Just another day with a Scavenger
And so another week has begun in sunny Spain. As I write this entry it is gone 1pm and already very hot. Painters, decorators and other village workers are hurriedly packing away their tools; the ‘women’s meeting’ on the corner is dispersing; and children are being called inside. Soon everyone will be off the streets, sheltering in their houses (or cooling off in the bar). Then the only sound you will hear will be the constant drone of 100 air con units.
But wait, what’s that sound? Is it a car starting up? Who on earth could be driving anywhere at this time of day?
It’s my husband, starting up the engine as he swelters in the oven-like heat of our car. He’s in a hurry, so waiting for the air con to cool the car down is not an option. In the back sits our little ‘Scavenger’, one paw held high in the air and looking decidedly sorry for herself.
Scavenger has just hobbled back from one of her morning excursions. The last time we had seen her before this was as she disappeared around the corner after a neighbourhood cat. The cat was obviously quicker (and cleverer) than her. It appears that Scavenger either has a deep cut on her paw ……. or a bite, from what we do not know . A hasty trip to the vets is therefore of the essence. Just in case.
It’s now 2pm. Nothing stirs ….. except the sound of a car pulling up outside our house. My husband climbs out, followed by a still hobbling Scavenger. She limps into the house and throws herself down on the carpet, obviously exhausted by her ordeal, as is my husband who has, for the third time since he ‘rescued’ Scavenger, had to try to communicate in his very limited Spanish to the Vet.
Scavenger has a ‘pincharo’, which the dictionary says is a ‘puncture’. She has had two injections, one of which my husband thinks was an anti-inflamatory. He hasn’t a clue what the other one was. The vet speaks no English you see, and our ’spanish medical language’ knowledge is virtually non-existent. But the vet has said she is okay to go home and he will see her again on Thursday for a check up.
So the money put by for the weekly ‘big shop’ will probably go on vet’s bills and we have a sick dog in the house who has a ‘pincharo’, but we have no way of knowing what caused it, or how dangerous it is. I suspect that the other injuection was anti-histamine, but there is little way of knowing.
Sometimes our limited Spanish leads to unexpected of problems. And, of course, taking in a scavenging stray in the first place hasn’t helped ….
It’s now 2.30pm. I’ve just put out Scavenger’s delayed breakfast. I’ve added tinned tuna to the top of it ‘just to encourage her’. She’s scoffing down the tuna and leaving the real dog food for ’seconds’. Hopefully things will be okay.
The joys of village life are a constant surprise, aren’t they ….?
(via No me lo puedo creer!)
1 year ago