Susie-Belle’s mojo is still missing

A short update on Susie-Belle before the Schnauzerfest weekend begins. She hasn’t yet fully got her mojo back following Tuesday’s day at the vet but we’re hoping that this is because she’s such a sensitive soul and is no spring chick so it’ll take her just a bit longer than most.

As is often the case with Susie-Belle she’s a mystifying puzzler. On the one hand she’s as keen as ever to get out on her usual, slightly shorter for now, walks and while out, she’s engaging with the smells and world with the same level of doggy pleasure she always shows. Yesterday morning after having a disturbed night where every hour or so she was needing to drink and pee – it exhausted me, let alone her sweet, old self – on our morning walk she bounced and barked her way over to one of her friends she spotted in the distance. All good, and somewhat startling to me as seconds before we’d been sleepily plodding along, me worrying whether she should be out or not, or indoors resting. She wanted to be out. Obviously.

But, and this is the biggest immediate concern we have, she’s not eating. For all who know Susie-Belle this is a big deal. A significant bother of bothersome bothery bothering proportions. This is a dog who will eat for England and keep eating. This is the dog who ate her way through a pot of chicken fricasee with no ill effects. This is a dog who swallowed a rat whole and didn’t bat an eyelid whilst it slipped down her throat. This is a dog we fondly call our pet crocodile as we risk losing a finger every time we offer her a treat. She is the Queen of Groke.

So, for Susie-Belle to be off her food, this is something that worries me greatly. Our vet today has given this attention and we’re now waiting to see how she goes over the weekend. She’s eaten more today than yesterday, which is promising, and if this wasn’t Susie-Belle, who has the mind of a fat, greedy Labrador trapped in the small body of a miniature schnauzer, I wouldn’t be so concerned.

I just want her to be herself for a while longer, I know nothing will change the diagnosis and we’re slowly accepting the terrible news we’ve had this week. But, we’re not ready yet to see her wither away and not enjoy her food and her life. But, if we put aside the absence in the last few days of the usual omnipresent gluttony, I’d say she was doing pretty well and is certainly happy in herself.

Although in the vet this morning she did a great impression of being particularly miserable. But, and this is where understanding her background is so vital – despite her trust in us and the love of life she has now, she is still a dog who had years of awfulness, no trust in humans and a complete wrecking of any normal responses. So, the week’s difficulties, which have included a day away from me for the first time since she came to live with us, in a new, alarming environment with strangers, will have taken its toll beyond the usual. And made her miserable when we went back today. And this I’m pinning my hopes on. That, as she works through things and realises that she’s still safe and I’m here for her and all that’s being done is really not as traumatic as she might be fearing, she will perk up. And the meds will work.

So, we will continue to tempt her with the fridge contents over the weekend, which is, I admit quite an unusual selection on offer: it includes fillet beef, guinea fowl, and there may even be some roast lamb left from yesterday’s choice, (remember Michel is a chef, we know this is not a normal fridge!) and hope the vet’s skills and remedies will bring her back to herself and to us for a good while longer. It’s just a day at a time right now, that’s all I can say.