Gus (280-02)

Augustus Gustafson (April 21, 2004 - May 15, 2018)

May 16, 2018

A note for people who knew our dog Gus, and who we think might care otherwise.

We lost our Border Collie, Augustus Gustafson ("Gus"), yesterday afternoon. He had been suffering from a few frustrating health problems for a while, but then about a week ago he took a turn for the worse. Friday night was the last full meal he would eat. Saturday he would eat only half, and after that he would only take hand-fed foods, like scrambled eggs and ice cream. We nursed him through the weekend.

Monday morning Carol called me at work and said to come home because she felt Gus was nearing death. When I got home Gus was having bouts of struggling to breath and would only take water. But he could not even sit up on his own, much less stand up to drink water, so we had to hold his head up to drink water while lying on his side. Truly gut-wrenching.

Yesterday morning we made a late afternoon appointment for Gus to be examined by his Veterinarian, who recommended euthanasia. We discussed it privately and then consented because we felt Gus was suffering. Within the hour Gus died in our arms and our number-one dog was gone. We miss him terribly, and our number-two dog, Ali ("Allie") looks for him (she idolized him), and is clearly mourning her buddy's absence.

Gus was 14 years and one month old. He had a happy life, and he loved us as much as we loved him. We were blessed to have been given Gus to us by Carol's sister Kathy and her husband Mike, who live in Louisiana.

Carol has put more information on her Facebook page, including more pictures and a video. But I don't have my own FB page, thus this email.

Below are two of my favorite pictures of Gus.

Gus at 4 months

Gus at 13 years and some months

Tom

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