Bart.

He was the best baby boy.

He was the most precious boy for all of his twelve years of life. He was not a rescued dog, but he might well have been one. His breeder was killed by a drunken driver two months after we adopted him, and due to neglect, the rest of the kennel was euthanised shortly thereafter.

So, he was a saved boy.

His looks. His velvet face. His kisses made our every day.

There is no way this insidious condition, this melanoma, should have ever found its way to my boy, but it did. Unfortunately, he had the three major markers. He was black, male, and old.

He survived surgery, radiation therapy, remission, more surgery, a clinical trial that took him on 300 mile round trips for treatments.

All was taken in stride. He was a brave little guy.

It was not enough.

Those trips to the trials were not taken lightly. These trips were to the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. This is the epicenter of canine cancer research.

(We recently made a donation to the oncology program there, and I urge other owners who have had beloved pets die of cancer to do the same.)

www.vetmed.wisc.edu/deans/outreach/act/act.html 

We know we did all that was possible, but there is always going to be the feeling that it wasn’t enough.

All things considered, Bart is happy. But he is so terribly missed. Spook, Tinker, Thumper, Mercedes, et al, await his arrival, and are ready to play.

His mother’s message:

We were very lucky to have the sweetest dog I have ever known as part of our family for 12 years. He was all of the things that make us love dogs.

He was called the velvet-faced boy because the fur on his face was so soft. He loved to give puppy kisses and would do it as long as we would let him. 

When he was eight, we decided maybe he would like to have a companion, since he hated being left alone. That’s how we found Magic. There was an eight-year-old female that was very close to being euthanized because no one wanted her because of her age. She became part of our family, and the two of them shared our home.

It was awful when we found out Bart had cancer. We were very lucky to have excellent treatment available, but they told us up front that they don’t try to cure cancer in animals; just stop it from spreading. He went through radiation treatments, and he went into remission. It came back and spread to his lungs. He was such a little trooper throughout the disease. He never lost his happy spirit, and his little tail still wagged all the time.

Saying goodbye to him was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do. As all pet owners know, you have to think about the animal, and put your feelings aside. At least he doesn’t have cancer anymore.

Thank goodness we still have our girl. The day will come when we will get another puppy, but it’s not time yet.