02/28/2024
Remembering Hayden...Forever loved.
HAYDEN
It’s been a couple of weeks now since Hayden left us, and I still miss the little guy a ton. Hayden came into my life 12 years and a few months ago. He was adopted by my wife almost 15 years ago and he came with her when we met, fell in love and got married. And he was the best pet I ever had, not even close.
She originally got Hayden from a shelter for her daughter. They were considering two cats, a gray one who seemed sweet and healthy…and Hayden, who had stuff in his ears and coming out his eyes. And had fleas, as they found out later. But after that was all taken care of he became the best and sweetest pal one could ask for. Not lang after they got him, her daughter started dating the guy who she would marry, who was highly allergic to cats so Hayden became my wife’s cat and later our cat. I can count on my fingers the time he went outside his litter box over all that time. He didn’t tear up furniture…he was hell on wheels with house plants so we had to be selective on those and put them on high shelves.
He was a grazer food wise, so very easy to feed. And he was very much a cat that loved and wanted to hang out with his people. Every morning he would seek out my wife’s lap while she was having morning coffee and stay until she had to get ready for work. Sometimes in the evenings when we watched TV he would seek out my lap, especially in the winter. I am warm natured and he liked the warmth of my legs especially if I was in jeans or sweats. You could tell he was in heaven from his purring and posture as he melted into our legs. After we both retired in 2020, it was a contest in the morning to see whose lap he would choose, although it was usually mom’s and not dad’s. Probably because she was the one who picked him out and saved him and gave him the best cat life ever.
We loved it when he would get the “zoomies”, usually in the mornings, and run like crazy from one end of the house to the other…skittering around turns on the wood floors in our relatively open concept home. He loved hanging out on the screened porch we had built on to the house in the summer time, we called it the catio. Sometimes we would have to pick him up and bring him in before bedtime. He loved hanging out in front of the heat vent in our living room where we spent a lot of evenings in the winter. Every time I walk past that vent mow I think of Hayden and expect to see him there. When we would go on vacation or away from a long weekend, he would be at the door to greet us usually even though he was well cared for while we were gone. Sometimes after longer vacations he would act like he didn’t know us…letting us know he didn’t approve of us leaving him. But that lasted only a very short time, and he would be back.
Last fall he started throwing up pretty regularly, so we spent a lot of time at the vet for a couple months trying to find the cause. We changed his food a few times, to expensive stuff for digestive issues, wet from dry food which he loved to wet food. Changes seemed to help sometimes for a while, but he kept losing weight. Finally around Thanksgiving we tried some cheaper wet foods, which he loved for a while. But by new years he was still losing weight, and had gone from a bit of a clunker to a lightweight. It seemed the only answer was to have him put down. We couldn’t stand the thought of the vet being his last memory, he never liked getting into the cat crate. So we contacted Heart Ease, which was the right decision.
Hayden now is buried in a landscape bed just outside our living room window, so we can still see him every day. He had a great life, and he greatly enriched our lives. And he will always be in our hearts, he can’t be replaced. He was so loving, and is dearly loved and will be as long as this heart is beating. We miss ya’, little buddy and we love ya…but I know that you know that.
