A Man's Bestfriend..

          3 years ago, Adam and I got our first baby, a beautiful pitbull, Lilly Hill. 2 1/2 years ago, Adam and I added a new addition to our family, a white spotted pitbull, Gus Hill. Lilly has always been this little hell on wheels. Gus, he was a pretty mean puppy, but he was so adorable, and as Gus grew up he became the SWEETEST dog you will ever meet. I mean, he loved Everyone, and he did not discriminate. Old, Young, Male, Female, Black, White, Yellow.. he loved you. Adam and I used to get so annoyed with Gus because he would follow us around like a "puppy dog." Literally. It didn't matter where we went, Gus followed. And at 75 lbs, he still believed he was a lap dog! About 1 1/2 years ago, Gus had his first seizure. It was horrible, and he were in VA visiting friends for the weekend. I took Gus to the vet, but they weren't sure if it was epilepsy or just something he may have eaten. He proceeded to have seizures, and he was in and out of the vet. We finally got his seizures under control in NC to a point. He still had seizures but they weren't terrible, but when we moved to TX, he had a really bad episode about a week after we moved in to our home. The vet here was amazing. She put him on a higher dosage of phenobarbital, and it seemed to help him for a while... But, he continued to have seizures, about 2-3 a week. Last week, Gus had his last seizure and it took his life. He was only 2 1/2, and Adam and I have been a wreck. Adam came in the bedroom that morning and said, "Gus is seizing." I kinda blew it off and figured he would snap out of it shortly because he always did. When I went in there shortly after, I noticed his "ticking." He was laying there tremmering. Adam had left for work, and I knew I couldn't get Gus into the car by myself to take him to the vet. My neighbor, Blane, came to my rescue and helped me get Gus to the vet. They had to use a doggie stretcher once I got to the vet, and the vet gave him valium and pheno. It made him top shaking, but he was so lethargic. Well, I went to get Gus that evening, and he still wasn't walking. I took him back to the vet for the next 2 days and then got him and watched him at night. They had Gus on a lot of meds, but he still couldn't walk. When we got into the beginning of this week, and Gus still wasn't walking or responding to us pinching his toes, we knew it wasn't good. I called the vet and she mentioned possible euthenasia. I was SO upset. I was crying, and called Adam to come home because I knew I couldn't take Gus to the vet. When Adam took Gus, the vet called me and told me that she was pretty sure his brain swelled, and that he had neurological damage. She said they could "try" to help him but it would take weeks, and we would more than likely end up having to make the same decision. So, instead of making Gus suffer Adam and I, with broken hearts, decided it was in Gus' best interest to put him down. He was so miserable and pitiful, and these seizures took his life from him. The seizure he had last week kept him from walking, and it took the happy, loving dog that we loved. Adam said that Gus went so peacefully, and that he just sat there and cried. I was bawling when he got home, and he handed me Gus' paw print that they had imprinted on a heart for us. We are getting Gus' ashes too. Losing a pet is like losing a family member. Our hearts are broken. We loved him so much.