Poor Zeki

Today I had a bit of a panic. I got back from my walk around 12.30 pm and cleaned up all the dogs (again!) I had given both shelties a thorough grooming first thing; why I ask myself did I do it before the walk!

Anyway, after lunch I picked Zeki up for a cuddle and noticed that she had a little lump on the right side of her nose. It was quite pronounced and I knew it hadn't been there earlier as I'd groomed her and would have noticed it. I thought perhaps she had a knock on the walk but couldn't recall anything.

I was due to take her to the vet to get her tooth looked at. She has grown an extra tooth and I needed to get it seen as it's rather weird and growing inside another adult tooth. Anyway, I decided to keep my 5.20 pm appointment and mention to the vet about the lump at the same time. I had to pop out to the bank and when I got back some ten minutes later I took another look at Zeki and was pleased that the lump seemed to have disappeared. However on closer inspection I realised that it had disappeared only because the rest of her muzzle and face were swelling at a fast rate. Andy called the vet and told him I was on my way.

Upshot is that we think she got stung by an insect (very unusual for this time of year but there are some lazy wasps still about) and had a reaction. He gave her a steroid shot and she is well on the way to recovery. Whilst we were there he had a good look at the tooth and we agreed it's going to have to be extracted as it is impacting a tooth on her lower jaw and if left could cause that tooth damage or push it out of line. Poor little Zeki, what a rotten day!

We were due to get her and Niamhs' rabies jabs done this week ready for our trip to Denmark next year. We can't progress this now until a clear week after her steroid jab. Why do I always leave things to the last minute! Whilst at the vet I booked Kizzy in for a health check prior to being spayed. She is booked in for Monday 22nd December (sob). It's for the best as her seasons are getting worse with each one. She becomes very erratic and isn't at all happy in herself.

This is the first time I've been to our new vet. Andy went to meet him and liked him and I found the same today. Really nice practice, all lovely people. Zeki had 5 shape biscuits during her visit today. We were there quite a while as I registered all the dogs and booked up the various appointsments required. In the consulting room Nico (the vet) gave her a biscuit and I asked him to do her tricks. She did nose target and shook both paws with him. He was very impressed by her confidence and demeanour. All this with a swollen face, bless her little heart. The other four biscuits came from the vet nurses in reception! All in all a nice experience for Zeki.

One of the reasons we picked this vet is that we like how they operate, literally! On the day that Kizzy gets spayed we will get a phone call soon after 11.30 am when morning surgery finishes. They will confirm that we can bring Kizzy in and when we arrive we can be with her whilst she is put under. We can stay until the tubes are put in. Then we can pop into the local village for a coffee or wait in the reception area whilst the op is carried out. When it's over we can be back with Kizzy whilst she comes round and once she's had the relevant post op checks we can take her home with us. I like this much more than dropping my dog off and leaving it in holding kennels and then the dog waking up in holding kennels not knowing where they are.

It's not a very nice Christmas present for poor little Kizzle but the timing is perfect in terms of her being mid-cycle. I didn't want to do it before Olympia as we'll be out all day on the Saturday and I like to be with my animals after something like this. Leaving it until after Christmas would mean starting to move away from the perfect mid-cycle timing.

Well that's about it for now. Had a lot of catching up to do!