For the past nine years, I have had the pleasure to have the company of a Siberian Husky, which came into my life at 9 weeks old. I called him Gus after the lead sled dog in the Disney movie Iron Will. he looked exactly the same as him appart from a slight grey colored saddle of fur on his back, even had the same stunning blue eyes, which just shine with happiness.
These last 9 years have been the happiest of my life. This special dog has done everthing and been everywhere with me, he's been such a great companion, friend and mentor. He's inteligence was astounding and watching him run excitidly was a great thill for me, because he just loved it. Seeing him happy, made me happy! Everytime I felt down, Gus was by my side to cheer me up, giving me that "lets go for a walk" look in his eyes. Which we always did, twice a day.
This last week Gus became ill. He came with me to work on Monday as usual, the day started out fine. By lunch time, he was looking tired, and my mid afternoon, looked in a great deal of pain and dis-comfort. I imediately took him to the vets, where they discovored a tumor in his abdomen. That news just shot me down in flames. The vets operated on him on the Tuesday morning, and by Tuesday night, Gus cam out of his anethsetic and was ready to come home, which he did, and spent the following two nights inside and out of the cold to recover from his big operation.
On Wednesday morning, Gus had not really recovered from his operation at all, in fact, he looked alot worse, his gums were white, he was panting heavily, and he wsa just laying there, staring at the wall on his bed I had made him next to mine.
I imediately rushed him to the vets once more, where they determined that his body had gone into severe shock. They placed a drip into his neck to replace his fluids, and give him some morphine and anti-biotics. The vet advised me that they needed some plasma which they did not have. I drove a 5 hour round trip to pick this stuff up and get it back to the vets as soon as I could. That pumped this stiff into him straight away when I returned and we hoped and prayed that this would help Gus get over the shock and repair the damage done inside his body.
Gus fought long and hard overnight, I visited him at 4 3 hour intervals, for 2 hours at a time, his vital signs were fading fast, until 5:30am (it was now firday), when things were very slightly starting to improve. I went and had a sleep with the hope that Gus was starting to win the battle his body was going through. When I returned at 8:30am, Gus' vital signs took a turn for the worse, his red blood cell count and blood protein levels dropped dramatically.
It was nearing 4pm now, whatever the vet did, Gus' body could not respond, he fought long and hard all week, the plasma that I obtained for him, seen him through the night and gave me another day to spend with him. It was time to make the decision that no one ever wants to. But there was no choice, I held him in my arms while I cried my heart out, looked him in the eyes as he gave me a reassuring look, I'm so glad he knew I was there, I kissed him on the nose and held him tight while the vet put him to sleep. I cried for hours after that, nursed him on our journey home, his head on my lap.
*I will miss you terribly Gus, you left a mark on my life that I will never forget and cherish the times we spent together for eternity, your spirit is free from all the pain and suffering you went through. I know you will always be by my side in spirit, until the time comes when we can be together again. I will love you forever my faithfull friend!*