I should know better

In from rescuing Truly from a set-to with Daisy. There is something about Truly that sets the hackles rising on my bitches - maybe body language, maybe the fact that she is literally a foreigner - and Daisy has been no exception. The others riotously joined in, and Truly took refuge under a prostrate juniper, from which I had to extract her with much cursing from both of us, mine in English and hers in Swedish.

Juniper and I do not really get on, and I am left with a rash on my arms from the prickles, and bites from all its residents, who hated being disturbed and got up on their six legs and attacked me with enthusiasm.

So now I have to get ready for the big event on Friday.

As you will guess, it involves a long journey down south, and crowds of people.....

Yes, of course its a dog show! What did you think?
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Scroll down....and down...and down!

Ella triumphant -
"Did you think some silly infection could bring down me, a Chin princess?"

"I love to play with Velvet and Fidget....in short -

"I`m back!"

Ella is now completely restored to her old self - my spoiled little princess, convinced that she owns the world and can make that world quail with her tiny growl, and rush to feed her chicken when she bats her tiny eyelashes.

I have no idea why Blogger is creating an enormous space between header and post.  If something goes wrong in Blogger, there is no help available.   I had the same problem four or five years ago, but cannot remember how I fixed it.  You will all just have to scroll down...and down...and down to find out about Ella.  

"I don`t feel too good...please, no more vet?"

The last few weeks have been a struggle.   Ella has been quite ill, with a mysterious infection in her nose which spread to her tear ducts, made her whole face swell up,  and brought her very low. 

There were many visits to the vet, and many antibiotics were tried.  Poor Ella, oozing unmentionable stuff from eyes and nose, was poked and prodded, had the unmentionable thermometer inserted (at which her eyes bug out), and when she tried her best growl (described once as the sound of a very wet angry wasp) she blew bubbles instead.  

Her appetite went.   I kept her going on Complan, administered  by syringe - an unspeakably messy process.  As the vet commented, "Complan + saliva = instant glue. "   At least they now make it in chicken flavour....I just remembered the one original flavour, Yuck.

I tried her on everything.   I invited Shelby to show her how tasty these offerings were, and he responded nobly to the task.  I think he may look back on these weeks as some of the best in his life.

I had some success with ice cream.   As I brought in the carton, every bitch who has ever had a litter converged on it quickly.   I always give ice cream during a whelping, reckoning that something cool and delicious involving liquid, calcium and a whopping big sugar rush is no bad thing when you are working hard to push out puppies.   They had never forgotten.

I gave some to Allegra, who looked very thoughtful and could imagine her thinking;  "Wait a minute!  Ice cream and I`m not having contractions!  I don`t even remember getting pregnant!  Has my short term memory gone?"

At last the vet tried a new antibiotic, and it did the trick.   She had the injection on Monday, and the improvement since has been remarkable.  She is still not eating much, but is back to her old cheerful self, and her nose and eyes are clear..

I hope the worst is over.