I lost a little chihuahua many years ago to cancer. Penny had a lump on her chest that the veterinarian said he was almost positive wasn't anything but he needed to remove it. A week later he called to say it was malignant. After that surgery, within a month, a dozen lumps appeared and not long afterwards she died.

I don't know exactly why I feel this way but I've always felt sorry for having the surgery - it didn't do anything other than make a bad situation infinitely worse. Penny had a hard time with the surgery, she was traumatized by being away from home in an environment she didn't understand and it didn't accomplish a thing.

I've lost three pugs over the past almost 20 years to everything except cancer. I've always told myself if I had one diagnosed with cancer, I would not go the surgery route nor chemotherapy and risk making the dog's final days even worse.

It's awfully hard to accept a terminal diagnosis. I lost a little pug in March, 2010, to a degenerative spinal disc. The day she was diagnosed the veterinarian suggested putting her to sleep within a week or two, saying she wouldn't live or have any quality of life for longer than 2-3 months max.

We went to another veterinarian for a second opinion. The diagnosis was identical but instead of predicting when Gumdrop would die, he said he'd help us give her a good quality of life for as long as possible. She lived almost a year and other than the fact that she couldn't get around normally and I carried her in my arms a lot, she never seemed to know anything was wrong with her.

We made the most of every day - when she couldn't go for walks, I bought a wagon and padded it so she could be outside, see neighbors, etc.

I miss her terribly but I have no regrets - those last weeks and months were an incredible experience and we grew closer than ever.