I arrived at the shelter this morning to be greeted by the news that Karin had just got the car back from the cleaners and more specifically, the interior cleaners. I was thrilled as I recalled the last trip did seem a a little bit stinky.

After a discussion about a few of the dogs, did they need to go to the vet, do we know enough about this issue to make a decision, is there anything more we could do to help this dog’s condition etc, we loaded 5 dogs into the lovely clean car for a trip to the vet on a very sunny winter morning.

The first sign of trouble came about 10 minutes into the journey. There was some moaning in the back seat that turned into a cry and then a yelp. I stopped the car and looked what was going on. I saw 3 pairs of eyes blinking at me and a look on their faces as if to say “it wasn’t me”.

At the next traffic light intersection I stopped again after some more crying and this time I started to get a wiff of a smell I had experienced earlier at the shelter when looking at some of the dogs.

In E1, one of the enclosures, every dog, bench, water bowl and plastic collar seemed to have traces of a light brown slushy muddy mess which now I realised had been the consequence of the dog I had in the back that had apparently had troubles pooing and had been given a diuretic. Well it was now quite apparent that the diuretic had worked. Very well! Those poor guys at the shelter will have a tough job this morning cleaning up after breakfast.

By the time we reached the vet, I was counting the seconds that I could hold my breath for and when I looked at the 2 sets of eyes in the passenger seat in the front with me, I felt sorry for the other 2 innocents in the back.

David, the poo guy, was first to be seen by the vet and she respectfully suggested that we stop the diuretic.

I agreed.

Apparently, David had come to the shelter last week with a prolapse large intestine and the vet had operated to return it within the body and then stitched something to hold it in.

She suggested we should be observing if David poo’s (stop laughing!) and if he doesn’t then the vet should examine him to ascertain the cause.

Ngen was the next up on the table for consultation and with the help of her xray – before her operation last week – it was clear she is a walking miracle. Indeed at the shelter this morning I saw her walk on all 4 legs.

The xray showed that her pelvic was broken at it’s join with the spine and both hips had fractures, the result of a road accident. The surgeon had apparently screwed the pelvic to the spine and this is now why she can already walk. The surgeon had taken the decision not to interfere with the hip damage as he felt they would heal themselves, given appropriate rest and relaxation.

3rd up on the couch was Hero, a cute little puppy that has a problem left eye.

The vet suggested this was either a birth defect or the result of damage at an early age.

The eye ball is now deformed and although the eye opens, the eye does not function.

The vet said, as long as there was no infection, we could let the dog live with the eye as it is.

Otherwise, if there are complications, we should consider removal and therefore closure of the socket.

4th one up was Daeng, who has been on a course of Vincristine for her TvT (Transmissible Venereal Disease).

Today she needed a blood check as we like to monitor the health impact of the treatment, especially the liver.

Indeed, her liver is not doing so well. The test result reflected a deterioration from last week, despite giving her liver supplements daily.

We will need to give her an increased amount of support and hold off the TvT treatment until her liver is able to cope a little better.

Last up was Tdon. This doggy is another road accident victim but unfortunately his condition is a little more complex than Ngen’s.

Tdon has a vertebrae out of place and yet is termed as not having a fractured spine. The vet said that if that were the case Tdon would be paralysed 100% below the fracture.

As it is, he can feel sensation in his feet, he does respond with a little bit of movement in his legs but very little.

So it is recommended that we give him nerve supplement and physio to aid his chances of recovery. We shall need to wait and see what happens.

As you can imagine, the smelly journey into the clinic was bad enough. There had been a few further pungent releases at the clinic but what I was about to do, I am quite sure my nose was not designed to withstand.

As I write this some 12 hours after the event, I am still able to taste it. All I will say, is that the return journey to the shelter was worse than the first journey into the vet.