The
Further Adventures of Frodo the Faller – Loving the Attention
Having got back into the rhythm of Visiting the
Vet Frodo has had an interesting few weeks. First there was blood in his urine
– lots of it! A scan revealed he may have a tumour in his bladder but we
decided there would be no invasive surgery. Nadia-the-Vet said he might live
for another year. We were very sad but reminded ourselves that he has had and
is still having a very good life, despite his problems. More antibiotics were
prescribed and there has been no more blood.
Frodo has been subject to epileptic seizures since
he was nearly three years old; they are sporadic and don’t last long but
recently he had five seizures in less than twenty-four hours and they exhausted
him. The following day he had a dramatically upset stomach in the middle of the
night (and the middle of our bedroom!) We
took him downstairs and watched him carefully. He seemed uncomfortable and we
were worried that he might be having another attack of bloat. Our vets were
closed so Barry took him to the emergency vets seven miles away and he was put
on a drip to rehydrate him. Barry got home at 2.00 a.m. and had to collect him
from the emergency vets at 7.30. Frodo then had to spend the day with our vets on
a drip and we were told he would stay there overnight. However, he got into a
bit of a state and was tangling himself in the feed tube so we brought him
home.
All returned to normal for a few weeks until one
morning we noticed Bertie licking Frodo’s leg. Blood was trickling down it and
we thought it might be in his urine again. When I looked his urine was fine but
he had what looked like a gash on his thigh, as though he had caught his leg on
a bramble. Another trip to the vet disclosed that he had an abscess that had
burst. Again there was a suspicion that it might be more sinister but a course
of antibiotics cleared it up. Julie-the-Vet advised that the skin medication
was affecting his immune system and that he should stop taking it. Frodo had
lost quite a lot of weight in recent weeks – he had been 29 kilos but had
dropped a kilo and a half. Although he looked thin he was quite as lively and
hungry as ever so I started supplementing his two meat meals with two of
cereal, milk and eggs. Within six days he gained two kilos.
A couple of weeks later he had another stomach
upset and lost a kilo. Julie-the-Vet prescribed
more antibiotics for him and I fed him just eggs scrambled in water for a
couple of days to give his system a chance to recover. He now has cooked food
because although he loves raw food his digestive system can’t seem to tolerate
it.
It’s a delicate balancing act trying to feed Frodo
enough to keep him satisfied and at a good weight without overloading his
system. He has just had another cluster of four seizures in twelve hours. He was
very disorientated and got lost in our garden in the middle of the night. He slept
all day yesterday and ate nothing but is his usual ravenous self today. Each
incident knocks him back and each recovery takes a little longer but he is a
fighter. Nonetheless, we know his days are numbered and fear that his next
adventure may be his final one. Luckily he doesn’t know that and enjoys his
food, his walks and the company of those who love him.
