Michael J. Fox’s beloved dog Gus has died

He wrote in the caption: "Gus — great dog and loyal friend, we'll miss you (sic)”

Michael also wrote “NTLTF p. 220-222” which is a reference to the pages in his 2020 memoir, ‘No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality’, in which he praised his “wonder dog” for being a constant companion to him throughout his battle with Parkinson’s disease.

In the book, he wrote: "I didn't rescue Gus. You can argue that he rescued me, but he'd be too modest to make that claim."

Back in November, the 59-year-old actor spoke about the impact Gus had made on his life, saying the pooch helped him feel less “isolated” amid his health battle.

Michael – who went public with his Parkinson’s diagnosis in 1998 – said: "You know that no matter your situation, no matter what you feel, this animal is with you and is connected to you, and you feel. It's a force multiplier.

"Your instinct when you have a chronic illness is to sometimes isolate and make your world as small as possible so you don't have much to deal with, but a dog will open you up.”

And Gus played a particularly important role in Michael’s life when he had to relearn how to walk following a 2018 surgery to remove a tumour from his spinal cord, and returned home from hospital in a wheelchair.

He said at the time: "He kind of circles the wheelchair with this low kind of woof woof, woof woof, and sat in front of the wheelchair right in front of me, and looked at me, and I said, 'It's going to be okay.' "