Bewildered & Bemused

Carmen had a confused look on her face as the nurse led her away down the long corridor. This has never happened before; her one way, Day-z the other. And how come Day-z gets to go with the head of the pack? What’s that about?

Day-z, on the other hand, acted as if nothing strange had happened. True, on arrival back home, she did run around looking for her sister but, basically, she has just accepted it.

This is the first time they have been separated for this length of time, ever. The previous longest was when Mirinda decided it would be a good idea to leave Day-z alone at the cottage while she took Carmen to the vet. Boy, was that a big mistake. It set the bar for neighbour hatred quite high. Day-z, being Day-z, had taken her frustrations out by complaining in a thin, reedy, high pitched voice. This upset them a bit.

When it was time for Mirinda to leave for work, we walked with her as far as the park entrance that leads to Bear Lane and had our farewells. Walking back through the park, Day-z didn’t leave my side. She was clearly confused as Carmen normally sets off first, exploring and rolling. Even when we spotted a labrador rolling in something evil and her owner yelled for her to stop or she’d be thrown outside for the rest of the day, Day-z didn’t show any interest at all. This is odd behaviour.

Back at the house, we settled down to do some serious nettle extraction in front of the compost bins. It’s terrible stuff. It’s easy enough pulling it out but under the ground there’s an invidious network, a spiderweb, of small roots, matted through everywhere. And then there’s the tap roots which appear to go down forever. Still, we persevered and eventually it was clear. We planted gladioli and a verbena banana custard.

I say ‘we’ because Day-z spent most of the time standing next to me, occasionally looking lost as if she wanted to play but had no-one to play with. A couple of times she tried to get me to run up and down the garden with her. I told her that was never going to happen.

At about 1pm, I had a phone call from the vet saying Carmen was out of the operation and slowly waking from the anaesthetic. I could go and pick her up at 3. I was down there just after.

If Day-z looked bewildered this morning, it was nothing on how Carmen looked! Obviously she was pleased to see us but not in her usual boisterous way. If anything, she just wanted to get home. She kept making this pitiful little noises as if she didn’t understand what was happening. She was clearly still a bit drugged. Day-z seemed to know she had to be a bit careful and, I’m glad to report, didn’t bite her face like she usually does.

The nurse told me to make sure Carmen had lots of rest and quiet – not a big problem where Carmen’s concerned. The scar looks pretty mean but not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Carmen's stitches after her operation

We have to return to the vet on Friday to check for any signs of infection and then the stitches come out in 10 days. I’m just glad she made it through and is back with us…asleep on the bed…where she should be.