Today I went to another traditional event - the Loony Dook right here in Queensferry. Normally it's at noon, but this year the tide was too low at noon so it was put off until 1.30pm (not that I realised that - I thought I was late, but in fact I was early). I read afterwards that there were about 600 dookers.
Some of the costumes were fantastic - there were pirates, hula girls, nuns, gangsters, even a Zaphod Beeblebrox. This was my favourite:
The front of his thong was "anatomically correct" - really, really funny! If you click on the photo and look at the biggest one in "all sizes" you can see the reaction of people across from me. Priceless.
I took a little movie too - spot the kiwis! There were loads of Antipodeans there. I think Loony Dooking is like running with the bulls in Pamplona.
It was seriously cold, frost on the ground - rather them than me!
Bertie had his own dooking yesterday. He has a mystery skin condition and the latest treatment involved a medicated shampoo that had to be left on for ten minutes. (I'd had the camera out in the freezing cold on a walk for a couple of hours and it steamed up when I took it into the bathroom. Tsk.)
It went a lot better than I'd anticipated. He didn't struggle too much when I dumped him in the tub and stood reasonably quietly while I wetted him down and worked in the shampoo. He did try to climb out a couple of times during the ten minutes of waiting, but on the whole was very good about it. The result was great - he's all lovely and silky smooth and soft, just like a shampoo ad! And scab-free, for now.
It's all very tedious though. At first - as reported in an earlier post - I thought there was something wrong with his back, because he flinched if you stroked him, to the point of almost collapsing. So the vet prescribed painkillers and spoke worryingly about tumours on the spine.
But then one day after his walk I took off his coat and his back was covered in a kind of dandruff. On close inspection, the skin on his back was all scabby and reddened. Plus he was nibbling away at his flanks. Back to the vet, who took skin scrapings and prescribed antibiotics. The talk was now of mange - oh dear - though the vet had her doubts because he wasn't itchy enough, the scabby bits weren't in the right place (should have been his mouth and legs) and his hair hadn't all fallen out.
As a precaution I replaced his duvet and boil-washed his bedding and jacket. I also started putting him in a T-shirt at night.
The skin scraping results came back negative for mange. The scabs were from a "bacterial infection" - a bug that dogs have on their skin all the time but that can get out of control if they're run down or elderly. More antibiotics were prescribed, a longer course this time. I also ordered Bertie a new jacket (washing the old one had stripped out all the waterproofing) and a house-coat.
Last week he finished the latest antibiotics and was still scabby, so the vet (a different one - there are two of them at the Queensferry clinic) prescribed another course, a steroid injection, plus the shampoo. Oh and she said I shouldn't put Bertie in a house-coat. "They're not designed to wear clothes," she said - though she did concede that it was ok for him to wear a coat outdoors in the subzero weather we're having. Greyhounds do need coats in the cold - they've so little body fat and such thin coats they need a bit of protection.
Despite all the inflammation and scabbiness and medication though, Bertie has been in good spirits throughout, with undiminished appetite and energy. He loves his walks, especially in his favourite parks, and people are always exclaiming, "Eleven! Really? He doesn't LOOK eleven!"
So - another new year. This one is going to be challenging for me. I'll find out in the coming month just how challenging - there's a chance I'll be laid off, but at the very best my working patterns will change dramatically and not in a good way. I'm keeping as positive as possible and counting my many blessings, but I can't help but be nervous about what the future will bring.
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