The Dog With Nine Lives by Della Galton Page B

little kennel? I didn’t want to cry. I knew she would know I was upset but I couldn’t’ seem to stop. For a long while I sat and stroked her, still on my knees, her head in my lap, remembering.
    But I couldn’t stay there for ever. Eventually I laid Lindy’s head back gently on the blanket and I got stiffly to my feet. I still had the roast chicken in my hand too. Lindy had refused it.
    And then, just as I got up Lindy lifted her head and sniffed the air. I hesitated. It was as if she was saying, Hang on a sec – maybe I could just manage a piece of chicken, after all.
    I went back to her side and held a piece out and she ate it. She didn’t eat much, but it was a start. Suddenly I knew she had turned a corner. She had been very close to death, but she was still fighting. My little dog hadn’t quite used up her stock of nine lives.
    I was right. From that day on, Lindy began to improve. She started to eat again and she grew stronger. Bit by bit she fought her way back to health. A week later we took her home. She was on steroids for months and months. It was not an easy battle. The steroids made her thirsty and hungry and she put on masses of weight. We weaned her off the steroids very slowly, but every time we stopped them completely she started to go downhill again.
    Slowly, slowly she recovered, and eventually she was free of steroids. She had beaten haemolytic anaemia, at least for now. Kate told us it could recur any time. She showed me how to check Lindy’s gums to make sure they were the right colour; a healthy pink. She also told us that since Lindy had recovered, she had diagnosed another two dogs with the same disease.
    â€˜Were they OK?’ I asked, even though, once again, I had a feeling I already knew the answer.
    â€˜No, they were not. Both of them subsequently died.’
    I knew we were incredibly lucky that Lindy had survived. She also seemed none the worse for the experience. She still loved her walks. She still loved to chase things, although she was calming down a little bit as she grew older and she tended to spend more of her time finding dead things and eating them if she could get away with it. She frequently found bones when we were out. If ever she didn’t come back when we called it was usually because she’d made some exciting new discovery.
    We estimated that she must be about ten or eleven. Her muzzle was now quite grey – but life was good again.
    Even though occasionally I realised she was living on borrowed time, I tried not to let it interfere with our enjoyment of now. When I’d first made the decision to bring Lindy back from Rhodes to live with us in England I’d predicted that she would bring a great deal of joy into our lives. And she had. I hoped we would have her for a few years longer.

CHAPTER TEN
    I’m sure I shut the door
    A LTHOUGH WE’D NOW MOVED to a village and there were lots of footpaths around us, it wasn’t the best place to walk dogs because most of the footpaths ran across fields containing livestock.
    Knowing Lindy’s penchant for chasing things it was simpler to walk her elsewhere. So I tended to put all the dogs in the car and drive them out to Wareham Forest which wasn’t too far from us.
    Lindy now seemed to be fully recovered from the haemolytic anaemia. She was finally off steroids, she’d lost her excess weight and was enjoying her walks again. Even so, I was forever checking her gums. If she seemed quiet or if she lost her appetite I would worry.
    If she got the slightest lump or bump I would worry too and would race her down the vets to get her checked out. Surprisingly she loved going to the vet’s and they loved her.
    After the haemolytic anaemia I’d had to take her for endless check-ups, most of which involved a blood test. By rights she should have hated going to the vet’s and having needles stuck in her, but she didn’t. When we sat in the waiting room