The Mr Mutt Medley (Part I)

As you may know, Mr Mutt is an ageing border collie who has lived with ChickPea and TH for nearly 3 years – as a ‘rescued Dog’ from Dumfries in September 2006. Since he moved in, we have experienced our ‘ups and downs’ as you might say. He has issues.

One – or some – of these involve his rather sharp teeth. ‘Crocodile’ is a label he earned from my brother – having been on the receiving end.

And the reason ? – Well, we’re not sure. ‘Badness’ does not seem to ring true to the character who has been slowly emerging. When the worst has happened, he has seemed as surprised as anyone, and has frequently been ‘completely out of character’ as you might say – almost like a knee jerk reaction has been triggered.

Does it relate to his past ? Has Something Bad happened to him in his previous life ? Given that, at one stage, he frequently awoke (spontaneously – no discernible potential trigger factor) snarling and snapping, it does seem likely that he had awoken from a bad dream. Are dreams always related to your own experience ? – I don’t know, but it does seem likely. This is gradually becoming a less regular occurrence – thankfully.

We shall never know what this fine fellow has been subjected to in his past life. But we shall make every effort to ensure his future can be as ok an experience for him as is possible.

Anyway. Since he arrived, TH has been concerned about a wart on Mr Mutt’s head and a soft lump on his left foreleg. Mr Mutt seemed oblivious to both of these, but as they have been slowly getting bigger, The Time Had Come to deal with them (Mr Mutt knocking the top off the wart so that it bled being a factor). Minor surgery would be required, teeth could be checked at the same time (we’ve not been inclined to investigate his mouth since The Crocodile emerged – tho he was fine about this when he first joined us). A ‘Routine Blood Test was required, and duly achieved and sent off for processing.......

ChickPea was an NHS Health Professional for many years, but Understanding Blood was never a strong point. Mr Mutt’s analysis revealed horrendously low platelets. Repeated test was much the same. ‘Overwhelming Infection’ did not look like the cause – so a bone marrow disorder became the likely answer. This was a couple of weeks ago. A few days later a hole appeared in his flank, draining serous-like fluid and maybe some pus – evidently an abscess was at least a part of the diagnosis. Astonishingly, rather than getting worse – as anticipated - this has healed steadily with his medications, and apart from a very ‘down’ day over the 24 hours before the abscess drained itself, Mr Mutt has been in fairly reasonable spirits. (So has The Vet. Which may relate to The Bill. You know how it goes).

Anyway. So far so good.

We are still on this rocky path of discovery – is there an underlying condition? If so, will the steroids control it? As the steroids make him very thirsty, will he still be peeing for Europe most hours of the day and night, or will this reduce as the dose decreases?

But also - has this abscess been a factor in the biting? Has it been developing over months, rather than days? It seems to me – now - that his occasional biting at his back and scratching at his side were more likely related to this abscess than our assumption of fleas – and would explain why we never found evidence of fleas, and standard flea responses did not seem to affect his behaviour.

He seems comfortable – flat out on the rug just now, instantly alert to any move I might make – especially if this involves the kitchen ! He’s not a young dog. But it’d be good to share our lives with him for a while longer. We’re only just getting to know him.