 Barked: Wed Dec 28, '11 10:04am PST |
 | |  | | We already had 2 cocker spaniels (Wilbur and Beulah) and all was good when my husband pestered me for 9 months to rescue a dog. He sent me pictures of cocker spaniels everyday from Petfinder until I finally said okay after seeing Buster's picture and description. Buster was taken to a kennel for Christmas 2004 and his owner never picked him up. He was transferred to a shelter for 3 1/2 months until we drove a few hours down to Maryland to pick him up from Cocker Spaniel Adoption Center. We spent the day with him at the Inner Harbor where we found that he was the friendliest little
guy. The first week was a little challenging but we settled in
perfectly. About 2 weeks later we even picked up another little guy,
Cody Hershel, from Abandoned Angels in Flushing, NY. Everyone
got along and everything was perfect. We found Buster to be
amazingly affectionate and would kiss for hours, cuddle on the sofa
by wrapping his paws around my leg and resting his head on me.
He slept the same way in bed every night, too! Our bed was his
favorite place and he would sleep for as long as we did and would
only give us a morning kiss once our eyes were opened. Maybe
being in the shelter has resulted in his need to touch and be close
to us and his sister and brothers. Another thing we noticed is that
he actually watched TV. He would bark at dogs, cats and even
some cartoons. He really made us laugh. He was Mr. Personality
and loved everybody. Life was perfect with lots of relatives and
friends that showered love and affection on all of the pups.
Thanksgiving was especially fun and this past Thanksgiving I even
cooked all the pups a special turkey ball and pumpkin pie dinner
from recipes on Dogster.
In September 2010, Buster was diagnosed with an oral melanoma
and the prognosis wasn't good. It was in the back of his mouth and
very large. We went right up to Red Bank Veterinary in Tintin Falls,
NJ (Beulah had a mast cell tumor 3 years earlier and has been
cancer free after surgery and treatment). At the time, Buster's
melanoma was too big for surgery so we did radiation and a new
oral melanoma vaccine. After a few months of treatment we found
that the tumor shrunk 80% and we could have surgery to remove it.
It worked out beautifully with a small reoccurance with another
surgery. 8 months have passed, with monthly check ups and on
December 2 we went back and everything was really good...no
reocurrance only some scar tissue from the radiation that may have
to be addressed. (side note: Wilbur has also been fighting renal
cancer and was up at Red Bank, too).
Well, a week ago Buster was getting a little sluggish and I took him
to our local vet. We thought his eye looked a little odd but thought it may be from the scar tissue. On Monday he didn 't eat so I took him back and we thought it might be best to take him back up to Red
Bank. Our oncologist immediately said that there was a
reoccurance. My poor little guy was in pain and sleeping all day.
The last thing I would ever want is for my precious little boy to be in
pain and to have to undergo any further treatments that will buy us
very little time. We took him to the vet late yesterday and he went to
sleep very peacefully. He will becoming back to us in a week and will be with us here on top of our mantle.
Rest in Peace my precious little "Bustamonte". You will be in our
hearts forever and are loved more than you will ever know.
Buster Elmer Kohler - March 13, 2001 - December 27, 2011
Love you always,
Mommy and Daddy |  |  | |  |
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