Couple doesn’t regret ‘challenges’ after adopted dog, 13, got cancer
When Cassandra and Matt Frye met Gus at the Ottawa Humane Society, they knew they had a special case on their hands.
It was Thanksgiving 2014, and the then 11-year-old Beagle had been recovering from weight issues, teeth decay, parasites and a serious ear infection. The humane society suspected he had been badly neglected by his owner. Gus had been found that May, not even neutered, but it was six months until he was fit to be put up for adoption.
Despite everything, Gus had a friendly disposition and a magnetism the Fryes couldn’t say no to.
Two years and one cancer surgery later, the couple is still grateful to have Gus in their lives and are touting the benefits of adopting senior animals for busy professionals.
“I remember going through the puppy phase and the constant supervision and the chewing of this and the chewing of that, and that’s a great experience ... but we realized we weren’t really up for that right now,” Matt said.
“Having a senior dog, you kind of skip over all that stuff. It really was just a great fit for us.”
Besides arthritis in his leg, Gus had few health problems until this July, when the Fryes noticed the now 13-year-old dog licking what looked like a split nail on his paw.
He was taken to the groomer, who told the Fryes it was a fungus and not to worry. But when Gus’s paw worsened, Cassandra made an appointment with the vet. Gus was scheduled to have the nail removed, until the clinic found something else: a cancerous tumour.
“He was trying to lick his paw, he was vomiting, he was pacing, he hardly slept and we hardly slept that weekend,” Cassandra said.
Come Monday, Gus went into surgery and had his toe amputated.
“I felt horrible,” Cassandra said. “The day of the surgery, I couldn’t keep it together. He’s our baby. I’m extremely attached to him and he’s always with me. It’s awful. You feel so helpless.”
Nearly a month later, Gus is cancer-free. He has had to deal with a swath of bandages, a cone and a post-surgery bootie, but he has also been “very, very resilient,” said Cassandra, and eager to eat, play and go for walks.
When Rohit Saxena, the photographer for Petfinder and a friend of the Fryes, heard of Gus’s cancer, he jumped at the chance to snap a few photos of the recovering dog.
“We wanted (the photos) to be when he had his bandages still on, so that we remembered this time, what a fighter he is and what he’s been through and be even more grateful than before that we have him,” Cassandra said.
“When you accept the responsibility of an older dog you know you’re taking on some challenges you may not have with a puppy,” Matt said. “But with a little bit of work, you end up with just a really incredible companion. You get all the benefits of that friendship.”