Wednesday 7 October 2009

Pale gums.


The 'font' was worried about Wilfs behaviour. He was uncharacteristically lethargic,looked at, rather than chased the ball and to top it all skipped lunch. As Wilf ranks food as his greatest single pleasure in life this was a particularly worrying sign. A quick examination showed that he had unusually pale gums. Rather than face a sick dog during our exodus to France,he was in the back of the car and off to our marvellous vet within record time. These were the exact same early symptoms of the poisoning that nearly finished him off in early 2008. The local hunters put down poisoned chicken pellets to kill the foxes ( on our land ) and naturally Wilf being Wilf managed to sniff out some of these tasty but lethal morsels. Hence the 'fonts' alarm .

Of course, the very second we got him in the car he perked up and by the time we got to the vets the colour was back in his gums and he was raring to meet the vets attractive young female Briard . After twenty minutes of tests the diagnosis? Tiredness. Usually the boyz sleep for a couple of hours in the morning and again for three hours in the afternoon. Recently, with so many visitors coming to the house Wilf has been sleeping less and playing ball more ... much more. Last night he retired with as much dignity as he could muster at seven and slumbered for eleven hours solid. This morning he is back to his usual form and ferreting around in the courtyard while his little brother dozes under a pine tree in the sun.

9 comments:

Maxmom said...

Hey there, Angus
Sorry to hear about Wilf's demise, but really glad it's nothing serious. These things always happen when our own nerves are frazzled!...Be well, Wilf
Max's mom in SA

ps We are amuzed that you have removed yesterday's post of the red scotties...??? Do we take it your are bashful???

Angus said...

Max - Yes. I am bashful.

Cynthia Pittmann said...

Poor little puppy! He just needed a good rest. Enjoyed your blog! What an adventure to move to Italy! I moved to the Caribbean-Puerto Rico...from Southern California. Quite a contrast...but I notice similarities too. I have a small animal shelter, we take care of 12 dogs. Several look like collies, labs...but all are mutts! They call them "satos" here, which communicates "street dogs". Beautiful fluffy dog friends~ thanks for sharing there stories.

Whispering Walls said...

Oh - bon voyage!

kks said...

tired does not equal pale gums....i don't want to scare you....being the tech that i am, i'm thinking slow bleed...then auto transfusing....bleed a little, get pale and lethargic, bleed stops, blood is auto transfused and feel better, back to normal.....keep a close eye on your handsome guy, if it happens again, i'd get an ultrasound.....
sorry, i know you didn't ask for my advice, but i couldn't help myself...:(
hope all is going well with the packing....
xo

Chelsea + Shiloh said...

Glad youve got a vet you think is marvelous.. Im wondering about the language thing.. do you speak Italian or does he speak English

Farmers & National Parks at times bait here with 1080 poisons and are required to have signage everywhere but mostly its not close to residential areas...

glad your boy is ok :)

Rocky Creek Scotties and Rocky Creek Ramblings said...

Glad your vet got things cleared up and now you'll know if the future what to do - better safe than sorry though.

We miss the Scottie post.

Lynn

Audrey the Photographer Dog said...

Scary! Glad everything will be okay!

Angus said...

Cynthia - 12 dogs ! The move from CA to Puerto Rico must have been something.

WW - Merci.

KKS - I agree with you - Wilfs pancreatitis and then colitis coupled to the poisoning and then being kicked in the robbery have combined to leave traces of dried blood in his stools. Ultrsaounds can't see anything. We keep a close eye on him. Thanks for the advice it's always welcome.

Abbey - She is German and speaks better English or Italian than either of us.

RCSJ - The biggest issue is the aftermath of pancraetitis.He loves food but we have to keep him on a low protein, wheat free diet. It helps 95% of the time.

Audrey - Thanks