Thank you to our lovely dog Poppy for 12 wonderful years. We could not have had a more perfect dog. Despite a difficult start in life and coming to us as a rescue, she was always gentle and trusting, and brought us nothing but joy during her time with us.
Her soft eyes and sweet nature won her many friends, both human and in the animal kingdom. If only more people were as good-natured, non-confrontational, polite and welcoming of all others, the world would surely be a better and more peaceful place.
She lived happily with our 3 cats, allowing them to walk over her and even share her bed without protest, as well as graciously accepting into her home the many guest dogs who have stayed here for short or extended visits over the years.
Thank you again, Poppy for the way you enriched our lives. It has been a privilege to share this time with you. You will be hugely missed. RIP.
Rafa likes to live dangerously. Every morning he walks the tightrope of the top rail of our paddock fencing to where my horse is munching his breakfast. Then the game begins!
Sometimes Rafa is knocked off but clings on upside down by his claws, swinging like a monkey until, undaunted, he manages to scramble back up again. Then he repeats his challenge. It all becomes too much for Red when the cat tries to climb down into the feed bowl.
Over the last year most of us have had to get used to conducting activities online whether for work or our interests. We are fortunate to have this ability to communicate and it’s certainly better than not being able to connect at all.
It can be tiring though, focusing on a screen for several hours at a time, especially when you have more than one workshop or online event on the same day as I have been finding increasingly often, with several different writing groups and so much available to join in with.
Poppy loves zoom though. As soon as I set up my laptop and she starts to hear voices her ears prick up and she makes her way over. She now has a permanent bed near my zooming station where she settles down for the whole session to listen in.
She recognises voices too from people she has met previously. Last summer when small groups of people were allowed to meet outside we held several socially distanced workshops here where we wrote in the peace of the garden and shared our work. Poppy greeted everyone when they arrived and made sure she received her quota of fuss and petting from each person before settling down for the meetings. She even insisted on joining us after her stroke although she needed help with getting about and her friends had to greet her instead of the other way around.
Those days of endless sunshine seem a long time ago now but we’re hoping to get back to doing this again and meeting in person though the weather will have to warm up a lot from this year’s recent hail and snow before we do!
It is now ten years since we first brought Poppy home to live with us after her difficult start and rescue in Ireland. She has repaid us with love, loyalty and companionship.
So it was a time of great anguish when last summer she suffered a sudden fit of paralysis. It was a warm August evening and we’d enjoyed a socially distanced drink with friends in our garden gazebo. As we were returning to the house we were brought to an abrupt halt by a scream from behind us, followed by a wailing that caused the blood to almost freeze in our veins. Dropping everything we were carrying, we turned to see Poppy struggling to reach us by scrabbling along on her belly and frantically pulling herself along with her front legs while dragging her paralysed hind legs behind her. Our careful distancing was abandoned as we all rushed to her aid and tried to comfort her as she lay trembling with shock. After rushing to fetch a makeshift stretcher, the two men managed to lift her onto it and carry her back to the house where she lay breathing heavily and whimpering.
It happened on a Sunday evening, as these things so often seem to do, so our local vet’s phone line directed us to an emergency veterinary surgery in Gloucester, 30 miles away. Because of Covid precautions we were not allowed to accompany her inside to help reassure her and she was in too much pain to be fully examined until sedated. The initial assessment of spinal injury filled us with dread and we drove home with great chunks of lead in our hearts.
The next day, after being referred for an MRI scan we drove her to the Langford Veterinary Hospital south of Bristol, where we again had to make a masked handover and waited with trepidation for the result. Thankfully, this showed no rupture of the spinal column and the neurological damage was not severe enough for us to have to take the hard decision that eventually comes to all pet-owners. A spinal stroke was diagnosed, something we had not heard of at the time, but which the vet told us she had a good chance of recovering from. We left Poppy in expert hands and went home to search for as much information as we could find on the internet. This time it would be nine days before we saw her again.
We imagined that Poppy might be distressed and fearful in the veterinary hospital. Having been lucky with good friends who looked after her when we have taken holidays, she had never been in boarding kennels. We worried that the hospital might remind her of her traumatic early life. But the staff at the hospital who updated us with progress assured us that she was settled and although initially very sleepy from medication, she soon became bright and engaged with everything going on around her. She tried hard to please the veterinary nurses, mostly young female students, who massaged her legs and toes to stimulate the nerve endings. ‘She’s an angel,’ was the verdict from one who fell under her spell.
Gradually, Poppy’s condition improved and she regained control of her bladder which indicated a move towards restoration of the nervous system. As a result, we were told she could come home. The vet who had managed her care was optimistic that she would make a full recovery given time and physiotherapy.
