Chionodoxa.

I've been feeling a bit off today with a thumping headache, and it's all Merlin's fault.

When I came home after the cinema on Sunday evening, he didn't greet me, but then I thought he was a bit miffed because Mrs TD has spent the last two weeks house and dog sitting so we haven't seen much of her. I did the accounts and posted the blip then tried to get him out for into the garden for a pee before going to bed - he wouldn't, so I carried him out and put him down on the lawn where he promptly fell over. Up until then it had been a reasonable assumption that he was just being cantankerous, he often is.

When I met the vet at the surgery at 2 a.m. I was surprised that Merlin was still alive but, not only that, he had even perked up a bit. However, he was dehydrated, feverish and in deep shock. His veins had collapsed and it took an hour, and a second vet, to get a needle into a vein for a drip; I couldn't even see the veins they were trying  to use. They X-rayed him (and found some "foreign bodies" in his stomach which appear to be red herrings),  and filled him up with drugs, including morphine, so he probably had some happy dreams. He was a bit more comfortable when I left  him and I was home and phoning Herself at 5 a.m. with the news; it was nearly six by the time I got to bed.

I was woken at nine by the vet by which time he had stabilised a bit. Temperature was back normal, colour was restored and he seemed to be a lot more comfortable. I, on the other hand, spent the day suffering from lack of sleep. I did take a photograph - it was rubbish - and I have long since adopted the policy that, if it isn't worth posting, I won't post it. Reports from the vet were that Merlin was improving and we went in to see him before visiting Mrs Merlin to tell her what was going on. The plan is to let his condition stabilise and then stick a camera down his throat and investigate those red herrings; while the opinion is still that they are not the cause of his problems, they could become lethal if they move and/or are sharp. We will have to wait and see.