cat took a turn. She was off at top speed.
I just wish it had been the Senior Cat riding off at top speed.