I am writing to share
Thor's story with everyone. At age 6,
Thor was diagnosed with what seemed to be
Lyme Disease. He was having a hard
time getting up and down which is why we
first brought him to the vet. He had a
high fever and his joints were swollen along
with his lymph nodes. We started him
on aggressive drugs for Lyme Disease to try
to rid him of it. He seemed to go up
and down and then got worse.
So
after three weeks he went to the University
of Pennsylvania to see a specialist.
He was kept overnight for tests and the
tests showed they were unsure that he had
been bit by a tick, but showed he seemed to
have immune mediated poly-arthritis, which
could have been secondary to the
Lyme
Disease. This is a disease which causes the
immune system to fight itself thinking it is
fighting infection when what it is doing is
destroying itself. Well we started him on
the protocol used to reverse this which is
very high doses of Prednisone. After
nine days he acquired colitis and his back
was dropped down, so his dose had to be
completely cut in half.
Next
thing we know his nose started to bleed,
which is a very rare effect from the
Prednisone,
which along with our vet came to the
conclusion it was the Prednisone. So
now the Prednisone was cut again and along
with the Prednisone he was put on
Imuran
(used for cancer), I am going to tell
you at this point, I was a mess but Thor was
a trooper. Unbelievable!!! Well
after a month the side effect of the Imuran
suppressed his bone marrow and his platelets
dropped to near nothing, so off the Imuran
he went. I put ice on his nose when it
would bleed and he would lay there and let
me.
A
doctor at the University of PA. who became
very fond of Thor, told us it looked bad now
but she believed we could pull Thor through
this. Well we did, but he was left
with very severe muscle atrophy in his back
end and he needed help getting up, which he
didn't mind. At one point he was even
put on Metacam which we could only get from
the Uneasily of PA since it was not approved
in the US yet; but the Metacam did help him.
He
learned to live with his handicap and I am
telling you he never once lost his spirit,
or will to live!!!
Photo: Ceasar
(on couch) and Thor (sitting)
He
went on a maintenance dose of Prednisone
only 10 mg a day and when he would get inflammation
(which would prevent him from feeling his
hind legs), that was when the disease would
act up, he would go on Dexamethasone for 4
days, I would inject him two times a day
through a catheter in his arm. His
last 9 months of life seemed to be the best
for him, he was walking around the yard,
with his brother Ceasar, another Rottweiler,
who was very much protective of Thor and
still let Thor rule. However in his
last bout, he couldn't walk and we
tried the Dexamethasone again, but this time
it didn't work. Even his veins were
weak.
We
knew we had to make a decision and we were
ready to have our vet come over on a Monday
and Sunday. Thor decided he was going
to make the decision for us -- he wasn't
going to eat anything or take any pills.
He drank some water. I didn't force
him. He layed quietly on his blanket
and pillow. I sat there with him
and then layed with him telling him it was
alright for him to leave me. I loved
him very much and that it was alright.
He
went into a semi coma and then he passed in
my arms within two hours. Thor has
been gone since July 25, 2004, he was a
little over 9 years old, but for 3 years he
fought a courageous battle to stay with us.
Rottweilers are the best companions and
loyal animals a family could ever hope for,
and we need to be just as loyal to them
back. They know when they are loved and they
sure know how to give it back.
Thor will
always be in our hearts and we miss his so
very much but one day we will meet over the
Rainbow Bridge and he will be waiting for us
again. We all love you Thor and wanted
to share this strong will, you always had,
Debbie Ervin and family
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