Last Thursday I was pretty sure Ysobel was having another bout of ​Pancreatitis. She had a mild bout the beginning of the year, but even with a mild bout, she is an old dog at 12 1/2 years old, and it knocks her off her feet. Pancreatitis can kill if left untreated. 
I got her in to the vets, and we were pretty sure, that is what we were dealing with. With her age, I asked that we are not overly aggressive in her diagnosis and treatment, I did not want her admitted unless absolutely necessary, as she really does not thrive in the vets. He gave her everything to keep her comfortable, and she was home with me. The drugs they give to help with the pain (as this condition is very painful) and the condition, really knock them out and until Friday morning, I wondered whether I had been wise bringing her home, but she had every couple hours been happy to drink  electrolytes in water from a syringe in the side of her mouth, enough that she was keeping up her hydration and still peeing regularly. I left her in my son, Thomas's capable hands to deliver Pi to Poole on Friday with regular phone updates. 
Today I think we finally have Ysobel back. Ysobel's problem is she is an awful scavenger and will eat any old crap. So we have to work hard to protect her from hereself. Just now she was by the kitchen units surfing up any crumbs she could find from me baking earlier. So with her appetite back and a  formed firm poo this morning, I think she is back from the brink!

Lovely get together of Poundlane spaniels. Christel who has Flossie got to meet up with Rowena, who has Flossie's Dad, Casper, and Flossie's half-sister, Megan. ​Casper and Flossie live only a stones throw from each other.

​"Dear Jane,
Christel and Flossie came to tea yesterday and the three spaniels had a great time. Casper soon felt he couldn't cope with two boisterous youngsters and Bridget (Rowena's Lab)  said hello and they took refuge in her basket!  Christel took this picture which we thought might amuse you.
Dear little Casper is really settling in and finding his feet, much more assertive but Megan is such a strong character that she is the leader. She has taken to going over the fields and on to the roads, a great worry. I had a call from a lady about a mile away on Sunday who had taken them in. They were blissfully happy and not particularly impressed at being taken home. It upset Casper who was very clingy all that evening.
Owen took them for a walk yesterday and they tried to nip off over the bank on the same route as Sunday.
I hope you are all well.
With love to you all.
Rowena"

"Hello Rowena,
Good to hear you and Christel got to meet up. Thanks for the photo. 
Megan seems to be leading her old Dad astray. Spaniels, can't help but follow their nose. As they say, "A lab is born half trained, and a spaniel dies half trained."
Hope they have not been giving you any further scares. 
Thanks for the update
Jane x"

I also around three weeks ago received a lovely update for Esme's litter siblings, Sadie and Obi (from Casper and Blottie's litter 2019). Obi has a retained testicle. It comes from Casper. Although Casper had both his testicles. This is another thing we found out with him. We had one pup, Barney with an undescended testicle on the other litter we had with him. It has no other health implications other than if left in situ a higher chance of testicular cancer. It is a bit more of an operation, my old boy Smidge had a retained testicle years ago. It was up high and it was a bit more of a surgery. His recovery after the op was no different than dogs I have had both dropped testicles removed though. It actually also seems to have little effect on their fertility. Dogs carrying the genes for it tend to have higher fertility and tend to trend toward more male offspring, as the article in the blog I link to below shows. 
I did a blog about Barney's retained testicle update and the article I link to in it  Cryptorchidism is complicated is interesting. I find it interesting how breeders can get funny about someone breeding from a dog with a retained testicle and yet happily breed for deformities such as undershot jaws or brachycephalic skulls, which cause no end of health problems for a dog, citing it's part of the breed standard, as the reason for why they can.  I knew someone who had a lovely working terrier, who had a retained testicle and he bred from it with no problem. Then castrated the dog and the dog lived a long healthy life in to it's teens. 
The higher risk of cancer is thought to be, because the testicle stays higher in the body, where it is much warmer. than the testicle should be. This is thought over time to cause mutation in the cells of the testicle. The only dog I've ever kept with a retained testicle, and dutifully castrated him at 12 months old was Smidge. He ended up so far, being my healthiest and longest lived Cavalier, dying at 14, due to an accident of me running him over. He's only health issue was a bit of arthritis and I actually kick myself on a regular basis, that I did not breed from him. Einsight is a wonderful thing!

"Hi Jane
Obi and Sadie had their 6 month vet check this week.  They're both doing well, Obi is now 9.25kg, Sadie is 7.05 kg.  They continue to bring us many hugs and amuse us with their chasing and sibling squabbles!
One problem though, Obi still has an undescended testicle, after a thorough examination the vet couldn't find it, and also said the other one is very small.  So he will need a longer operation to find it when he is castrated which is a worry.  We will be planning this operation in the next month, just wondered if anyone in his family tree had this as cryptorchidism is apparently genetic ?
Best wishes to you all.
Claire"

I got this lovely update for Esme (from Casper and Blottie's litter 2019) around three weeks ago. I am a bit behind at the moment. 

