Hi chums, Paul here

Jenny’s asked me to drop in and let you know she’s having technology problems. Blog access is one of the things that’s gone, and she doesn’t anticipate having it sorted until they get back from hols.

So now you know.  If I hear anything from them while they’re away, I’ll let you know.

Just back from the vets, and I’m afraid it’s not great news…

Harry has severe, advanced heart disease. Because it’s currently being complicated by his respiratory infection, they can’t yet say if he’s in heart failure, but the x-ray showed his heart is 50% bigger than it should be, and the scan showed his heart muscle walls are measuring 8.5mm in places (under 6mm is normal, over 8mm is serious).

I have to monitor his breathing over the next few days, dose him with the diuretics they’ve given me and some tablets that will help regulate the blood flow in his heart. He has a follow up appointment next week, when, if the fluid has reduced enough, they’ll start him on beta-blockers. Assuming we get through all this, they’ll repeat heart scans every three months. Worse case scenario is we might not even still have him in three months…

I made it back to work today, did a 10-4 which was about enough! There’s a lot to catch up on, so I’ve traded my day of this week to work three more 6 hour days which is the same number of hours overall, but easier to manage.

Harry, however, is still one very poorly puddy tat. They detected a heart murmur when they checked him over last night, which hasn’t been apparent before, so as well as more antibiotics and anti inflammatories, he’s booked in for a heart scan and chest x-ray on Friday. He’s hardly eating anything, and has to be prompted to drink. We’re pretty worried

Whatever this is, it ain’t fun. Today is the first day I’ve managed to stay out of bed for a few hours. Admittedly curled up on the sofa in a dressing gown with the curtains closed isn’t much of a departure from bed, but I later managed a bath and something proper to eat - my first meal in a week. You won’t be surprised to learn I’m not back at work tomorrow, but am aiming for a short day Tuesday. Poor little Harry isn’t well either, he has an upper respiratory infection and has been pumped full of antibiotics. He’s not eating much and Chris has to take him back to the vets tomorrow. What a sickly household!