Ten days after his op Biggles finally ditched that huge wad of dressing and bandage on his foot, and best of all this didn’t happen because we left him unattended for too long – it was removed carefully by the vet. The initial joy of having his foot released from its crepe prison was quickly dampened by the return of the lampshade; he was desperate to give the wound a good licking and we were under strict instructions to prevent it. I’ve taken to referring to the lampshade as his “Bonker” because he still hasn’t learned to make allowances for the dramatic increase in the size of his head.

The Bonker is back on and my boy’s not happy about it..

..but that foot has to be protected from the licking machine that’s attached to it!

Biggles may not have been thrilled about the lampshade, but he was happy to be allowed out into the garden and on longer walks without first having a poo bag tied around his foot and his silver bootie fitted on top of that. I have to admit I was also getting really tired of all that rigmarole towards the end. At first I kind of enjoyed doing up his velcro “shoelaces” every time he went outside, but trying to get him to hold still enough to remove everything on re-entry was  a challenge to the say the least, and the whole thing got old pretty quickly.

I love the smell of Biggles’ feet and it seems he does too

Thanks to all the special treatment Biggles received during his convalescence I suspect he feels that his position in the pack has been upgraded; certainly he’s been confidently taking the lead on walks, claiming the best sofa positions and demanding play sessions. We were a bit worried that Beanie’s sniffer might get put of joint because of all this, but she’s taken it well – if anything it’s made her a bit more cuddly.

Beanie lures me into a play session with her new squeaky raccoon (which is now in two pieces, just like her old one)

A final check of his foot is due later this week, but it’s looking better each day and on the strength of that I’m gradually building The Bigglet back up to full length walks. This morning we all went for a gentle jog on the grass together at the beach park and he absolutely loved it, taking pole position almost the whole time and nearly yanking my arm out of its socket when we went up hilly bits. He’s obviously feeling like he’s back to 100% and by the time his final checkup his done, I think he really will be.  On top of this, we’ve had the results back from the lab and his growth was benign. For those who are interested, the lump was identified as a “fibroadnexal hamartoma” (related to hair follicles / glands) and removal really was the best course of action; it was growing rapidly and increasingly becoming inflamed by contact with grass and sand as he was running about.