08/25/2025
We lost another member of our Canaan family and i am shattered!😭
I have been worried about dog after dog these last couple of weeks due to a wide range of things. Each one was dealt with and is doing well, but I never expected what was to come.
Over two years ago I was asked by the boarding facility owner in Texas if we could help out and take a sweet boy that had been abandoned, along with a large number of others, by a rescue that had pulled them from the shelter. She didn’t have the heart to send them back knowing full well that would be a death sentence. His name was Buster.
When I saw that wiry hair and scruffy face of course I couldn’t say no.
Before he ended up at the shelter, he had been kept in a crate inside a closet for a very long time. So when he got here he was given total free reign of the house. He was very skittish and wouldn’t allow anyone to touch or pet him. He never played with the other dogs, but did co exist nicely. Whether this was due solely from being unsocialized or if he endured physical abuse as well we will never know, but he didn’t trust anyone and who could blame him.
After he arrived he went for an exam, was re tested for HW and tick Bourne diseases and treated for parasites. He was currently on Phenobarbitol for seizures. He was switched to Keppra.
Even with his seizure meds he averaged 1 , sometimes 2 seizures per month. He had just had his monthly seizure on Thursday and as usual after 2 to 3 minutes returned to normal as if nothing had happened.
Buster would show his affection by sometimes rubbing his head on my leg or just standing close. He had even begun allowing me to softly pet his head, neck and back when he felt like it. That’s about as good as it got. He would go into the bedroom with me at night. He never jumped on the bed, but slept in a petbed next to my side. He even started jumping on the couch to sleep during the day. That took an entire year, but it was baby steps and we were happy with any improvement.
He had a tendancy to vomit once in a while and it seemed that the food had been in his stomach longer then normal. He was checked two more times, but nothing concerning or conclusive was ever found.
So when he vomited once on Saturday it didn’t seem out of the ordinary or alarming. He was still running around with tail wagging. He happily ate boiled chicken for dinner. We went to bed and when i got up I found he didn’t keep the chicken down.
I texted the doc Sunday morning and she advised to begin Cerenia. Before that could happen and within a few short minutes he started breathing hard and his gums felt cold and were dark. I was going to load him into the car and head for emergency when his breathing was labored and abdomen seemed suddenly bloated. Then in an instant he was gone!😭
I dont know what happened, but maybe hemangiosarcomia??? It is wicked and sudden. If i had even thought of it two minutes sooner i would have given Yunnan Baiyao. Maybe it wouldn’t have made any difference, but i would have tried anything to save him!!! I just thought it was an upset tummy.😩
I’m so so very sorry Buster. I wanted so much more for you. I feel like two years just wasn’t enough for you to forget your former life! Your gone and I’m hurting! A million “if onlys” have gone through my head! What I wouldn’t give to hear your incessant barking again. 😔
I pray you have finally found that peace and comfort in the arms of our Lord!🙏🏻💔😢 Love always!
