I have never posted on Greytalk before but I have been an avid voyeur of the forum for tips, support and advice over the last ~ 5 years since we adopted Gus, our first greyhound. Yesterday, my Wife and I said goodbye to Gus after making the extremely tough decision to put him to sleep, following discovery the day before of osteosarcoma in his left hind leg. It is past time I put pen to paper and shared the story of an absolute gentleman.
Gus' story
Gus finished racing in late 2016 and my understanding was he was with a foster carer between then and our eventual adoption of him. Gus can run like the wind, and is absolutely breathtaking to watch. I am not just saying that - you can watch him here in the stripes, he just didn't like running with other dogs.
My wife and I had been discussing for some time about adopting a dog, and following some research, we settled on a greyhound to suit our lifestyle. One fateful day we met an Adoption group in a pop-up stall of which Gus was one greyhound available. He came to greet us immediately, that was his nature - extremely outgoing and friendly, but not over the top, just in a gentle fashion. We did not take him home that day. I think it was a few days later (the 'cooling-off' period), when he was dropped over at our sharehouse at the time. He proceeded to knock over and shatter wine glasses with his long tail.
Gus quickly became the centre of our universe. He lived with another dog for the next couple of years with which he loved the company during the day while we were at work. He became quite sad when we moved home in about 2018 and he no longer had the dog's company during the day, so we decided to adopt our second greyhound Amy. It was amazing how quickly these two clicked, and ever since, they have been a perfect pair.
Since 2018, Gus and Amy have been a constant presence with us in our first home together, they were there at our wedding ceremony, and we took them on our first wedding anniversary before COVID-19. During the pandemic, we began working from home a lot more often, and we got to spend much more quality time with them both, which we are so forever grateful for now. I know we all talk with bias when we talk about our dogs, but Gus was really a very special animal. Everyone he came across he seemed to mesmerize, he had this ability to capture the attention of the room with his behaviour and mannerisms.
The End
About 8 weeks ago we began to notice slight changes in Gus' gait. First it was very minor, a slight hesitation to walk down the stairs, followed by a tiny limp. He was taken to the vet, x-rays and CT scans were normal. We thought we were in the clear. All limping had subsided and he was no longer on any pain relief. A couple of weeks had passed and there had been a recurrence of a limp. I noticed there was muscle wastage in the affected hind leg, deep down I knew something was not right.
Our worst fear was confirmed and we took him home with a fentanyl patch with a view to spending 24 hours of quality time with him.
By lunchtime the next day despite the fentanyl patch, gabapentin and carprofen, I carried him outside to toilet and he was in significant distress and he actually gave me a look and I knew it was over. We have lost our best mate and our hearts are broken. It is funny, everyone says to us how lucky he was to have us, and what a great life we gave him, it is honestly the opposite, we are the lucky ones to have had him.
