“Wake up. Shes not doing any better. I think its time to take her in to the vet.” my dad said. It was an early Sunday morning in April. I had been awake most of the night watching over our family dog Kipper. She was an old dog and had been sick for about two weeks now. I knew she was old and couldn’t make it much longer, but I couldn’t imagine not having her in my life. We had had Kipper since I was three years old. I still consider her my first friend because I had grown up with her. The vet told us that she most likely wouldn’t have much longer to live the weeks before but we weren’t ready to put her down because we still had faith she would get better like she had a few times before. But as soon as my dad came in my room that April morning, I knew she wasn’t going to get any better this time.
After my dad had woken me up, he told me that Kipper wasn’t doing well and we needed to get to the vet very soon. My mom was downstairs in the kitchen crying next to my dog. Everyone in my family was so close to out dog that none of us would be able to take her passing easily. Even my older brother who was nineteen at the time had tears in his eyes. When I looked over at Kipper laying in her little dog bed I could see the pain in her eyes. She was barely breathing but when she did let out a breath I could hear little quivers escaping her mouth. I had never seen her look so bad in the whole time we had had her.
“Dad, how long do you think it will take?” I asked as we road in the car on our way to the vet. “I don’t know yet.” he responded.
My dad and I were the only ones to take Kipper to the vet because my mom didn’t think she could handle watching Kipper be put down. The car ride seemed to take hours when in reality it was only a fifteen minute car ride. I held Kipper in a blanket while she took long hard breathes. I could feel her shaking in my arms. There wasn’t much I could do to help her besides pet her lightly and just think about how even though she was in pain she would soon be in a better place. Kipper used to love car rides and would stick her head out the window as we drove. But this time she didn’t even seem conscious enough to realize we were in the car.
As we walked into the vet it started to hit me that we were really going to have to put my one and only dog Kipper to sleep. The receptionist at the front desk could see the tears falling from my face and escorted us to a small white room. She told us to wait until the vet was ready. As my dad and I sat in the room we both sat quietly thinking about all our memories with Kipper. She had been a part of every family memory that I could remember. It felt like just yesterday that she had been running down the Hilton Head beach with us on vacation and swimming in the lake with us up at the farm every summer. I had only seen my dad cry a few times in my life but I knew today he was going to be just as upset as the rest of us.
“Hello.” the vet said as he walked into the small room. He could tell Kipper was struggling to stay alive from the second he walked in. He spoke to my dad but I couldn’t focus on a word he said because I was too upset looking down at Kipper. The vet asked me to lay Kipper down on the table and said she would be gone in a matter of minutes. He asked if we were ready and my dad replied yes. As the nurse gave Kipper a shot I wanted to yell stop but I knew Kipper was in so much pain. Her body looked so small and fragile laying up on the table. I held onto her paw as I cried. The doctor and nurse left the room. My dad and I sat and watched as her breaths started to faint away. Her eyes were open staring straight at me but there was nothing behind them. All of the pain I had seen in them a minute before was gone. My dad patted my shoulder and said she was gone. I felt as if a part of my childhood had been taken away. All of the memories were still there and Kipper was still right in front of me but her life was gone.
After a minutes or so the vet came back into the room and discussed what we wanted to do with Kipper’s body. When they were done discussing the topic we were ready to leave the room were my dog was lying lifelessly on the table. Before I left I took one more small glance over at her. This would be the last time I ever saw her.
Coming home to my mom was hard. I walked into the kitchen to see my mom still sitting at the kitchen table in tears. I walked up to her and gave her a hug. She was naturally a strong person but Kipper’s death was hard on all of us. We were all quiet as we sat and stared at Kipper’s bed that was still laying on the floor and her food dish in the corner. It seemed as if there was evidence of Kipper all over the house. I knew she was in a better place and out of pain now but it wasn’t going to be easy accepting her death.
Some people may think that a dog is nothing more than a pet. But after my experience I would have to disagree with this. Kipper definitely taught me so much over the the years I had grown up with her. Her impact on my life was undeniable. Even now that shes not here today I still think of her everyday. A dog may be just an animal but can also become a part of your family and a huge part of your life.