Thor's time has come....
Thor lost his battle with his tumor. Just after midnight we helped him cross over the bridge. His tumor was bleeding and his heart was weak. We got nearly 20 amazing months with our boy after his first bleed.  He was happy boy up to the end. Last month I had taken him in for a follow up cardiologist visit and asked if they could do a ultrasound to check on the tumor and it was the size of his liver and starting crowd his organs.

He started acting uncomfortable around 10 pm and by 11 was definitely showing signs of pain. I got him to the emergency vet and they did a quick ultrasound and saw the bleed. His heart was only working about half capacity. I went home and got my husband and his "sister", Arabella. Thor went peacefully and is no longer in pain. His sister was not in the room for the injections but came in afterwards and gave her big brother one last kiss.

I am going to miss my boy very much. Run free sweet boy! And give your big sis, Star a kiss for me!

A Quick Update on a sleepy Sunday

Since last posting we have had another long road trip from KS to FL and back. The trip down really took a toll on Thor. He just looked uncomfortable and walked stiffly. I am thinking this may have been his last long trip. He is sleeping a lot, but otherwise is a happy go lucky boy. He has a great appetite, and will work up the energy to chase a chipmunk. He did have a focal seizure while we were gone where his head shook, but some peanut butter stopped it. It was the first time my mom had seen that and it upset her. Thor used to have the frequently before he went on his thyroid medications. Since then he has maybe one or two a year. Giving him a little bit of peanut butter clears them up quickly. I don't know how or why, but am glad it does.

I will be calling Missouri University to set up a follow up appointment for Thor's Holter monitor. His last one was scary and he is on new medication as well as had his old meds increased. Hopefully they have decreased the number of irregular heartbeats. I will update when I have the results.

I know it has been months since I have been on here. I changed computers and lost my info to sign on. We are back now. I am glad to report Thor is still going strong! Since I have last posted he has had his 12th birthday and has been on a road trip to FL! He has his good days and his bad but there are still way more good ones. He has a healthy appetite and will chase a chipmunk.

The only real set back has been his heart. Last year with medication he had only 13 irregular heart beats in 24 hours, this year was astoundingly worse. There were nearly 1600. We up the med he was on. (sotalol) We have also added a new one, mexitletine. So far he has tolerated the changes well. He will be checked again in a few weeks to see how they are working. We will also be taking another road trip to FL.

We did have one scare. When he was being checked over at the cardiologist they found a lump on his neck and the vet mention it could be lymphoma and to keep an eye on it. I didn't see any thing growing or him having any changes in in appetite so I figure I would keep watching  and waiting. Then last week his left rear was swollen. I called the vet and they got me I few hours later. By the time we got there the swelling was almost completely gone. After a thorough check the lump on his neck was gone as well. The consensus was because of his heart issues the swelling may have been caused by laying in the same position for too long and not enough blood flow to pull fluids away. I now make sure he gets up and outside every 4 hours or so and we haven't seen a return of it.

Here are a few photos from our trip.