'Les Girls'

And update on Mama Mia and Mistral - 'Les Girls' as Virginia, their avid supporter from Birmingham, Alabama calls them.

Mistral - well basically she's fine. She was spayed and is now over that. She in pretty good form - incredibly needy (more so than Mia who was in the worst condition of the two). Mistral weirdly has an uneven face. One dewlap is normal and on the other side, it's very short. The vet doesn't know why any more than I do. Was she born like that, was she beaten? There doesn't appear to be any scaring but she's certainly one lopsided looking dog.

Mia has problems (she's the one photographed here) but on the other hand you can see she is looking much better. She has been eating three times the amount of the others yet has only gained a little weight. Her skin is improving but it's not right yet. Last week she went to the vet for a check-up and the two special baths she was having have been stopped. The vet felt they were perhaps drying her skin too much.

And on Monday she was sterilised. (these photos were taken before the operation) She bled a lot and she needed a lot of anaesthetic. When the vet opened her up she found enlarged lymph nodes - perhaps not good news, we have to wait and see. She also wanted to remove one toe. It's infected and is three times the size it should be. After x-ray, it was hard to tell if it was a tumour or what, so removal seemed the best option. Because she bled so much tho and because she needed so much anaesthetic, the vet decided not to do anything with the toe for the moment. The x-rayed showed it's not a tumour but is badly arthritic and could be painful for her. So we'll see how it goes. At the moment it doesn't seem to bother her and as the vet said, if she has lymphoma why bother her with another operation. Once she's over this op, she can be given anti-inflammatories, of course and that might help. She also has a heart murmur. Lots wrong with our lovely Mama Mia.

And Mia is a dog who is sick in the car. Boy is she sick in the car, even if she hasn't eaten, she'll manage to throw up something...

Yesterday, the day after the operation, she was still poorly but today she is much better, eating well and taking note of life.

So sad if she does have cancer but on the other hand, even if she doesn't make much older bones, at least she has a comfortable sofa to sleep on and that was the whole point - to give these dogs a good ending to their hard lives.

She is still terrified of men, of course, and the camera - she looks at it and thinks a bullet is about to hit her between the eyes.

So everything is now done. They've both been sterilised, they've had their innoculations, loads of wormings, skin treatments, good food. Now it's just a question of time and getting healthier. I know from the past, this takes time and we've lots of that.

Thanks so much to everyone who has been so encouraging and taken such an interest in these two dogs - they say Woof Woof and thanks to you.