Rest In Peace, Sierra

7/4/2002 - 1/31/2011

Sierra wasn't just my dog, she was my best friend. I loved her, and always will love her with all of my heart. She was an amazing best friend and I will never forget her. She can, and will never be replaced. She will be missed dearly by all who knew her. I am so thankful that I was able to be present during her time of death. Sierra was so calm and brave during the entire process. I am so proud of her, she is so strong. I love you princess.

Sierra was put to sleep January 31st at 12:10 AM. She had been extremely ill a few months prior to this awful day. My mother got a hold of me Friday afternoon saying that Sierra might have cancer. With me phone right next to me every second for updates, Kelsey and I went to sleep Friday night. Saturday morning, Kelsey decided to make a trip to see Sierra before she got any worse and possible be put down. I didn't want to go because I wanted to remember her when she was healthy and I didn't think I would be able to handle seeing her that sick. Kelsey eventually convinced me to go up north with her.

We arrived in San Jose Saturday evening and spent the night with Sierra. She was not doing well at all. She was extremely ill, skinny, and refusing to eat absolutely anything. We talked about putting her to sleep because we felt she was suffering, but some of the family wanted to wait just a little longer. Sunday, Kelsey and I packed up to leave for Southern California. Feeling sad and guilty, I decided to call my boss to ask for Monday off to spend just one more night with my dog. With ease, my boss did not care that I took off Monday, so we decided to stay with Sierra.

Sierra actually seemed to be doing better. She was somewhat eating, and she was fairly responsive. That was a good sign. Kelsey and I decided to get ready for bed around 9:00 PM so I got Sierra's leash to take her for a walk to go to the bathroom before bed time. She was excited to go outside, so everything seemed fine. She ended up going to the bathroom, and as she was walking, she stumbled a little and then caught her balance for a split second. After that, she collapsed. I immediately picked her up, held her and tried to get some kind of response from her. She looked at me dazed and confused, and then her head dropped. I thought she died right there in my arms. I ran with her in my arms, back to the house to explain what happened to my mom and Kelsey. In result, we concluded that she passed out, and had a stroke.

Sierra, by this time has gained her conscientious but was still very confused and weak. She just stood there looking at all of us so very confused. We sat down there in the entry way with her and held her. Kelsey called the rest of the family to get them to come over and soon after, we found our way heading to the veterinarian emergency room. After talking with the doctor for a little while, he gave us his opinion.

He said she indeed did have some kind of mass on or around her spleen and the chances of that to be cancerous are very high. We had an option of surgery that was thousands of dollars and with only a 5% chance that it does any help at all. The reality of this situation is that Sierra was too fragile for the surgery and since she was nine years old, that wasn't on our odds either. The doctor proceeded to say that we were not making the wrong decision to stop her suffering then and there.

After a hour or so of a very emotional goodbye, my best friend, Sierra was put to sleep with no more suffering at 12:10 AM of January 31st 2011. I am so very proud of her, she was extremely brave, and now she is at rest with no more pain or suffering. I love her so very much and I will never forget her. Rest in Peace, Sierra.