Week 13 - Garden visits, visitors and vets.

A tricky week for me, had blood test results back then based on the them was sent for more tests and requested by haematologist not to leave the UK until the results are back and he's worked out what stage we're at with diagnosis and what I need to have done next. 

The weather has been glorious, I've been able to set the garden furniture up outside and leave it out and it's been great hanging the washing out, but I did have to put the heating back on over the weekend.

Child 4 and 4a arrived on Friday to collect the dog so I can return to Dubai, too far to drive up and down in one day and there is also a 6 hour ferry crossing involved. We're fortunate to have a 6 bed house with 4 bathrooms allowing everyone to have their own room and personal space, I haven't had any indoor or close contact with anyone for a long time, so this I guess is a bubble. I can't go back to Dubai without their support.

86 Saturday Morning spent in bed then a walk with the dog and a door step chat with a friend. Tidied photos and files on laptop, did the ironing, blog posts, read, watched TV. The dog ate a hyacinth bulb, will have to keep a close eye on him. (dog poo'ed none stop for 3 days)

87 Sunday A social distanced walk with a friend and the dogs up the Malvern Hills followed by a picnic of tea and biscuits at the back of the car afterwards. A late roast beef dinner and afternoon spent reading the paper, watching tv, bath and early to bed.

88 Monday Garden visit with grandchild and DIL in the afternoon and then with son when he came home from work. Weather was lovely and it was really nice to be spending time with them. I took my own lunch and drank their tea and used the loo before I went home. I handed over Easter Gifts which they opened as they'd not been touched for over a week in the boot of the car. Dropped door step gifts for Easter for friends twins on the way home.

89 Tuesday Early morning food shop and got a new disc engraved for the dog with son's contact details on, then home to mow the lawns and weed the front garden, a lovely dog walk and a birthday party late afternoon for Pushkins who is now 12 and adopted us 9 years ago. The evening was spent in front of the TV.

90 Wednesday A garden visit and lunch, took the dog with me and had a walk. I was given a clear jigsaw puzzle to entertain me before I return to Dubai. At this rate I'll not be leaving the house again. I painted some rocks in the afternoon to decorate as chickens for Easter and painted some plant pots also. Dropped off some parcels to be posted with Easter gifts for child 1 and the Things.

91 Thursday A morning of cleaning and bed making and a short dog walk as Bob is on meds for calming him before the vets in the afternoon then on to return child 5's washing and ironing to him. More garden ideas going on, would love a magnolia in the front garden.

92 Friday Child 4 and 4a arrived to collect the dog, we just chilled out for the day, a dog walk and no physical contact. I did all the cooking and making drinks, which is regardless of covid anyway as I do like to spoil my kids when I can.

Nothing on the blog this week.

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2021 Week 9 - One Daily Positive. Hospital and vet appointments.

Before I started this week, the only thing I had in my diary was the Osteopath on Friday, so I booked a visit to Croome with Bob, which is 12 miles by road from here. Bob is going over to Northern Ireland in April so I can return to Dubai until the end of June. However he now requires additional paperwork and treatment before he can travel there after the change in rules with Brexit, so vets booked for him and his cat for its jabs also. 

Then I got the appointment through for my iron infusion, so it's turned into a super busy week. Thankfully we are within 10 miles of Worcester City Centre and the hospital. 

58 Saturday Nothing happened all morning, then I finally kicked my arse into gear, got off the sofa around 3pm, walked Bob then finally finished tidying away the attic rooms, just need to clean them now and I now have the space to do jobs properly. Need to make a list for curtain amendments, clothing repairs and new dog bed to be sewn.

59 Sunday Had a lie in, dressed and off to Morrisons for a paper, flowers, compost, cooked chicken, some GF foods and a take home latte. Set up the garden outside, table and chairs, read the paper, ate cake and drank latte. Mowed the lawn, weeded the front, tidied up the shed, sorted through the recycling, walked the dog, cooked a roast, watched a movie, had a bath, watched TV and a late dinner.

60 Monday Off to Croome Park at 10am with Bob, needed fuel so grabbed a coffee at the same time, a lovely sun shiny walk. Home to a bacon butty and the afternoon was spent blogging and watching TV.

61 Tuesday Vets with the cat in the morning, home to tidy paperwork and back into Worcester 4-7pm followed by an iron infusion, a bath, a facebook call with a friend and bed.

62 Wednesday Cold, damp and foggy out so took Bob for a 3 hour walk up the Malvern Hills, hardly saw anyone until we walked down through the town. Only Iceland, Boots and the coffee shops open on the high street, but Bob and I walked down the road to avoid the number of couples, kids and mobility scooters. Spent the afternoon reading the Sunday papers, evening in front of the TV and bed after a couple of video calls.

