Stinky Bob

Stinky Bob, a photo by ian_pullen on Flickr.

Unfortunately things didn't work out for Bob and he took a turn for the worse on Thursday afternoon, with his back legs starting to fail.

Javier the vet was very thorough and x-rayed Bob and did the blood analysis that was scheduled for Friday to ensure he had a completely clear picture. That showed that the treatment wasn't working and his kidneys had got worse. We'd known that this could be Bob's last visit and there is some comfort in knowing that we did save him from suffering any more.

Obviously Kate is very upset. She'd had Bob longer than me and despite what I believe, generally considered him better behaved.

Wherever possible, Bob lived life by his own set of rules, though I suspect most dog trainers might consider that a bad thing. He could be remarkably eloquent in expressing his displeasure and his eventual deafness was preceded by many years of selective deafness. While few would have considered him to have an athletic frame, he proved that sheer will power and perseverance will bring their own rewards - he is, and I suspect will always remain, the only dog I have ever found on top of a fridge/freezer. A 5 foot tall fridge/freezer. Quite an achievement for a Bichon Frise, but's that's the lure of cat food for you.

He and Baby, his soft toy, are now beside Basil, on the other side from Herbie.

Bob - A Small Step Back

Bob vomited his medicine up yesterday evening and vomited again this morning, but that was before he had his medicine and he hasn't vomited since. He's having a blood test tomorrow so we'll know a little more then about whether there is any real improvement.

Here's Bob this morning. He still looks pretty bright and Bob-like.

Bob - Tiny Steps Foward

Bob is a little improved. He hasn't been sick for 24 hours and has peeed and pooed, which is a good sign. If he can go another day without being sick and without diarrhea then things could be at least stabilizing inside him.

We're still giving him fluids on a drip, however the fact he can keep his medicine down means that hopefully he's in with a fighting chance.

Luckily, Bob is not fussed about having a drip. We just pop him on the settee next to me and he quite happily snoozes away.

FrankenstIan

Noone is going to pick a fight with Ian at the moment, as he appears to have his neck stitched together with buttons. They are either going to think he is so hard-man that he has taken body piercing to a whole new level, or they are going to think he is totally crazy and give him a wide berth. Although, admittedly, the buttons are under a plaster on his neck - probably just as well.  Ian likes to think that he looks quite Jack Sparrow like, I, however, think that Frankenstein is probably nearer the mark.

He had a lump from his neck removed last week.  All went well, however Ian was a tad disturbed that two surgeons came to look at his lump and remark on how small it was and they looked slightly surprised that he was having an operation to have it removed. When the second one came, Ian tried to explain that the specialist had said that he wanted the lump removed, and hinting that if the surgeon thought the lump was so small he should speak to the specialist who obviously knew what he was doing. However, this fell slightly flat, when the surgeon lifted up his hat - and low and behold - the surgeon was the specialist.

He had to stay in hospital for two nights - in a single room with ensuite and television, and meals with meat/fish - I think he may have asked to stay in the second night!! Just a shame that he was on the bland diet - he didn't think the food was as good as the meaty delights they used to try and foist on me.

Unfortunately, I was at the vet on Friday when Ian was discharged and he had to walk home!

I was at the vet with Bob who is very poorly. It all stems from his heart which can't push the blood round his body effectively, and now his other organs aren't working properly and he can't digest food. He didn't improve over the weekend so we went back today. Bob is very dehydrated, so the vet is hoping that if we can get him rehydrated, his organs may start to work again. We are giving him fluids intravenously at home and we go back tomorrow to see if there is any improvement. Bob is happy in himself, however and would dearly love to eat some food, however as he is sick again afterwards, he is not allowed any food as it compounds his dehydratedness. We've said that Bob's quality of life is the main thing now, and we'd rather him have a great few days rather than a few months of lots of treatments and a restricted diet.

Sent from my iPhone

Ian has been dragged into the 21st century, having gone from a prehistoric mobile phone that children stare at with awe, fascinated to see what people used in the olden days, to a super-duper Apply iPhone. Needless to say, this wasn't part of our plan, however we saw Adelardo yesterday who'd celebrated a new job by buying a brand new iPhone 5. His old iPhone was a couple of years old and he offered this to Ian, along with a set of speakers which are for the iPhone. Although he wasn't giving them away, it was the next best thing and given that they belonged to Adelardo, they were in pristine condition.  I don't suppose we make 10 phone calls on our mobile phones a year (generally when I have a puncture and call to be rescued), so it really wouldn't be worth buying a new phone, so this was a great opportunity.

Adelardo's new job is temporary, however it is with Smithkline Glaxo and he starts by flying to Paris on Monday for a training session. So he is very exited.

We went asparagus picking yesterday, but it was pretty thin on the ground now. Not surprising since the season should have finished 6 or so weeks ago.

Larry gave us a scare by falling out of his cage again. I don't think he can fly. He scared himself, particularly when Rosie made a lunge for him. He then spent the rest of the day, apparently holding onto his cage door trying to keep it closed (we had wired it closed by he had opened it). We have promised to get him a new cage and when we do, we'll get  one that is both bigger and with doors that he can't open. We are going to make him a parrot playground in the barn, but we need to put netting over the window first, in case he can fly.

We thought about getting him a friend. However this might just mean that we have two parrots calling to each other at the top of their squarks. Larry is very noisy, however all parrots are, and his breed is described as being moderately noisy, at the second level of four. Goodness knows what the other two levels sound like!

Talking of noises, Rosie has started howling, which is the most hideous noise ever to come out of a dog. When I say 'started', she could have been doing this all the time when we were out, however we have started to hear it when we go out for a cycle ride as we can hear her howl echoing around the village. Petal, Tinks and Henry work themselves into a howling chorus, and Rosie has started doing a similar thing, however, being Rosie, in true cartoon dog style, it sounds as though she has swallowed a foghorn.

PULCINO PIO

This is a big hit at the moment. It is Italian, however it is close enough to Spanish that the words are near enough the same. However, watch out for the sad end!

From the Campo to the Table

We've been enjoying some mini-feasts from the countryside. We scrumped some vineleaves yesterday and had stuffed vineleaves for tea and this morning we picked what must be the very last of the wild asparagus this year and had wild asparagus on toast for breakfast. Yum!