A Rough Night

Yesterday started out a normal day. Thor was doing fine. It was sunny in the morning and he had his normal pep. The weather got cloudier and Thor was sleeping, which is normal. Then in early evening he seemed to be asking for treats. A little unusual, but I just assumed he has learned he can ask for extra treats and get them. Then soon after he ate his dinner he was still asking for treats. Then I noticed some drooling. He looked a bit nauseaus. This scared me! His upset tummy is what started the bleeding two weeks before. I quickly got some pepcid in him and that helped.

The weather got worse and a tornado warning was issued for the next county, and the storm was heading our way. This of course added to my anxiety. Instead of going straight to bed I stayed downstairs until the stormed passed. Thankfully, the tornado warning lapsed without incident and the echo on the radar dissapated before it hit our town. Thor was sleeping very soundly by then and I hated waking him to go up stairs, but up we went. About the time I finally dozed off Thor was up. His tummy was still bothering him.

I got him to lay back down and I got him some yogurt. That seemd to do the trick. He settled down around 1am and slept through the night. I of course did not. It was after 3am before I fell asleep, and I woke up everytime one of the dogs moved. Thor was up by 7:45. Needless to say I am a bit grouchy today.

Thor seems to be fine today. I think the new treats he got may not be the best for him. So no more of those. Plus I think we will be taking a nap this afternoon.

On a side note, my prayers go out to those who lost their homes and loved ones.

Two Weeks In

Well it was two weeks ago today we got the ugly news about the tumor. That day when the emergency vet told me it would be just a few days to a few weeks or a month. I was getting the feeling that I really should be preparing more for the short end of that prediction. Thankfully that is not what has happened.

Thor is doing well. He still has plenty of appetite and has decided that there is now two treat times added to his feeding schedule. Because of his pancreas issues he is fed 4 times a day; 8am, noon, 4 pm, and 8pm, plus a cookie at bedtime. Thor has now decided he should get a cookie at 2pm and 6pm. I swear around these times he will whine. When I ask him what he wants he leads me to the kitchen and sits and stares at the cabinet with his treats in it.

At first he was getting LOTS of extra treats, but we have now slowed down. He has gained a few pounds, and I am actually happy for that, but I don't want him to gain too much and put added stress on his joints. We are back to that balancing act. This time between spoiling him and keeping him healthy. I want whatever days he has left to be happy and joyful, but I don't think being overweight will serve him well. So at this point many of those extra treats are 1/2 cookies.

I am thankful for the extra time we have had and am praying for more. I know so many people have not had this luxury and that we are truly blessed.

A Slow Lazy Sunday

Today has been one of rest. I don't know if  Thor is resting more because I am, or if he needs it. Either way we have both been laying around today. His appitite is good and his energy seems good when he is outside to potty, so I am chosing to believe he is being lazy because he wants to be next to me while I am being lazy. He has always been a "mama's boy" and is almost always found near me. My other dogs would always run to my husband at the drop of a hat, but not my Thor. Well now he is now sitting and staring at me whining, so he definitely wants something. I always take that as a good sign. So off I go to give him whatever he wants!

Thor has been feeling really well! If I didn't know better I would assume he was as healthy as can be! He is sleeping less. He is bright, alert and wanting to keep up with whatever I am doing. My husband and I finally put together my new office and Thor and Arabella both thought this was somethng they had to help with!

After doing more research online, I found that fish oil and glucosamine can not be given at the same time. It apparently can cause bleeding. The one thing I don't  want to happen! So I am introducing the glucosamine/chondroitin supplement slowly giving, Thor's body time to process out the effects of the fish oil.

So we are doing well for now. I hope it stays that way. :)

A Brighter Day

The sun is back out today, though it is a bit colder, it is also a bit brighter inside. Thor is feeling better! He and Arabella were playing keep away with a toy last night. That always does my heart good, right up to the point I have to stop them because they start boxing. I would love to let them go at it, but I just can't risk it.

Even this morning Thor seems have more pep. When he came in from doing his "business", he was trotting. Of course he may have been doing that to get out of the cold quicker. The wind chill was in the low 20's. (shiver..)

As I said yesterday I needed to find something to replace the fish oil to help his joints. I went to a local holistic pet food store. All the joint supplements have flavoring to make them tasty, but that also adds fat. As I may have mentioned before Thor suffers from chronic pancreatitis, so I watch every bit of fat that enters his body. The sales person suggested I try human supplements. So down the street I went. I found one brand that is fat free, sugar free, and one tablet takes care of his daily dose. It would take three tablets for the dog supplement. The bottle had more tablets and it cost less. That is a win/win all the way around!

A Worrisom Day

Yesterday was a worrisom day. Thor slept a lot. When he first diagnosed I was told if he gets lethargic and just lays around it is a sign of a slow bleed. So we spent the day resting and are continuing that today as much as possible.

