About half an hour after I took this photo, Mischa was put to sleep.
Thursday night and Susan phoned me about 8.30 in the evening to ask if I could take Mischa and her family (see photo) to the emergency vet's at Heworth about ten miles away. Susan couldn't manage the drive because she's having a knee replacement in hospital in the next few days. Of course I agreed. The poor dog had been bleeding from her anus and her owner, one of our volunteers in the shop, told me she thought the cancer she'd recovered from a couple of years ago had returned. In addition, because of cataracts, very visible in the photo, Mischa had been blind for a while. They'd had the dog for 12 years and she'd been an adult when they got her so she had to be at least 13.
The after hours vet service is a private practice shared with the PDSA. Fortunately Mischa had been registered with the PDSA so, apart from a voluntary donation, treatment was free. If we'd had to go private it would have cost over £130 just to be seen and consulted with any further treatment extra. As it happened the vet on duty (and I don't know if this was their standard practice) did double duty with paying patients getting preferential treatment. Which meant that even though there were only about four other animals needing treatment the entire time we were there, Mischa got treated last after we'd been waiting an hour and a half.
None of us really expected anything else. Mischa was an old dog and a much loved dog, but it was her time and only right to end her pain. But still upsetting for mother and daughter, particularly the latter who had never known a life without the dog.
After dropping them off, which was just round the corner from me, I got home shortly after midnight when I poured myself a large Southern Comfort and wound down checking my email and Facebook.
Friday.
I woke thinking it was four and time to empty a full bladder but it was actually six so I got up, saw to the cats and went swimming. Then I collected Amy Farrah Fowler and took her to the vets to be spayed. I didn't know if she actually needed spaying but as she's a stray I didn't want to take any chances. I half expected that, like Marcie May who arrived at the same time, she'd prove to have been done. But she hadn't so a good thing I took her. On Tuesday they're getting their second flu jabs and then it's straight off to our re-homing centre where they'll share a pen.
As a result of last night, I've felt tired pretty much all day.
Tomorrow I'm meeting a mother and daughter who're interested in being cat cuddlers and someone who's interested in adopting a cat from us. Hopefully both will go well.
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