REMEMBERING ZEUS

[S87]

4 months ago on Feb. 9 my beloved Zeus died of osteosarcoma. I got Zeus as a rescue dog at approximately 2 yrs and had him for 5 1/2 yrs. During this time he became my very best friend and these were the happiest yrs of my life. Early every morning and late every evening we would walk 1.5 miles. I enjoyed his company so much that if I was out in the evening at some social gathering , I could not wait to leave so I could go walking with Zeus. He also would sleep with me on my bed every night and in the morning wake me by softly placing his head on my chest until I awoke. He was a very big and incredibly strong dog , yet very loving and gentle. Zeus was 135 lbs and 33in. tall and had unlimited
energy. He was an alpha dog among alpha dogs and always drew attention wherever we would go.

Sadly, in late Sept. of last yr. he began to limp. Initially the vet said that it was arthritis and prescribed some medication. When the medication did not improve his condition,we x-rayed the leg. The vet said the x-rays seemed to show the presence of a bone tumor but that it could also be a cyst. Since the only treatment for a bone tumor was amputation of the leg, I spoke to other owners who had this performed and the majority said they regretted doing it. Since Zeus was such a noble dog, I did not want to inflict this on him even though emotionally the thought of losing him was unbearable. It was decided that we would provided him with the highest quality of life possible if he did have the cancer. A few weeks later we had another x-ray and that showed there was no change. Perhaps it was indeed only a cyst. Three weeks after that a 3rd x-ray confirmed the worst and the cancer had spread. Fortunately ,owning my own business permitted me to spend a great deal of time with him during the remaining two months of his life. Other than the limp , which was very minor, he seemed not to be in any discomfort. He ate well and continued to want to run and jump even though we tried to imobilize him for fear of his fracturing his leg.
Then one morning just before going to work I noticed the limp was different . I was worried and returned home early and found him limping badly. That evening he just layed on his bed in our family room and was very restless. I stayed up with him throuhout the night and in the morning he continued to lie down. We knew the time had come. We called the vet who came to our home that afternoon and put Zeus to sleep. He died in my arms being loved as much as any dog has been loved. He is buried in the backyard near some trees where he would often play.

Since his death, he is the first thing on my mind when I awake and the fist thing I think about whenever I return home. I still get emotional when I speak of him and his loss is no less painful today than it was the very first day. Subsequently, I ran across this site and found to my surprise others feel about their rottweilers as I felt about Zeus. I often wonder what I wouldn't give to be able to spend one more day with him.

HERES TO YOU Z-MAN. YOU WILL ALWAYS BE LOVED AND NEVER FORGOTTEN.