Thor's appetite is still right on and he lets me know when it is feeding time. That is a good sign. Plus even though he was laying around he still showed interest in some chew toys. We have a rubber stick that he was chewing on for a while in the afternoon and in the evening he was chewing away on an antler. I am taking those as good signs.

I was looking up some info on fish oil yesterday, when I came across something I had never read about it before. It thins the blood and if you give to your dog, or of you take it youself, it should be stopped before having surgery. This hit me a bit hard. I give Thor fish oil to help with his arthritis. It really has done well for him. Now I have to stop it as I want the tumor to clot. I am fortunate to live near a holistic pet food store and I will go in and see what they have to offer.

So we are still moving on to the next day.....

Balancing Act

The weather is warming up, at least for a few days. My pups love it when it is the 50's and that was yesterday. I opened the door to let them out to potty and Thor just started to bounce around. This where the balancing act comes in. I love to watch Thor jump and play! He is a senior boy, who suffers from arthritis, so the "bouncy days" are fewer than they used to be. Now we basically have a "time bomb" sitting in my boy's belly. How much bouncing can it take? How much fun do I let him have? I can't expect him to just lay around all day everyday. That just wouldn't be fair.
We also have rabbits visit our yard nightly. My dogs assume they are there to play chase. So as soon as I open the door at night, the chase is on! I have learned to make them sit, then I step outside, and then I let them out. This seems to slow the dogs down somewhat, at least to a point I am more comfortable. I really wish I could just let them run.  A boxer on a full out run is a one happy pup! I don't want to take Thor's joy away. I want him to enjoy whatever time he has left.

Keeping Thor calm is also effecting Arabella. She isn't allowed to box and play keep away with her brother. She is a very active pup! Trying to keep her amused while keeping Thor calm is another balancing act. We play fetch with her tennis ball several times a day. We even play inside from one floor to another so she has to run up and down the stairs to wear her out faster. I would love to take her for long walks, as we both need the exercise, but Thor can't do that. Even before we knew about the tumor, he couldn't do that because of his arthritis. Now I don't want to take just Arabella, because I don't want to leave Thor home alone. So our walks are on hold for now.

The bright side of all this balancing is that I have a boy who feels well enough to play. For that I am very thankful!

The begining...

Hi. My name is Pam and I have two wonderful boxer pups. Anyone who has ever met a boxer knows that they are always "pups". They are very energtic and playful throughout their lives. That being said my pups are Thor, 10 yrs and 9 mos, and Arabella 5 yrs 2 mos. I love them both dearly and they have been my constant companions. It is rare that I even go on vacation without them.

The reason I am starting this blog is just basically for me to write down what I am going through as I deal with an awful diagnosis. On the night of Feb 12, my boy Thor had an upset tummy and vomitted. Not really a big deal for most dogs. Thor suffers from chronic pancreatitis so it can be the begining of a flare. After a while he isn't sick anymore but he is very listless. He won't settle down at all. So off to the emergency vet we go. I assumed pancreatitis again. When they did a ultrasound to check it out they found a tumor. And it was bleeding. I had to leave him there and wait for the internalist to do rounds in the morning.

When I got the call back, it was not good.  Hemangiosarcoma. Basically an bloodfilled tumor. Should it rupture my boy will bleed to death. Actually "should" is probably the wrong word. To be correct, when it ruptures. Thankfully that night was just a small bleed, and I got to bring him home the next afternoon.

Now I had to weigh my options. Option 1; do nothing.  The normal outcome, is a few days, to about a month. Option 2; surgery. It would give us 1-2 months, and the first 6 weeks is recovery from the surgery. Option 3; surgery and chemo. We would have to wait 1 month for enough healing to be done before we started chemo. A major side effect of the chemo is heart arrythmia. Thor already suffers from that and is taking meds for it. So the chemo would probably kill him.

So in Thor's best interest we are doing nothing. It is the only thing that won't put him through undo pain. And "nothing" really isn't nothing. We are loving on him and spoiling him as best we can. He is on limited activity so as not to rupure the tumor, but he is getting lots of extra treats to make up for it.

Three days after the diagnosis, I had to take my other dog, Arabella to the vet for a check-up and I brought Thor along. My regular vet wanted to see the tumor for himself, so he did an ultrasound. The bleeding had stopped and a clot was forming. Music to my ears! He also told me of another dog he had who had the same thing. The tumor had formed a "protective clot" around it, and the dog lived another two years.

As much as I would love to spend another two years with my boy, I know the odds are against us. So here we are, 8 days past the awful diagnosis. I just wanted to a place to chronicle our journey from here. I know others have been through this and still others are going through it now. I would love to hear from you and have you share you experiences with me.