Kierke- our faithful and amazing furry girl for a little over 14 years. She was an amazing little puppy who followed me home, and stayed.... She has lived in every home we have- and that is saying something! She welcomed home each of our children- you should have seen the look she gave us when we walked in with Asher and Annalise! She was an amazing pet and member of our family.
On Tuesday, we had to put her to sleep- the poor thing had severe bone cancer. She was in intense pain and didn't deserve to end her days that way.
A little over 2 weeks ago, she started limping a little. We figured she hurt herself barking at the neighbor's dog. The limping got worse and she couldn't go up or down the stairs without being carried, so Al called the vet. Since she had just been in for a check-up, they figured, given her age, it must be arthritis. We gave her some aspirin and waited- it seemed to help a little the first 2 days. The middle of the night on the 2nd day, she made a mess all over the carpet- and you could tell she felt terrible about it.
Al took her into the vet- we were told it was either a severe case of arthritis or bone cancer. We decided to give her some pain meds and watch... The pain meds only made her loopy- she still limped and couldn't do the stairs. On Monday, Al took her in for the x-ray to determine the cause. We were told it was advanced bone cancer. She had probably had it for awhile, but she just masked the pain.
It was awful, but we decided to put her to sleep the following day. Al was going to be out of town and then we would be driving to NY for Easter- the drive to NY would have been incredibly painful for her. We told the kids- we all cried and hugged on her- we fed her meatballs and scrambled eggs- the only real food she had eaten in days.
On Tuesday, I was able to meet Al at the vet and pet and love on Kierke as she passed. The vet assured us we were making the kindest decision. He told us if Kierke were his pet, he would be doing the exact same decision.
It's been sad to come home to an empty house and I feel the kids are handling it pretty well. Since Kierke was so old, we have had time to discuss her imminent death with the kids, so I feel they were are prepared as they could have been. They have unanimously decided that we need another dog as soon as we move to Atlanta and it will be named Midlothian!
We love your Kierke- you were amazing and we are so thankful for how you enriched our lives!
