The Further Adventures of Frodo the Faller – a day with the vets

Frodo had a further appointment with Phil-the-Vet last Wednesday. Although he’s not squeaking anymore and doesn’t appear to be in pain he must still have a daily dose of Meloxidyl every morning for a further fortnight to reduce any swelling.  Phil-the-Vet suggested that an x-ray might reveal more about the causes of Frodo’s problem so Barry immediately booked him in for the next day.

He was going to be sedated for the process, not anaesthetised, but the same instructions applied:-

1:  No food after 8 pm the evening before

2: No water in the morning

We have a two gallon container of water in the kitchen that’s available at all times for the animals and is refilled every day. (Yesterday, Winston was miaouing by the bucket and when we looked we saw it was empty.)

Frodo is a creature of habit. It is his custom to groan and moan for food twice a day and he will never go out to relieve himself in the morning until he has been fed. Directly after breakfast he drinks copious amounts of water, or would, if I didn’t prevent him – too much liquid in one intake after a meal can cause gastric dilatation and torsion. Following that he repairs to the garden and then comes back to the kitchen for his medication.

The requirement not to feed after eight o’clock was no problem. The animals are always fed their second meal well before that time but the morning presented Frodo with some puzzling behaviour on the part of the humans, particularly the female human who feeds him. Food was not forthcoming, which was very perturbing for him. Even more disquieting than that, I was walking round and round the garden with him to try and encourage him to pee. No joy! Then Barry called him out to the car, (now known as ‘the dog box’ as it’s rather like a horse box and serves a similar purpose) and he jumped in but was not joined by the rest of his friends and relations. His mystified face stared back at me as the dog box disappeared out of the drive.

It was a strange feeling to walk the dogs without my Velcro dog by my side but it was quite relaxing not to have to watch out for other dogs all the time. Frodo is as soft as butter with the dogs he knows – any of them can steal his bone or pinch his food and he makes not a sound, but if a strange dog or human approaches when we’re walking he is very vocal so it is easier and quieter to avoid such scenes by taking an alternative route. We find that most experienced dog walkers behave in the same way, for a variety of reasons.

In the late afternoon we had the results of Frodo’s x-ray. There were a couple of small bone growth spurs that were not affecting him so the conclusion was that he had probably trapped a nerve. We were relieved!

Frodo is a very obedient dog and submits quietly to many procedures but he has taken a dislike to the plunger that administers his Meloxidyl. I don’t know whether he doesn’t like the taste of the medicine or associates the syringe with needles, even though he’s never had a hypodermic used on him at home. Whatever the cause, he slinks away, looking very hangdog. We were away at the weekend and Gillian was looking after the animals. When it was time for his liquid medicine Frodo sloped off and she found him at the top of the stairs!

I have now resorted to giving him a small biscuit after his dose much as children sometimes are given something to take away the taste of ‘nasty medicine’. Naturally, the others must have a biscuit, too. I shall have to adjust their rations accordingly!