Sierra saves my life

Sierra1

Sierra came to me weighing about six pounds, with a distended stomach. I thought it was a neutered male with worms, and a seriously gunky left eye.

(Original post about Sierra and how she got in here: http://imgur.com/gallery/pS3VQ )

Sierra chillin' with me on my hammok

Turns out, after a $350 vet visit, she was a female, and the swollen stomach was a massive inoperable tumor. She was given "a few days to a week". So I made that week for her awesome. She slept in my bed with me every night. She ate so much that she gained two pounds. She ate canned cat food and albacore tuna. She had a super-soft blanket so she could curl up next to me as I worked on my computer. I wiped out her eye and gave her medication to make her comfortable.

Sierra's last moments

today I brought her to the vet to be put to sleep. She'd stopped drinking water, and was whimpering in pain. And cats are kind of badass in that they don't like showing pain. I comforted her as the vet gave her the overdose of anesthetic. She wasn't in any pain, she was warm and more importantly than anything else, she was named and loved.

The day before Sierra came to me, I felt like no one needed me and was contemplating suicide. I had a dead-end job. I have high anxiety. For this cat, who was dumped on our property, I cleaned out my savings account. For the first time in a long time I felt like I did everything exactly right for her. I needed her as much as she needed me.

I helped ease this cat out of her life because she saved mine, and that is worth every penny I have.

"We might not be able to do great things, but we can do small things with great love." -- Mother Theresa