Farewell:
One day while surfing the internet looking at bulldogs, I came across the Lone Star Bulldog Rescue site. I wasn’t looking for a new pet since I already had two dogs, but when I saw Sherman the first thing I thought was how some one could do that to a beautiful puppy! He weighed only 35 pounds, suffered from heartworms, and according to the vet, they said he had the worst case of flea and tick infestation that they had ever seen. His foster mom had to hand feed him the first two weeks because he had given up the will to live. When I showed his picture to my husband, he said we have to try to get him. We wanted him to have the most wonderful last years that he could possible have. We got Sherman and changed his name to Big-E because we wanted him to be a big boy. The first day I had him I took him to the vet and of course they thought I was crazy! He looked like he had been buried alive and dug himself back out. The vet said that he was in such bad shape that she had a hard time determining his age but she seemed to think he was over ten….(ten long years of suffering). My determination was not faltered, I would make Big-E happy and healthy and he would have an awesome “retirement”. Big-E had been through so much neglect, that he never really liked to be petted. I would pet until he would snap, then I would pet him some more. What I really wanted to do was pick him up and kiss him all over but that would never happen. We respected Big-E and understood his fear of touch and we loved him so much. After much dedication and grooming, Big-E finally mad it to 65 lbs. He had become the beautiful boy that he should have been all along. When I took him for walks people didn’t stare in disbelief anymore, the stared at how beautiful he had become. I heard all the time, “What a beautiful bulldog.”…if they only knew!! When Big-E started coughing I got concerned and took him to the vet. Turned out he was having heart failure, his heart was FOUR times the size of a normal heart. I like to think that it was because he was filled with so much love. I nursed him for a month. Poor little guy suffered. I tried with everything I had to make him better, we were at the vet weekly getting fluid drained, and he was on all kinds of meds. His body stayed swollen and he lost most of his strength. I was catering to him but when he refused to eat and refused the meds, we came to the decision that Big-E was ready to go and live pain free in heaven. He was the most wonderful boy and I miss him everyday. Big-E left a great big hole in my heart but I know that he is in a better place and God is taking good care of my Big-E boy.
We Love you,
Doug, Laurie & Christian