Harley Harley Harley

My beautiful boy turned 12 on Jan. 24th. Then the Monday following I woke up and noticed a horrific swelling on the side of his face which looked as if a tennis ball was under the skin. I knew in my heart it was the carnassial tooth and a visit to the Vet confirmed it. On antibiotics for 10 days, dental surgery was on the agenda. Feb. 12 I took him in and all was well as were the results of his geriatric blood tests. After he was examined, I left him and later had voice mail telling me that he seemed to have suddenly developed an irregular heart beat. Since there has never been any sign of this before in 12 years, including that morning, the Vet gave Harley an EKG which showed some erratic beats. He consulted with a cardiologist who felt the EKG showed nothing and he assumed it was a combination of stress coupled with mouth pain. My Vet decided to abort the dentistry but wanted the dog in the ER overnight to get fluids via an IV. He felt Harley was dehydrating. So later that night we took him, in a snowstorm, to St. Catharine's and left him shaking and whimpering. I was in tears. We picked him up the next morning and I stayed while he got another EKG. The Vet said it was better but he was leary to do the surgery and suggested ongoing cardio exams/tests in Guelph. We discussed it and decided against it considering we felt that his being left coupled with the EKG and his being forced on his side while he fought to get up, probably caused the stress which in turn caused the heart beat irreularity. Either way, the dog is 12 and would probably drop from a heart attack if we left him. So for now, he is on antibiotics and a painkiller...for how long I don't know. And whether this will come back with a vengeance is something else we don't know. For now, our sweet Harley deserves only to live the rest of his days where he is happy...and that is right here with us.