Mourning a Pet

Last Friday morning we lost Hayley.

She's the dark cat in the photo, Eli is the tabby and of course that's Cassie with them. Due to the angle I was at the camera flash made the cats' eyes look unreal.

We adopted both cats on August 11. Initially, they hid in the basement but gradually worked their way upstairs. Eli was first to come up; Hayley needed more encouragement.

We'd been catless for three years and somehow I managed to forget all the details of living with a cat. Things like how much of the bed they hog; cat fur in the laptop, on the clothes, and generally all over. We can no longer leave our snacks unattended for a quick run to the kitchen without returning to find the snack gone and a cat licking its lips.

Cassie didn't remember having pets. We'd had Clyde, our previous cat, for 12 years and he was 15 when he passed away - Cassie was only two. I dug his grave out front and Cassie helped. She had no idea why we were digging a hole, she only knew she was having a grand time. She kept saying she wanted a cat but would scream and run anytime one of the neighbor cats got close to her. As it turns out, the tentative way the cats would appear then disappear, when they first arrived at our house, was the best way for her to adjust to them.

And adjusting we all were. We had a routine now. They knew the noises of the house and what each noise indicated, they were getting used to a rambunctious five-year-old who jumped and skipped everywhere she went but who always paused by a cat to pet it before moving on. We were getting settled - until Wednesday evening.

Hayley suddenly looked thin and weak. By Thursday evening she was deteriorating so rapidly I was afraid she was in pain and would be dead by morning, and I didn't want her to suffer. So at midnight Thursday I ran her to an after-hours vet emergency clinic. The vet suspected liver disease and the blood tests confirmed liver malfunction. I brought Hayley back home at 3am so Cassie could say goodbye.

When Cassie got up that morning she went straight to Hayley to see how she was doing. I told her the vet said Hayley would not get better, we didn't want her to be in pain, and we were going to take Hayley in that morning to be put to sleep. Cassie bawled for the next half an hour, saying Hayley had barely had the chance to get to know us, and she loved Hayley, and what would Eli do without her, and other comments along that line. We talked about kitty heaven, and that Hayley could now play with Clyde and Grandpa (my dad), and they all could run and play and eat whatever they wanted and as much as they wanted. I also emailed Cassie's teacher to give her a heads-up and sure enough Cassie told her teacher about it later that morning.

Eli is no longer walking the house meowing for Hayley, and Cassie hasn't cried since Friday though she mentions Hayley each day. Overall we're getting along, but it's so sad to see only one food bowl in the kitchen now.