December 1999

Two weeks passed by very quickly and I wish I could remember more than the recollection of boiling fish, that distinctive, odorous but hopeful smell and Jemimas joy of eating something new and tasty. Over the two weeks it became apparent that nothing was changing with her paws. The obvious conclusion was that the problem was allergy related but this still required proof. We returned to the Queen Mother hospital and another appointment with Dr Bond. This time he was a little more sobering in tone when explaining the next step or at least for Christine. Jemima would need to be put under general anaesthetic, a patch of fur shaved from her side, and a number of pin pricks made upon which solutions of different allergens would be placed. Fifteen minutes later we would know all. The sobering part of the explanation was that of the risk of general anaesthetic causing a problem. Statistically the possibility of death was very small and the only time Dr Bond had a dog go into anaphylactic shock he was able to revive the dog. He was duty bound to tell us this but it had an effect on Christine who burst into tears. I did not know quite what to do as she sat there not making any noise but had tears rolling down her face. Ross Bond stopped and asked if she was ok to which she responded that it was normal – which indeed I knew that it was. She asked him to continue and told him not to worry. He continued after a pause “if it was my own dog I would have no hesitation in going through with it”. This was enough for Christine although my mind was made up on this course of action even before we came to the Queen Mother hospital. I would have sanctioned the procedure if it were not for the fact that checking whether the problem was dietary was cheaper which appealed to Christines frugal ways. We gave Jemima a hug and she was taken away to be tested right there and then.

There were of course slight doubts at the very back of my mind about whether something might go wrong but nothing did. Twenty minutes later everything was done. We were led to the room next door where Jemima was awake already but laying down and groggy. Her left flank now sported a bald patch around six inches wide by 4 inches deep and upon that were a number of blood spot pin pricks some of which had developed raised whorls around them. I was excited. Dr Bond obviously knew already what she was allergic to being the expert but he talked us through the different pin pricks and red whorls. It wasn’t grass or pollen or cats or faeces or a number of other wierd potential allergens but house dust mites! House dust mites?! Well that kind of explained a few things. Her paws had become much worse since we moved to Jam Pot Cottage which had old carpets laid throughout the house still. We had also signed up to a couple of new tests which revealed she was also allergic to the Malasezia yeast that occurred naturally between a dogs toes. She was already a one in ten dog but with the Malasezia allergy she was a rarer dog still. She was always a rare one to me anyway.

Now we knew what the issue was it was a case of what we do about it. One option was for her to be kennelled in the garden permanently. The other option was to remove all the carpets in the house as well as boil all the bed linen and get new bed mattresses. We would potentially need to get a special hoover but a new one would be sufficient for the time being. Christine showed her odd ways by insisting that her double bed that we had setup as spare bed was perfectly clean whereas my bed that we were using, even though it was newer, was obviously more dirty so it had to go. I managed to persuade her to just swap them around – very strange! Alongside all of that we would have to wash and soak her feet twice a week with Malaseb shampoo for the rest of her life. In addition as she was allergic to Malasezia Dr Bond took a special interest as this was currently an area of research. He offered us a trial treatment of an individually produced desensitizing vaccine for which he would need blood samples. These could not be taken there and then because of the general anaesthetic so that would be done by our local vet.

After all the allergy testing fun there was also the small matter of the surgery required to remove the extra pad growing alongside her existing one and the removal of the sores and scar tissue in the interconnecting tissue between her toes if deemed necessary. We had to set a date for that. We duly arranged a date and when the time came we delivered her to the hospital. The operation was done very much immediately so that she would get a whole two weeks recovery time under the watchful eye of the hospital. This was the most expensive part of the whole process and the most painful for me as it meant being apart from my baby girl. Two weeks went by very slowly indeed but we received regular telephone reports on progress.

The day we picked her up sticks in my mind. It was a happy day indeed. We sat in the main hospital reception after announcing our arrival and we waited. As we sat there a distant “clack clack clack” sound caught my attention. I looked in the direction that it was emanating from and from a little way off I caught sight of Jemima being led along by a nurse. Jemimas tail was in the air and she was walking along happy as can be with that wide toothy dog smile that all dog owners know. I realised the “clack clack” sound was beating in time with Jemimas steps and as she came round the corner I could see that her whole leg was strapped in a blue bandage that had some kind of support inside to keep her leg straight – we found out later it was a plastic splint. And then she saw me.

Jemima could not contain herself. She made as if she wanted to run over and briefly reared up and pawed at the air like a horse. She realised that flying wouldn’t quite work and so placed her front paws down and cantered over as fast as she could. “Clacka clacka clacka” I had my baby back! She jumped up at me even though I was crouching down to the floor. The joy of a dog reunited with their master is unbridled indeed.