So, first off, Tolstoy is starting to feel better after being a very sick boy. He went downhill very quickly two weeks ago and, after several tests and a week’s stay at the vet, they diagnosed pancreatitis. He also had a bout of E.Coli and some anemia. Fun stuff. The good news is that symptomatic treatment has been effective and, after having had cage rest for the past two weeks, he seems to be perking up. The bad news, as it were, is that in the course of diagnosing the pancreatitis, the vets discovered that he’s had a herniated diaphragm as a result of being hit by a car two years ago. Part of his liver and spleen have herniated into his chest and that’s compromised his lung capacity and constricted his heart. All of which can be rather, well, fatal and needs immediate attention.
It’s a weird situation. He was fine, and could very well stay fine for years, until he’s not. Then he’s dead. To avoid this, he’s going under the knife tomorrow. The vets wanted to make sure that he’s gotten over his previous malaise before they operated. He’s a lot better now, but he’s still not out of the woods yet. Because the hernia’s been around for so long, there is the possibility of nasty complications. He’s in good hands, and we’ll find out how things went tomorrow. Poor little guy. He’s not even 5 and will have had two major surgeries and a minor one. Yay, insurance…
On a more positive note, we went to visit Annie this weekend. Bean’s very excited about the prospects of getting his dog. Everybody at nursery knows the name of *his* dog :)
She’s really good about not pulling on the leads, so when we went for a walk, we were only loosely holding on to the middle of the lead while Bean was trotting along behind Annie. It was a case of not being sure who was walking who :)
We had very nice visit of Cambria Farm, which is run by a lovely lady called Jane Wilton-Clark. She runs a rare-breed pig farm that produces some truly excellent pig products. We bought some sausages and patties and had some for lunch when we came back. YUMMAY! Definitively have again, and driving back there with Annie will give us an excuse to go visit and buy some more :)
Speaking of food, I made a lasagna and a roast chicken, neither of which I’d done in a very long time – both of which were very good and therefore must re-enter the rotation of weekend dishes. Note to self.
