Some of you will remember Gadget joined the BRNGB family in October 2023; he arrived with his half sister Emma, and Sissy who he originally lived with as well.
They were all surrendered to us as ex breeding hounds and he proved himself to be a big lump of love.
He spent time with various fosters; we had to seperate him from the girls as they were still all entire; his first move was to the Welsh border where he loved nothing more than singing the song of the bassets with the resident hounds
Gadget had to move to another foster due to no fault of his own and at his next foster, he again proved himself to be a big, lump of a loving lap dog.
Sadly an injury (not Gadget related) to his new foster dad meant he had to move again and his final foster was where he settled and made himself at home
Gadget has been a concern for some time, he was losing weight at a slow but steady rate, he still loved life, he still wanted to play, sing, go for walks, but his weight loss was a mystery.
He had various blood test and vet trips, his foster family were working hard to get to the bottom of what was happening with him.
Yesterday, Feburary 12th Gadget took a turn for the worse. His foster mum rushed him in the morning to the vet with bloat. They tubed him and managed to remove the gas. Gadget was to stay with the vet for the day to be monitored. He had X-Rays and thankfully his stomach did not appear to be twisted and everything looked as expected.
20 minutes before his foster mum was to collect him, he bloated again. Two bloats in one day is pretty much unheard of. Again the vets acted quickly, tubed him and the gas was again removed. Further X-Rays again showed everything to be expected.
We spoke with the vet and we were given options, Gadget went home and see how he got on; he went to the over night hospital to be monitored and prepped for surgery the next day; or he was helped across the bridge.
With consideration of all options and a long conversation with the vet, the first and last options were ruled out (the last being ruled out pretty much immediately). Gadget was to go to the over night hospital where consent was given that if he bloated again he was tubed again and if surgery was needed (stitching his stomach lining to the inside of his body) this would take place without hesitation. All this with the view of keeping Gadget under close watch, comfortable and happy so he could be fully scanned the following day and looked at by a specialist.
Within half an hour of arriving we received the call that no one wants to take.
Gadget was refusing to stand, his temperature was plumeting, his blood cells were going the wrong way, a scan showed that his stomach had a slight twist, his spleen had moved to the wrong side of his body, his gut was filling with blood. We had to make a decision and we only had minutes to make the decision.
We discussed options with the vet, and the chances of Gadget making it thorugh the surgery was minimal. We had minutes to get his foster family back to him, and in the time it took to make that phone call and then back to the vet, Gadget had deteriorated even further.
We are so sorry and heartbroken to say, Gadget lost his fight and crossed the bridge last night with his foster mum by his side.
To all of his transporters and supporters, thank you for the love and care you have shown this boy.
To all of his foster families, we know you all loved him, we know the news shared with you prior to this post has shattered you, our heartfelt thank you is not enough for looking after and loving this boy.
To his final foster family, thank you for being with him for his final journey, thank you for loving him, thank you for fighting for him.
We do not ever give up on a hound, we do not ever take these decisions lightly, we do however lose a part of our soul with each BRNGB angel that crosses the bridge.
Gadget, we couldn’t save you, but you will always be part of us. As one of his foster dad’s said “Basset ears deploy” fly high beautiful boy.
#nobassetgetsforgotten
