A dog's life, or rather, life with dogs

It's been an odd and somewhat anxious week since I last posted. Apart from the exceptional heat (which is fine if all you need to do is sit and enjoy it but not so great if you have physical work to do outdoors), other things have been sent to try us. The most worrying of these was when I noticed Zoe, our little dog, was off-colour. At first, I thought it might be the heat, but even so, I felt her listlessness wasn't normal so I called the vet on Wednesday morning and asked for an appointment. Thinking it wasn't urgent, I accepted her offer to see us the next afternoon. However, later in the day things started suddenly getting worse.

When I gave Zoe her dinner that evening, I noticed she was having trouble chewing and swallowing, an alarming development. By the morning, she was drooling as well and her tongue was protruding from her mouth. Anxious, I messaged the vet again at 7 a.m., but there was no reply. Being a one-woman show, I guessed she was on call, and accepted that I'd have to wait impatiently until the afternoon. Zoe slept most of the day; even so, I was watching the drool seeping out of her mouth as I counted the hours to the time of our appointment.

Well, when we got to see our lovely vet, she was shocked and realised things were not good.

"Her tongue is swollen and her throat is full of slime," she said. "I can't see or do anything until the swelling’s gone down." She gave her a shot of antibiotics, another of anti-inflammatories and also an anti-pain shot. "Bring her back at quarter to nine tomorrow and I'll put her under anaesthetic to investigate," she said.

The following morning, Friday, was one I won't forget in a hurry. Zoe's condition had deteriorated still further. She was drooling blood, her tongue was hanging out even further and she was in a horrible mess. Oddly enough, she didn't seem distressed by it, but I was horrified and Koos and I were at the surgery door well before the allotted time.

The vet took one look at Zoe, gasped and immediately administered the anaesthetic.

"I'll clean her up and take a look. Maybe she's got an obstruction, a piece of wood perhaps, or possibly a burst abscess. I can't see anything wrong with her teeth, but until I look I won't know."

We went home in somber mood. I was sick with worry so I spent the next two hours 'pacing' in my own way, which meant working in the garden and preparing for the family to visit on Sunday, something we'd already arranged and couldn't postpone.

It was a huge relief, then, when the call came that we could go and collect her.

"I didn't find anything at all," the vet said. "No obstruction, no rotten tooth, no abscess. It's a mystery, but her throat was full of infected slime and I've had to drain it. I've never seen anything like it."

"It was awful," her assistant said. "Even I felt sick."

"She's had more antibiotics," the vet said. "The drain will have to stay in until Monday, so come back then and I'll check her over again, but if you're at all worried, call me. Any time."

We took our sick little dog home armed with pills and endlessly grateful to the vet for her willingness to be called, even at the weekend. After sleeping the rest of the day and the whole night, Zoe woke on Saturday morning already much improved and my worst job over the weekend was making sure the drain sticking out of her throat didn't get scratched off. 

This afternoon, I took her back to the surgery and the vet was visibly relieved to see how much better she was. The swelling has gone, her tongue is back to normal and the drooling has stopped. She's not yet quite 100%; she still tires easily, but she's getting there and she dealt with all the visitors yesterday without complaint. Mind you, that could have had something to do with two of them being her best doggy mates in the world.

After the op. See that little tongue still protruding?

So that's it, allemaal. No boats this week, and no DIY either, but normal topics will be resumed as soon as possible. When a four-pawed friend joins your family, life assumes a different perspective as those of you with pets already know.  For those of you who don't, please will you forgive my preoccupation this time. Thank you for reading this far and I'll finish with a few boaty photos for a bit of eye candy.

It's poppy season here in Zeeland

Last year in Antoing, Belgium

Somewhere on the upper Scarpe, we think.
This photo was seen in the Voix du Nord newspaper recently
but we don't know who took it, where, or when.