#the gus

[corvesha]

I Love Your Cat Named Gus. He's Really Cute. Show Me More Images With Gus. Pls...

the Gus

He likes watching Hell's Kitchen and cuddling

[shawnaise]

gus appreciation post

[corvesha]

Observe my sleeping pup😊

So peaceful and content with life

Now observe my grown ass cat named Gus

[cattyfantastic]

Gus (November 11, 2001 - August 6, 2019)

Today, we lost a treasured member or our family. Our Westie, Gus, went peacefully over the Rainbow Bridge today, both Rickie and Seth at his side. He was known by many names (The Gus Man, Gussy Gus, Sir Gus, Little Dude, and, occasionally, "this damned dog!") but his official name was Gus-Gus, after the mouse in Disney's “Cinderella.”

He came into our lives 17 years ago on Valentine's Day - RD brought him all the way from Arizona as a gift for my sister. From the start, he was a bundle of energy. Cats, gophers and even birds learned to stay out of his yard — he was a mighty hunter and would often honor us his "trophies."

He performed feats of wonder: he liked the handstand and cartwheel method of peeing; he learned how to jump up onto the 6-foot-high fence of mom's backyard in order to walk along, catlike, scarring the bejeezus out of possums; Westies are usually white but his favorite color was dirt; when mom asked a neighbor for some pine cones from their yard for decorations, Gus paid attention and for years afterwards would bring mom pine cones — pretty sure he had a way in and out of neighbor's yards that we never discovered; he really, really wanted to speak and he would mimic us by making "argh argh" noises while trying to move his mouth, succeeding only in clicking his teeth.

Gus was a champion nap companion and snuggle buddy. If you were seated on the couch, then you were prime real estate for Gus-snuggles. If he was on the wrong side of a closed bedroom door, he'd politely but insistently scratch at the door to correct your error of believing that you’d be sleeping without his company. Sometimes during a night, he’d visit everyone in turn. He was the most magnanimous of Westies.

He fell in love often and hard. Taking him for walks around Lake Murray was often a study in frustration as he’d meet a dog and then not want to leave his or her side. If the dog he fancied walked faster than him, then you’d have to jog along to keep pace; if the dog was slower, or worse, lying down, then Gus was doing the same. He did have one Great Love: a sweet German Shepherd mix named Maggie, that lived across the street. If/when Gus managed to escape the bounds of the backyard, he’d race over to Maggie’s house, scratch at her people’s front door and politely wait for someone to let Maggie out. She was our secret weapon when he’d decide to race around the neighborhood: one of us would keep an eye on Gus; the other would get Maggie and she’d quickly wrangle Gus and lead him back home.

This past year, he joined my sister and her husband on their epic move to the wilds of Maine. As Thoreau before him, Gus embraced the philosophy that “silence remains, inescapably, a form of speech.” Except for little yips and groans during his sleeping hours, Gus spent his twilight year in New England mushroom hunting, frolicking in the snow, chasing wild turkeys and deer and keeping Seth’s Xolo, Pig, warm, all without uttering a bark. He got to visit Boston and New York, equally comfortable in the city as well as the country.

We were lucky that we had Gus in our lives for as long as we did — he died just 3 months shy of his eighteenth birthday. Of course, we don’t feel that it was enough time but it was time. He wasn’t in much pain and was still wagging his tail. He got to eat all the salmon he wanted.

“Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge … All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor … The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind … the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together...” (Author unknown)

[cattyfantastic]

Gus

Kidney failure.

Tomorrow will be the day.

We’re all going to Facetime with him tonight.

[cattyfantastic]

Hi. There’s a lot going on in the world but if you have some good vibes to share, please send them towards this dude. Gus is our family Westie and we love him fiercely. He’s 18 (I know!) and having a harder time with summer than usual. My sister’s taking him to the vet today after a “rough night.”

Just ... send a mental pat his way. He’s usually a joyful fellow who loves to frolic and is a champion nap companion.

[cattyfantastic]

Your daily dose of Gus.