hairpins and dog legs

Please don’t misunderstand, my absence hasn’t been due entirely to honing my dog parenting skills – but the ongoing saga of Toffee’s rear end has been one of defining elements of this year.

Just to keep you up to date: He originally had replacement cruciate and cartilage surgery not long after Xmas. That, unfortunately, was not a complete success, which eventually entailed another operation to remove a wedge of bone in lower leg, consequently changing the angle of his knee to relieve the pressure on the ligaments. Which seems to have been a success, all of the plates and pins seem to be holding together very well.

The problem being that having spent so long hobbling around, convalescing and slowly recovering on his left leg – that his right knee collapsed under the awkwardness of his movement and the general strain. I could have wept, it happened while we were out walking, without any warning, and I watched it literally crumble under him.

Sure enough, the vet confirmed that he had ruptured both cruciate ligaments in his right knee (pointing out, bless him, that it was actually better than he’d hoped since it was a sudden collapse and no damage had been caused to his cartilage).

Here we are, post op again. He’s actually doing rather well, albeit that his arse end appears to have been borrowed from a much skinnier dog. He’s not allowed very much exercise so while his bum and rear legs have wasted away he has tended to get heavier elsewhere…..so, to add insult to injury he is also on a diet.

Do you know, when we go back to the surgery for regular check ups and x-rays, he wags his tail?!!

He’s either developed Alzheimer’s too or has masochistic tendencies, or as I think I already understand, he is a big bag of stupid-love covered with fur and that as far as Toffee is concerned any attention is good attention.

(And, not that it’s of any concern whatsoever, except that it’s an excitingly large figure, Toffee’s insurance covered the first £2500 of treatment, but it has cost a further £4500 thus far, and the meter is still ticking – since the conversion rate is US$2 today I’m fairly confident in saying that equates to $9000. He is without doubt, the single most expensive thing I have ever owned apart from my house).

In other news:

I must (must) stop cutting my own hair.

Blogger lost my profile when I (Jenn that is) pushed me over the cyber cliff into Beta (as it took me an age to master the instructions to my VCR I won’t be doing anything too cerebral with a new profile).

I found a pair of suede brogues I like so much I bought two pairs.

I had a birthday and tried to sell it on e-bay, I was offered £1.20.

My motorbike works again, whoop whoop, so now I can spend warm Sunday afternoons killing enormous quantities of flies at ridiculous speeds.

Today I discovered sushi (tomorrow I will endeavour to un-discover it).

Note to self, receipts ARE important.