up and at 'em!

I should start this off with a great big Thank you... for making me cry like a baby :)

Last week, this was Thor...barely able to sit up enough to drink water... in bed. 

An air mattress was quickly moved into the kitchen, and there, is where I slept all week.  The poor guy didn't want to go to the bathroom because of the pain. At one point he went almost 13 hours holding it. Of course dehydration was a fear of mine (in general and now more so because of his kidney issue) so if he couldn't sit up to drink out of his bowl we were going to have to find another way.
The answer... water bottles from our bikes. Just stick the little button top under his floppy lips near the crease in the back and squeeze. He actually did great, and the method hardly spills any water, anywhere! He may have actually consumed more water that way than the sloppy way he does with a bowl! ha and it let me keep track of how much he was drinking. 

As a surprise birthday present from my sister-in-law to my brother and their 3 little girls, they all came to visit for the weekend. 

We were a little concerned that Thor might get too excited and want to play and so we gave ample forewarning that staying out of the house as much as possible and remaining calm, so that he could rest, was imperative...

Well... It looks like maybe the crew took the resting part... more to heart than Thor!

this was after we came back from the pool... 

Later that night...

The following night...

and finally... we just covered this one up with a blanket and went to bed the last night. 

If you notice... Thor is usually awake in most of those pictures.
He was so grateful to have so many people willing to snuggle with him, he would just stay there and lay with them even when he wasn't sleepy. 

It must have done him some good, because this morning when we went outside to do our duty I had to put a stop to his wind sprints in the backyard... :) 

It's so uplifting to see his spirits up and his pain subsiding - but it makes it even harder to try and rationalize with him that he needs to take it easy and rest... But I'll take the latter. 

Thank you again for all of your notes of encouragement.
We'll be back at the Vet on Monday to check on the kidney issue, and will know more then. 

On a nothingnewforayear point... Those shampoo/conditioner packets that I don't love very much - seemed to work out just fine on my nieces hair. And with a few birthdays close by we also doled out some Rock n Roll Marathon t-shirts (always a big hit) and some Girl Scout Cookies for my brother, so it seems a few more birthdays were celebrated without any complaints from hand-me-downs or food as gifts!