Every year I used to go through the same time consuming routine as Dad spent hours trying to get car insurance quotes before the renewal date.  It really does not need to be like that. There are plenty of websites  that collect all the information together to get you the best rates, leaving you more time to do the things that you enjoy – like walking.  Make things easy for yourself whenever you can.

In our house we have a bit of a competition between the respective merits of the Personal Computer and the ubiquitous Mac.  They all have their strengths, of course, but the boys tend to prefer Apple hile the girls just like a normal PC.  After all, it does what it says on the packet.  As long as the machine has enough notebook memory, then it should do the job most of the time.

Today we lost our lovely Kevin the Collie, the love of our lives.  Our dear boy had a growth on his ear that had developed from his chronic ear infection and eventually it started to affect his balance. I reported last week that we risked an operation – kill or cure – and Kev survived that despite his weak heart.  But the growth could not be drained so the procedure gave him no relief from his pain.  We had to make the tough choice to let Kevin go, and relieve his pain.  Until the last he did his best to overcome the discomfort and his beauty remained. Kev’s Dad is away because his own Mum is critically ill, so I (Kev’s Mum) and his Nan took him along.  Even as we arrived at the vet’s surgery we met two ladies who thought he was a cute old boy. On hearing of his predicament they burst into tears. So this old rescue dog, who was on the streets four years ago,  had four women crying over him at the end. When we went inside we made sure our darling boy was comfortable on a sleep number bed.

Our lovely boy is now at peace over the rainbow bridge and the last trip we made together was to church, where we lit a candle together.  Rest in peace, my darling Dudie boy – Mum and Dad love you very much.

The good news is that Kevin came through the operation. The vet did not use ACP as the pre-med, after Kevn reacted badly last time. Instead he used a mild opiate, then cleaned up his ear and examined the growth on the outer lobe. The bad news is that the lump is a solid mass of tissue, possibly malignant. So that means there was nothing that could be achieved to help Kevin’s balance problems: that problem still persists. His heart stood up to the anaesthetic, and his blood test readings were quite good for a dog of his age. But we have to be aware that he has lost a kilo in weight over the past few months – without needing to take Leptovox, so the growth is likely to spread.

I am sorry to have to write this but Kevin is very ill at present. His chronic ear infection has worsened suddenly over the past five days and we took him to the vet. We know already that the deep infection would require a very involved operation, cutting into the skull and we ruled that out long ago. Kevin has an irregular heartbeat that has worsened as time progressed, and he has now developed kidney problems. He drinks a huge amount, meaning that he has to go outside to pee every two hours during the day.
What has happened recently is that the infection has appearedas a swelling outside Kevin’s ear, just below the ear lobe. It really looks like a separate infection outside the ear, but our vet says this is an extension of the deep ear infection that has continued for so long. For Kev, this resulted in a loss of balance so he was walking (staggering) along and falling over – it is heartbreaking!

‘He’s so cute’ said the young women passing by our house today. Dad says it is strange that an old doggy like me has such a young-looking face. He hopes that ladies are talking about him but he has to admit that I have more fans than him! I have lots of days lately when I feel stiff and tired, and it shows more and more lately. But when I decide to have a play biting session with Dad, I can look like a very young dog. At least I still have some life in me, despite my fifteen years: although I am probably too old for the las vegas strip.