On May 23, 2020 our lives got the worst diagnosis. This set of posts on Thunder highlights how he fought during his last days.
May 23, 2020
Couple of weeks back, I was telling him that the lockdown has made him put on weight and the vet might tell me to get him on a diet to reduce his weight. Though I was joking, at that time I had no idea how things would pan out.
Last week, he didn’t eat his regular food – which is a mix of Nature’s Domain kibble mixed with fish oil. His usual consumption varies from 3-4 cups a day. On days when he has had a good run in the field, he’ll go a bit more than 4 cups. On 11th May he had consumed only a cup. I assumed that it was due to his heartguard and nexguard tablets mixed with his food. Yeah, he hates those but eventually eats it.
Tuesday he didn’t even eat a single cup. Just drank a lot more water than his usual intake. Wednesday, again the same thing. We got a little worried. My younger one suggested that he might’ve hurt his tooth while chewing on the antler. But it seemed fine to me. This continued till Friday. He became more dull as the week progressed.
We got an appointment. The vet confirmed that his tooth and gums are fine. She mentioned that he has lost 6lbs. Another area of concern for her was that his lymph nodes were swollen. A bunch of tests and the worst news came to us; Lymphoma
After multiple consultations with different oncologists, the common theme is that if chemo is effective, then he has 6 to 12 months, otherwise 4-6 weeks is the estimate.
All the vets confirmed that he is not in pain and it’s more like a feeling of having the flu. We’ve given him a round of steroids to boost his appetite and a round of chemo. We are hoping that he improves his condition.
I’m not the religious kind, but in our current situation, I’ll take any prayers that gets him to eat so that the treatment is effective.