63 Thursday Been sleeping in till around 8am at the moment, showered and dressed and walked Bob, then sat blogging. Vets in the afternoon for Bob, he had some calming medication last night and a few hours before the visit, he was chilled, chewed on a pigs foot treat, I then muzzled him and he had his jabs. No one bitten but he was absolutely petrified when he was held and fought hard to escape, then as chilled as anything afterwards and let the vet make a fuss of him. We had a short walk when we got home, then a chilled out evening in front of the TV and I did some blogging. Child 3's parcel arrived back from Australia, I sent it the end of September and had just made a claim earlier this week from the Post Office.

64 Friday Osteopath at 8.30am, then took Bob for a long walk, home into my pjs, rearranged a few things in the craft room and fixed the dogs bed. Bob and I almost got mown down today out walking, the vehicle flew over the roundabout and narrowly missed another car, losing control and heading straight towards us, they clipped the curb and bounced back onto the road. I called the police, they didn't even ask my name or even ask if I was OK, they weren't interested as I didn't have the plate number. It's a small town, they'll know who the vehicle belongs to, all the windows were painted out and the van had a wide and low wheel base, not road worthy with all the black smoke pouring out the back.

On the blog this week:

My Sunday Photo - Update on the construction site in Malvern

Counting Calories - Losing the weight after stopping smoking 

Post Comment Love -  Reflections of flying during covid

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Bob and Pushkins go on holiday - Animal Tales

Both the cat and dog get sensitive when I get ready to travel. Bob normally follows me around the house, from room to room and will sit outside the bathroom to wait for me. If I uncross my legs, he's up and ready to follow me. However when the suit case comes out, Bob takes himself to bed and sulks.

Pushkins becomes over friendly and gets under my feet and will do anything to hinder my packing process.

Bob spent the holidays with his girlfriend Jelly, he was eager to get in the car and settled in really quickly in his holiday home for the next 2 weeks.

Pushkins spent 2 weeks at the vets, she's normally reluctant to get in her cat basket, but as the zip had broken from her last escape attempt, I got her travel box out the shed, which she explored and went straight inside.

When we got back from the first part of our trip, we had an over night stay back home. I visited the cat, who purred, moulted and snuggled into me and after a few minutes, she jumped down and walked back in the other room to her cage.

In the evening I went to see Bob, he knew I wasn't bringing him home, I have no idea how he knew that, but after his initial excitement at seeing me, he took himself to bed, with a backwards glance at me.

Peter collected both the cat and dog after the 2nd week and I returned a week later, arriving the same time as child 3 and his girlfriend. They left on Saturday night, Bob was over the moon to see us both as he'd seen the suitcases come out, but had no idea if I was staying or going.

Child 5 will be here soon for a week and in mid June I shall be going back to the UK for the summer. Peter will be looking after Bob and Pushkins and there will be a visit from Jelly for 2 weeks and he will have to board the pets for a few days when both him and Jelly's owners are away with work.

Soft Play in Dubai, for Dogs

Free play sessions for Large Dogs was advertised on Facebook. Poor #BobTheDog keeps picking something up when we visit the lakes in the desert, it's either something in the water or in the sand and undergrowth. He spent a few weeks wearing the Cone of Shame to stop him nibbling and scratching the areas. So when we saw this we decided we would go.

When we've gone to these places in the past they've been in large warehouses with space for the dogs to run on artificial turf and a swimming pool. So on arrival at ABVC we were surprised to see we we'd taken Bob to his first soft play session.

You should have seen the look on Peter's face. 

There was only one other dog there when we arrived, 5 in total during the time we were there. Bob had a fantastic time, he was diving in and out of the ball pool, we attempted the obstacle course and it was funny watching Bob run after the ball on the tiled floors.

The cat is seriously overweight and no longer a girl

For 4 years Pushkins has been a girl, our little Pussy Fat Bitch is one of the more affectionate names we've had for her.

I'm a mother to 4 boys, the dog is male, so the cat helped to even numbers up a little. She has a pink cat basket, a pink studded collar, pink 'hello kitty' blanket, pink bed and pink food bowl.

That still stays the same, as does her name, but from now on Pushkins is a he.

I'm gutted, it's like watching Birmingham City get relegated out the Premiership all over again, it has no effect on my life and it's just something I have to adjust to.

Pushkins is now 'it' if Peter or I say he, it just doesn't sound right and we think the other is referring to the dog.

I took her to the vets on Thursday as she had been limping for 2 days, the vet said at 5.2kg she was seriously overweight. It's not from us over feeding her, it's the cat feeding scheme that is nearby, she goes out at night and eats all the food. The only way to prevent this is to keep her indoors full time till we've addressed the weight limit.