At home we started a programme of regular massage for Poppy’s back legs and a gradual encouragement to take weight on these legs with a harness under her belly to support her. At first she was reluctant, scared to have discovered that her long legs that had previously borne her so effortlessly as she raced up and down our paddocks would no longer work, but we persisted with slow and gentle exercises. One hind leg recovered fairly quickly but her left leg continued to drag. We set up a walkway with a strip of carpet in our kitchen to prevent her slipping and slowly she started to gain confidence and attempted to move her legs on her own. A week later, we encouraged her to make her first unsupported walk. I crouched down and called to her at the end of the walkway. After a few failed attempts, she managed to push up on her front legs, heaved up her hindquarters and made a final determined effort. For a second she wobbled and looked as if she might crash down, but with a light steadying of her hips, she began to move towards me, stepping tentatively and slightly favouring the weaker leg. We chorused our praise for each valiant step. I opened my arms to welcome her. Poppy had made it through again.
Since then Poppy has gradually become used to the new routine. Within a few weeks she was back walking in the woods, albeit with a limp. The nerve damage was also visible with a tremor in her left hind leg, especially when just standing. She quickly discovered that she was no longer able to leap up onto sofas and the vet warned that this must not be allowed because of the damage she could do if she fell. At first she looked longingly at her favourite sofa that she used to nestle down into but we made up an extra-soft bed with an old king-size duvet and a new soft fur throw. She has now accepted this as her place to snooze though she sometimes looks a bit fed up to see who has not hesitated to claim the vacated space.
Now, seven months on, she has probably recovered as much as she is likely to. She still limps and has the left leg tremor but she has adjusted her movements to compensate. From time to time she even manages to break into a lopsided run when she spies one of her human or canine friends during her morning walk.
Poppy is 11 years old now and we know we have to prepare ourselves for more heartache at some point. But for now she is bright-eyed and happy, which is the most important thing. She still enjoys her daily walk in the woods, for which she is still accompanied by her little ginger feline friend, Rafa. Back at home, Treacle and Zanzi join with Rafa in rubbing themselves affectionately against her, climbing over her body and sharing her bed at every opportunity. It felt like a miracle to have Poppy back home. We are grateful every day for having her in our lives.
Hurry up, Rafa. It’s too cold to hang aboutI’m not sure where I am….My paws are freezingI’m on my way, nowThere you are, Poppy Keeping a social distance from her friend Thomas (more than bum-sniffing distance counts, doesn’t it?)
Rafa has always been more attached to Poppy than he is to our other two cats. Poppy is a lot more tolerant of his ‘close and personal’ cosying up than the cats, who prefer their own space and tend to repel his advances with a hiss and a nifty swipe of their paw (though relations have thawed a bit over recent months).
Sometimes we wonder whether Rafa is a cat or a hybrid dog. He still likes to accompany us for Poppy’s morning walk, though now we often have to shut him in our hay barn as he always wants to explore. Waiting for him while he checks out every inch of vegetation in the woods can turn a 20 minute walk into an hour and Poppy likes to get back to her sofa-surfing.
A few nights ago we were invited to spend the evening with neighbours. Poppy was invited too so we set off walking down the drive and who should come racing after us but our little ginger demon? Where were we going without him? We didn’t want to encourage Rafa to go any further as there are lots of dogs in the vicinity and our friends have a Welsh terrier who chases cats, so we scooped him up to return him to our house. On the way back up the drive he managed to wriggle free and disappeared into bushes so we had to leave him. But he must have stalked us because no sooner had we arrived at our friends’ house and settled down with a glass of wine than we heard a plaintive mewing from outside.
Poppy was instantly alert. What’s that noise? And there on the front doorstep was Rafa looking up as if to say, How can you think of going out with out me? If you’ve moved house, I’m coming too!
Walking home nearly 4 hours later, he was waiting for us on the drive. He’d probably been sitting there the whole time. We like to flatter ourselves that it’s us he wants to be with but in fact it’s more likely his canine buddy he can’t bear to be away from!
Poppy and Thomas are out in the Forest, when we turn a corner and what should we see …?
I’m sure the owners find it easy to tell these Welsh Terriers apart and I expect they all have their own distinctive smells to Poppy but even she seems a bit bemused.
She sniffs their bottoms (one must remember to be polite!) and then stands apart, not one of the crowd
After a good long walk Poppy is ready for a rest.
Is it time to go home yet?
Back at home, Rafa is waiting to get up close and personal as he likes to do.
You haven’t been out fraternising with dogs, have you?
Rafa is still accompanying Poppy on our morning walks in the woods. Only on days when the rain is sluicing through the trees and the paths are greasy with mud does he decide to curl up on a stack of hay bales in the barn instead. Then on our return he follows us back to the house and joins Poppy on her bed.
He likes to get up close and personal to his best friend.
Rafa is keener on this than Poppy …
Poppy can look a bit fed up as all the cats, and Rafa in particular. walk over her and try to take over her sleeping places.
Outside they want to share Poppy’s space too.
Here’s Treacle determined not to be left out.
It’s lucky that Poppy is prepared to put up with all their cheek.
A welcome relief for her though when they find their own places to stretch out.
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