So what now?

When I found out Sammie had cancer, or as the vet tech put it: "The biopsy results were not what we'd hoped. They were about as bad as we could imagine," I knew immediately that I would not be dragging Sammie to a veterinary oncologist or putting her through countless scans, bloodwork, procedures, chemotherapy, radiation, drugs. I love her dearly and, at age 14, I would never put her through all of that even if it were financially feasible to do, which it is not. She is an important member of my family, but she is not human. She has lived a good life and has been well-loved and well-cared for by me for most of her 14 years.

I find it ironic actually that we seem to be more humane in the treatment of our non-human companions than we are in the treatment of other humans sometimes. By that I simply mean that it is normal and acceptable to think first of the quality of life of our pets in these situations whereas sometimes we forget quality and focus merely on sustaining the lives (with or without any quality left) of humans, even if they are well into their 90s, having lived good, fulfilling lives and are no longer able to enjoy their families, friends, churches, community.

Medical science and veterinary science have come so very far in improving all of our lives and that is indeed fabulous. But sometimes we lose ourselves in the sheer amazement of how we can extend life while forgetting to consider the ethics and practicality of whether or not we should.

So, that decision was easy. It had been made years ago when I adopted Sammie as a puppy from the pound. She was about three months old at the time and had been ditched at least twice at pounds that we knew of. She was skittish, covered in ticks and fleas, with mange and a discharge. And worms. Lots of worms. We learned soon enough that she had been abused in her short life before my brother and I brought her home to the townhouse we then shared. The pound folks waived the adoption fee, asking instead that we spend that money on her at the vet's office, which we did. Their best guess was that Sammie was part beagle and part German shepherd. 100% marvelous mutt - that much was for sure.