The vet x-rayed her foot and said nothing was broken and gave her a painkilling injection and said her paw was swollen but there was nothing in it, so probably tendon damage and he gave me a course of tablets to give her at home. I have forced 2 tablets down 'its' throat and haven't been bitten or scratched yet.

He handed her back over to me and said 'Pushkins is a boy' I was shocked, said 'she can't be, a vet in South Africa confirmed she'd been sterilised and the State vet had examined her before she boarded the plane in Johannesburg.'

The vet asked his colleague to examine her and confirmed SHE is indeed a HE and added 'oh the shame, a pink cat basket, make sure you break the news to him gently, at least you don't have to change the name, it suits boys and girls. But he has been neutered so we're NOT responsible for the cat population in Dubai.

Now I am considering a name change, no idea what yet, because Pushkins is what I called a girl cat.

I thought my husband would say I was being ridiculous, but he understands and suggested I bought a new collar and bed in blue to help me accept it and maybe find it easier to say HE.

Pushkins doesn't care, all HE cares about is being able to go outdoors. So far the litter tray contents has just been spread over the conservatory floor. During the day they both have access to the whole house, but at night we've taken to closing the conservatory door as Pushkins has been hand butting our bedroom door between 1am and 5am demanding to go outside.

I was feeling guilty so I tried a harness and although he walked a little way in it, I ended up carrying him back indoors crying.

Bob is feeling better

Well Bob is feeling a lot better and thank you to everyone who has commented on last week's post, face book, instagram and twitter.

Bob has only put on .2kg over the past week after rapid weight loss over the previous 3 weeks, it seems that the rash has something to do with the sand, the skin infection was probably due to the rats in one of the out buildings he showed a close interest in and we still have no idea about why he has been losing weight.

However this weekend we are going to a dog meet up on the beach. it's a private event with a small charge. Dogs are banned on the beach in Dubai, which is a shame seeing as we only live 1km from it.

We'll deal with any sand rash by taking a large container of water with us to rinse him with before we drive home and we have cream from the vets. As you know we live in Dubai so avoiding the sand is very difficult, almost impossible.

When your dog gets ill - Animal Tales

Bob hasn't been well the past few weeks, it started with bumpy skin on his right back leg, then an infection and raw skin under his left front leg. At the same time we noticed he was looking a bit thin, but he was eating normally so we put it down to me working and out the house all day and not feeding him titbits. He's become an indoor dog now the temps are over 35c in the day, so he's not running around during the day and the evening walks have been shortened due to the humidity and the heat of the ground, so in theory he shouldn't be losing weight, so we decided a trip to the vets was in order.

The vet wasn't too worried about the weight loss and took a skin biopsy to check for ticks, fleas, mites. He gave him a steroid injection, a course of tablets, cream and a cone of shame to stop himself from licking the cream off.

The vet asked about changes in diet, shampoo, washing powder for bedding, trips out etc. Nope not changed any of the above, and the vet didn't think the rash/infection was from the lakes as we go every week and never had any problems before, so our only conclusion was it must be to do with the rat we had in an outbuilding, about a week before Bob started showing symptoms.

Bob wasn't fazed by the cone and although it was amusing to start with as he bumped into walls and doors and had to leave the car backwards, the fun soon wore off when he kept smashing into my shins and using the cone to knock on the door at night as he needed help getting back onto his bed.

On Saturday we took him back to the vets for a check up and added to the list that he hadn't poo'd for 2 days and was having difficulty peeing. He had a new rash on his belly and has lost a further kilo in weight.

The vet has decided on an aggressive treatment of worming over the next two weeks, but if he's lost any more weight at his weigh in this saturday, the vet will run blood tests and do a scan on Bob's prostate. The cat is also on a similar worming treatment plan, in case she's a carrier and they've both been treated to kill/prevent ticks, mites and fleas.

To say I'm a little worried is an understatement. Apart from annual jabs, this is the first time we've taken either the cat or dog to the vets since we've had them. Pushkins 4 years and Bob 3 years.

It has been suggested we should take out vet insurance, especially as we've already spent £180 on treatment to date, but we'd have spent £1440 on instalments over the past 3 years without any gain from it and we have a pot of money saved up for relocation fees so we'll dip into that if we have to have scans, tests and treatment.

In the meantime Bob is now free of the cone and is perfectly happy, wagging his tail, bolting down his food as usual, enjoying the odd bone or two and demanding his nightly walk. We're not going out in the desert now till summer is over, by 7am it's around 32c and just too hot for humans, let alone Bob and his feet on the hot sand.

If you read last week's post you'll see my cat proof nets aren't working as planned.