A Little Colour

5.5C and cloudy. Light breeze.

Maeve the Deerhound and I went out for our usual very short walk just before 7am.
There was a little colour in the sky.

After lunch we went for a two mile walk. It was cloudy and grey and felt quite cold. The walking was not brisk. For the most part we just went slowly, then the last half mile Maeve speeded up and took the lead as she often does when she knows she is nearing home. She has drunk water and has eaten. I had got in some soft food for her and she is taking that easily. She will have poached chicken breasts this evening.

Yesterday evening was a very different story !

When I brought her back from the Vet's Maeve (who had cried from the moment she saw me until we got into the car) had settled in my home office on her old soft bed and when Apothecary7 came home she went straight to see Maeve in case she tried to get up too quickly. All good.

After dinner Apothecary7 was putting some of her CPD on the online system she has to use, so Maeve had some company in the office. Still good.

Then, just before 9pm, Maeve decided to get up. We heard her crying. She was struggling to get up, and was holding her back right leg high against her side. Nightmare !

It took us almost two hours to settle her...
She wouldn't lie down for long.
She wouldn't lie on her left side to ease the right leg.
She insisted on getting up, and kept collapsing.
I had to support most of her weight for what felt like a very long time.

To cut what feels like  a very long story short we finally persuaded her to go out into the garden and as she hopped and staggered out it did at least seem to get her to put the back right paw down and take some weight on it. I got her to go as far as the lawn.
Then, much to my surprise, she turned round and walked/jogged back into the house. More weight on the back leg. We can only conclude that she had somehow been lying on her leg so that it had gone numb or had pins and needles. Our thoughts had ranged from pins and needles, to a dislocated hip, to a stroke !

We didn't wait too long before using the opportunity to get her upstairs to bed.
I didn't sleep much listening out for her.
Apothecary7 got some sleep.

... and this morning Maeve got up almost as if there had never been a problem at all and went downstairs without help ready to go out.


DMC-LX7 f/2.8 1/160 sec. ISO-80 5mm