Goodbye, My Gus

In memory of Gus, January 10, 1993 - January 16, 2007

My last picture of Gus alive - taken about 10:45am this morning

Today was a hard day for me, as we knew it was time to put Gus to sleep. Over the last 8 months, Gus' back legs have been deteriorating and it has been very difficult for him to get up and walk. On Sunday afternoon, he really could not walk well at all and he had no interest in food. Over the past 48 hours we were having to carry him to the yard on the striped blanket above and then carry him back into the house. Last night he started growling at us and getting upset when we tried to help him. I called a traveling vet, as we knew that there was no way that we could get him in the car to go to the regular vet. I was extremely apprehensive about putting him to sleep, mostly because I knew how much he hated vets and I did not want to hurt him today and have that be his last memory of me. God was good, as the vet that came was very gentle with Gus and did not hurt him at all. He used a comforter to cover his head and gave him a tranquelizer to calm him down a bit. About 10 minutes later, Gus was calm and the vet put a soft muzzle on him. The vet, my mom and I knelt down next to Gus. I was petting Gus on his side and my mom was petting his head. The vet gave him the shot in his front paw and 10 seconds later, at 11:12am, Gus took his last breath. The vet went inside to fill out paperwork and I sat outside and petted/brushed Gus for about a half hour. While the vet was filling out the paperwork, he saw a Bible sitting on the hutch and said that he was also a born-again Christian.

I was also thankful that Gus got outside one more time because Gus has been sleeping out in the guest house with me (he pretty much had not left the guest house since Saturday night). This morning about 9:45 I was out there sitting/crying with him, and he got up on his own and walked to the door. He ended up walking all the way across the patio by himself and got one last drink out of the pool (he always loved drinking pool water). He then came and layed down on his blanket and we fed him a tangerine (he was a big fan of tangerines too). Anyway, I am happy that he was able to walk outside and that we were able to put him to sleep outside since he pretty much owned that backyard. When I was out there sitting with him after he was gone he just looked so peaceful laying there in the sun.

I am definitely going to miss him. Being in the backyard is difficult and I know tonight will be a long night out in my room by myself. Gus has slept in my room with me for the past 11 years and I am going to miss him being out there with me. I would always hear him in the night licking his feet or just barking a couple of times for no reason. This is also hard for me because this is the first time in my life that I can remember with no pets. I think that there was a period of time when I was 2 that we did not have a pet, but we got our cat Skeeter when I was 2 and then in 1993 we were up to three pets, Skeeter, Cedric and Gus. Skeeter died in 1995, Cedric on February 25, 2006 and then Gus today.

Guser (as I called him quite often), I love you very much and I am going to miss having you here with me. When you died today you took a piece of my heart with you that I will never have back. I can't wait to see you again someday (Luke 12:6b).

Here are some pictures of Gus throughout the years...

Me and Gus in 1993 - I was 13 and Gus was 3 months

Kyle, Kellyn, Me and Gus - April 1993

Happy 1st Birthday Gus! January 10, 1994

I love him

Looking out my window at the Cox truck - 1999

Laying under the tangelo tree - February 2006