Dougal at Home

Today we took Dougal back to the veterinary specialist who operated on his spine for a routine check-up. He was given a clean bill of health and the veterinary surgeon who did the operation wished him a long and happy life. Three of the lower vertebrae have been fused together which puts additional stress on the discs above and below this, but otherwise he is back to normal in every respect; other than fur regrowth, which is not complete yet. He has now been permitted the run of the house during the daytime, although he will still be caged at night.

In this picture he is standing just in front of our back door, having been looking out into the garden for the first time for over a month, before looking at us and the camera. Directly after this picture was taken he returned to looking into the garden. He would obviously like to be outside, so we shall have to keep the outside doors locked as he is not permitted to go outside for another month or two until his rear legs muscles re-develop. He has a little way to go yet but basically that only requires exercise.