Gus Borelli

4/8/2015-3/17/25

We adopted Gus in December of 2021 from the Carson City, Nevada Humane Society when he was about 6 1/2 years old. We don’t know much of Gus’s backstory other than he had two previous owners before us. Their loss was our gain because we instantly fell in love with him. His cuddly and sweet demeanor mixed with his unique look won our hearts immediately. His documents classified him as a pitbull, basset hound mix

In April of 2022 he started experiencing seizures. With research and support from our vet, we did our best to control the seizures with medication, but it was a constant battle for the rest of his life. As time went on the frequency and severity of the seizures got worse and his latter days he was experiencing cluster seizures (more than 2) every couple weeks.

But we didn’t let the seizures hold us back from experiencing life with Gus.

Gus became a loving big brother in August 2022 and it was love at first sight. He was so gentle with his brother and always had to be right beside us while we cared for him.

We did countless hikes and road trips with Gus by our side. He did surprisingly well despite his short legs. And EVERYWHERE we went, strangers always made comments about Gus. “What kind of dog is that?” “He’s the cutest dog I’ve ever seen!” “His name should be big daddy!” People always wanted to come meet him.

Gus was the biggest cuddler. Sitting beside you wasn’t good enough for him, he had to be in your lap or on top of you. He would follow you around the house since he always needed to be with you.

In September of 2024 he ate a poisonous mushroom that messed him up pretty badly. After several trips to the vet and emergency vet, it was discovered he had an enlarged prostate and likely had prostate cancer. It was estimated that most of the sickness he was experiencing could have been due to the cancer, not the poisonous mushroom.

At that point, we decided not to go down the path of diagnosis/treatment for cancer. We were told there was a small chance it wasn’t cancer and just an infection in the prostate. We crossed our fingers and hoped for the best. Gus seemed to get better with antibiotics and things went back to normal for a few months.

Gus made the cross country trip with our family as we moved from Nevada to Pennsylvania in December 2024.

But not long after we moved to PA, we started noticing the signs of cancer resurfacing in early 2025. Gus had and abdominal ultrasound which confirmed our biggest fears, it was cancer, and now it has spread to his bladder. From this point Gus steadily declined until we had to make the terrible decision to put him down.

The love Gus brought into our lives far outweighed the challenges we faced with his illnesses. It feels so unfair that we didn’t have more time with him, and I can’t help but wish we had the chance to have him from the very beginning as a puppy. I wish he had been given the opportunity for a longer life. Still, I am deeply grateful for the precious time we shared together.

We love you Gussy, you’ll forever be our good boy Gus.