{ Butter Beans Mr. Puffywu }
Jan. 5 1992 —- May 17 2001
Gordon Setter / Black Lab
Buster and his Brother Beav were born on my Birthday.
Their mom was Katie a Gordon setter and Hooper my black Lab was their dad.
They were born on my bed much to my dismay but that’s where Katie
was most comfortable so it was okay by me.
The strange thing was Katie passed away the following year and
Buster and his brother became my salvation so to speak.
Their father Hooper who I had since I was sixteen died the following year .
This was all very hard to deal with I loved both Buster and Beave
from the moment I first saw them.
But Buster had something more…from the beginning he knew what
I thought and felt .
He was a clown with a sense of humor over the years we spent all
of our time together I never went anywhere without him.
He went on vacation with us and everywhere then one day in March of 2000
I found a growth on the dew claw of his right front foot.
In April it was removed by his vet But the pathology showed
squamous cell carcinoma-skin cancer.
For several weeks he seemed fine he went swimming and played just as
he always had but then in May we found a lump farther up on His leg
I thought to my self this is nothing…But further investigation proved me
wrong His vet said it was cancerous this time they tried cryosurgery,
freezing the site in hope it would kill the malignance.
But again in August it was back His new vet an orthopedic surgeon said
he would have to take His leg off.
I struggled with this idea for a few weeks before agreeing to the surgery.
On August 19 they removed his leg my husband and I stayed for the entire
surgery which lasted six hours.
Buster came home the same night and much to my surprise was up on
his own the next morning. He even made it down three stairs and back up
again on his own to go to the bathroom.
The day of the surgery I fully believed that God in his infinite wisdom would
not let Buster live through so much only to take Him from me.
I believed He was finally on His way to recovery and for most of the
fall He was in good health. We went for walks every day he used to race
my son across the field we have out back.
He slept next to me in bed every night and gave me such a sense of peace,
but the beginning of December He seemed to be having problems
with his back hip I thought nothing of it …
To much exercising or something and He had been seeing another vet for
acupuncture and He hadn’t noticed anything but after Christmas the
limp and pain only increased so we had x-rays done.
They showed that the cancer had spread to his spine and lungs and
there was nothing that could be done this time.
No surgery would help the vet told us to take him home gave us pain pills
and said it would only be a few more weeks we would have Him with us,
I contemplated euthanasia but my daughter Holly wouldn’t hear of it.
Holly was very religious and believing the bible word for word honestly
believed with all of her heart that if she had faith Buster would be healed.
She cared for him right to the end feeding him brushing him and having faith
until March 17 2001 Saint Patricks day at 10:00 a.m. Buster died in Holly’s arms.
He looked one last time at her as though He were finally at peace as though
He was happy again and passed away.
It has been ten weeks since Buster has left us…. I still have yet to
make it through a day without tears.
He was more than just a dog . He was a friend brother son confident,
sunshine joy the bright morning and evening star laughter Joy and hope.
He showed us life is worth fighting for and each day is worth living.
Buster will never truly be gone as long as He lives on in our hearts,
and memories.
WE LOVE YOU BUSTER!
Susan
| Buster |