10/26/08, Sunday

     In Loving Memory Of Gus ---  by Tanya Hervey

     It is a very sad day today......sad beyond words. Gus hadn't been feeling well for the last couple of days, and yesterday we took him to Port City Veterinary Referral Hospital in Portsmouth, a new facility on Commerce Way. He was having trouble breathing and had lost his appetite, and on Friday he slept in much later than usual, then just laid around all day (more than usual).

      We stayed at the vet's with him  for four hours while they ran tests, and said they believed his heart was failing. We decided it was best to leave Gus in their care overnight, as they had him in a kennel with oxygen where he seemed more comfortable. They called us with an update at 10pm and said he was stable, and a cardiologist was going to examine him in the morning.

     We got the call at 6:30 a.m. this morning that he was in poor condition, struggling to breathe due to an excessive amount of fluid built up in his system and crowding his lungs....their efforts to remove the fluid didn't work as well as they hoped, and both sides of his heart were failing. He was a poor candidate for a pacemaker, and we all arrived at the decision that it was best if we let him go. At 9-1/2 years, he had already surpassed a bulldog's average lifespan of 8 years, and had other issues -- his incontinence was worse than ever and his vision was all but gone.

     This afternoon Steve, Charlie and I, accompanied by Jane and Alice, went to say goodbye to Gus. We didn't want him to be alone at the end. We brought him his toy hedgehog --- a toy that Nikki the German Shepherd was always  stealing from him.

     Anyone that has ever had to have a pet put to sleep knows how devastating it is, and with Gus there was certainly no exception. To say that he touched our lives is a huge understatement. He had more personality than any dog I've ever known, and he was a celebrity around the shop --- he had a long list of fans who quite often would stop by just to see him and bring him biscuits.

     Gus was born (whelped) on March 13, 1999 in Connecticut, and from what we were told, he had troubles from the beginning. As a puppy, his bladder failed, and an emergency surgery, usually only done on cats, was performed to save his life. His urinary tract was essentially "rerouted" and as a result, he always leaked a little, and then more as he got older. Though his owners at the time loved him very much, their relationship ended and Gus was sent to a new home. We suspect his urinary problem kept anyone for keeping him any length of time, as he could quickly mess up a nice floor and furniture.

     Gus came to us in January of 2001, after Steve, Charlie and I went to meet him after someone told us there was an English Bulldog in need of a home. There have always been Bulldogs in the Hervey family, as far back as when Charlie was a kid, and all three of us fell in love with Gus the second we saw him. We set up a room for him in our basement, where he loved the warmth of the wood furnace in the winter, and by day he was with us at the shop. He got tons of attention from the employees and customers, and loved basking in the sun in his car seat in front of the shop.

     Gus had a great life, accompanying us to the camp at the lake, and going on camping trips with Steve and I. He loved to wade in the water, and although he seemed jealous that he couldn't swim like the other dogs (Bulldogs just sink), he had fun nonetheless. He went for rides on the pontoon boat, and he loved to play basketball in the driveway at home. He loved being at the shop so much, that on weekends he would sit at the back door of the shop and pout. I think he believed that the shop was his home.

     We will miss Gus greatly, and I'd like to thank all of his friends and our customers who have been so good to him over the years. You helped him have a full, happy life.

     I'd also like to thank Dr. Cindy Hoisington and all of the staff at the Animal Health Center in Rochester for always treating Gus well.....it was because of you that Gus loved going to the vet.

    And a big thank you also to the staff at Port City Veterinary Referral Hospital for helping Gus at the end of his life, and for helping us get through it.
 

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