Where’s Hal?

Hal left me instructions on what to write on our blog for today if he didn’t come home this evening, but as I didn’t believe that he would stay away for a night I didn’t really listen – sorry, Hal.  So, Mummy is helping me write this update based on what she’s aware of.

Hal went to the specialist vet today to have his leg looked at.  The nice vet agreed that he has a problem, so arranged a CT scan for him – and it was arranged immediately so that he didn’t need to be admitted.  But the CT scan showed that he has diseased bone in his elbow that needs to be removed.  There is a 60% chance that it will make things better for him, but it shouldn’t make things any worse, so Mummy is willing to take that chance.The nice vet could fit Hal in for the op tomorrow, so he had to stay at the hospital – which means that we have two days and two nights without him (he also has to spend tomorrow night there, and hopefully return on Saturday).  The op itself is being done by key-hole surgery (I wonder if they are using one of Mummy’s keys), so although the recovery period is the same, he should be more active at home during that time.

But I’ve been told that I won’t be able to play with Hal for at least 6 weeks (and he can’t go for walks either), and we won’t be allowed upstairs in that time.  So, Mummy has now turned the lounge into a makeshift bedroom so that we can all sleep in there.

Mummy asked more questions about what had caused the problems with our elbows, and the nice specialist vet confirmed what our normal vet has always said – that it’s genetic, and there’s nothing that Mummy could have done differently.  But we still don’t understand why our other brother and sisters are not affected, although they do say that dogs are more affected than bitches as they tend to grow faster and heavier.