Rollercoaster days with Mabel

Since the last update, Mabel has certainly kept us on our toes. The food she will accept varies by the minute - and when our main winners of broccoli, sunflower seeds, banana, and crusts of bread started to fail, we thought we'd lost the battle. She was happy enough, still running for cuddles but just not interested in food.

Following a day when she had eaten only a tiny bite-size piece of bread, I bought some spinach and two potted herbs (basil and thyme) in desperate hope to tempt her. I crushed a tiny piece of basil between my fingers and to my amazement she ate it and begged for more! I continued then tried my luck with some other leaves. She ate strawberry, dandelion, evening primrose, and carrot leaves - as long as they were in tiny pieces and completely crushed. We had tried finely chopped leaves previously, but apparently the success is due to the crushing.

It's so good to see her enjoying her favourite leaves again, even if it is just for a short while.

Mabel Update

Mabel's abscess has grown quite large over the past few weeks, mostly down beneath her jaw but also slightly across under her throat. At times, we've noticed she has been quite wet around her mouth, but it has only lasted for a short while and - even when this has happened - she has enjoyed life as normal.

However, over the past few days her appetite has decreased. At first it appeared she was being picky, just begging for her favourite treats (especially during our mealtimes!), but then we noticed she was having difficulty chewing leaves and pellets, and just left them. She refused powdered or soaked pellets, but accepted certain foods if they were finely chopped - and also lots of sunflower seed hearts. Now, though, she is rapidly losing interest in any food. Yesterday she enjoyed several grapes, and some banana, both finely cut, grated carrot and also the sunflower hearts and small pieces of bread… not enough to sustain her, and she didn't even eat them hungrily, but she was happy. Today she is even less interested. 

She is still really enjoying her cuddles, and also relishing the sunshine. Here are some photos taken yesterday of her and Dijon in their favourite cuddle position - looks so uncomfortable for Mabel, but she never moves away from him so she obviously likes it! There is also a photo of her choosing the chopped banana from a plate of offerings yesterday. 

It is heartbreaking, especially to think about Dijon being left alone. Tomorrow will be exactly 7 years since we collected them, and we had been told twice by the vet in 2016 (once in August when she had a bad bout of stasis and again that November when the overgrown tooth root was diagnosed) that we should be prepared to say goodbye to her, yet we've enjoyed two bonus wonderful years.