It's a sad day here. Buster passed away this morning around 10:30am. Buster came downstairs to Phil (I was at work) around 5am and whining so Phil would let him outside. He was outside a while and when he came back in Phil realized he was vomiting and bloated very badly. Phil called me around 6:30am and informed me of the situation and then called the vet. The vet suggested he bring him in when they open around 8am. Buster walked out to the vehicle but once Phil got to the clinic he could not walk (which we later learned was probably due to the stress of leaving home, making the situation worse and causing shock). Phil carried him in and they ended up putting a tube in his stomach to relieve the gas and he immediately was doing a little better. They said he had a twist in his stomach and when they tried to do surgery they found his stomach had stretched too much and was irreparable. They said in this situation most dogs die before they make it to the vet and they really don't know what causes the bloating.

On a good note, they also found a tumor in his intestine so now he won't have to suffer through that. I always said that when he goes I hope it's quick and there aren't hard decisions...and now that day has come. And at least he was at the vet clinic where they loved him and could take care of him.

So from here will be the hard part of helping Wendell to understand all of this. In the past few months, Buster had been his bed buddy and had slept at the foot of Wendell's bed. And the two had also become good friends, often playing together and just being boys.

Buster was almost 10 years old.