​"Hi Jane
Photos are of Esme relaxing by the sea on her half birthday, and running wild in the countryside.
 She is still a pocket rocket. Still a bit of a fussy eater, but getting better. She weighs 8.3kg and is a small bundle of fun. A joy to have around.
Best wishes
Andy"

Last week I took Lottie and Rosie up to Bristol for their MRI scans, I got up there and then remembered I had forgot to contact Louise who has Darla (from Ernest and Bumble's litter 2018), about meeting up again, as they live not far from Bristol. When I got home, I sent them an apology, and received a lovely reply, with the most beautiful photo of Louise's family. Thank you Louise!

"Hello Jane
You are always welcome to visit us, but we understand how busy you are. I hope Rosie's and Lottie's results are good.
Darla continues to be a wonderful companion, she finds joy in the simplest things and it's impossible not to laugh watching her pounce on a stray sock and then run around with her head held high at how clever she is (and she's getting better at giving them back.)
She loves going out on a walk and having passers-by tell her how beautiful she is and had a lovely week away with us this summer.
Very best wishes to all at Poundlane
From
Louise and Lauren"

Had a lovely update for Treacle's little Saffy a couple days ago.

"Hi Jane,
I hope this finds you and yours well! 
Saffy is settling in lovely. She is a delight. A really cheeky madam, she rules the roost and puts Storm in her place! As you can see from the picture, she is doing wonderfully and has perched herself at the top of the family tree alongside Emmeline 😂 I’m so happy to have a dog to settle down and cuddle with when reading. It’s been too long and I’ve missed it.
I’ll email again with an update soon,
Love Sarah, Jon, Emme, Storm and Saffy x"

Interesting research article published on CavalierHealtt.org about MVD, Dr. Brendan Corcoran reverses mitral valve cells from diseased back to normal in laboratory conditions.You can read the full research paper below.

I travelled up to Poole today to meet Jane, who visited us a little while ago and is having Pi. Due to bad weather. They won't now be travelling back until tomorrow, but Jane had found a lovely place to stay for the night with Pi, that specialise in accomodation for people with dogs. Hope their first night together goes well and all goes well getting back to Jersey tomorrow.
​He coped very well with the nearly 3 hour trip up to Poole today in the crate in the back of the car. He slept all the way. I have done a lot of driving Pi around on his own in the crate in the back of our car in preparation for his trip to Jersey. I gave Jane the bed he travelled up in and put it in the crate in her car. We then went for a little walk around Hamworthy Park, it was quite blustery and a bit damp and on returning to her car, he was happy to jump in to that crate and seemed pretty settled, so hopefully he will travel well tomorrow back to Jersey on the ferry. 
​Never easy rehoming a dog, you do feel a sense of shame. He is such a lovely dog, and just a pain that he has developed such an undershot jaw, that breeding from him is out of the question, but in the long run, I know he is going to have a wonderful life on Jersey with Jane. He is going to be the most super companion/family dog.

Smudge is doing really well after her lump was removed from her mammary tissue. We have not had a biopsy done of the lump. If it's benign. She will carry on much as normal, if not and we get another lump that is visible or Smudge seems to decline in health in some way. We then would consider a biopsy if visible and an x-ray. I'm pretty hopeful that it is benign, but time will tell.

Smudge now 9 years old, is off to the vets tomorrow morning to get that lump (I noticed a few weeks ago) removed from her undercarriage and have a dental done at the same time. Fingers crossed, it's just a benign lump. 

Primrose now 9 years old,developed an on and off dry cough lately. A visit to the vets after the cough came back again, we think she has Collapsing Trachea. It does not seem to affect her that badly and a course of anti-inflammatories seems to have calmed it down to just the occasional coughing bout, when she gets very excited.

Last week the last pup of Treacle's litter left us, also being the last pup to leave us for 2019. All feed back so far good for Alfie, Ezra and Saffy. With a few photos for Ezra and Alfie in their new homes. I have a nice bit of video of Alfie, but having a problem to load it up on here. I have got a bit weighed down with updates in my email inbox at the moment. Always great to hear from people with our pups and how they are doing, and then it's just getting the time to get it up on here.

The last week kas been very busy, hence no blogging action for a little while. Yesterday I was up in Bristol with Lottie and Rosie for their first MRI scan (and hopefully last MRI scan if no CM) on the BVA CM / SM scheme. Fingers crossed for the results in hopefully a months time.

Saffy left us just now and is on her way to join Sarah and Jon's family near Plymouth. She leaves a bit later than originally planned, but we all got there in the end, and I hope she brings Sarah and Jon and their family as much happiness as we have had looking after her those couple extra weeks. Somethings are worth waiting for, and I'm pretty sure that will be the case with Saffy.

Pi and Saffy having their last plays together, before Saffy leaves us this afternoon. Pi is a very gentle boy, with his little playmate.