After the cancellation of Cookies operation due to her stomach upset and leg sores she was provisionally booked back in for December 27th.

The problem with this was that as it fell between Christmas and the New Year it was an emergency only day and although we were scheduled it was on the proviso that her operation was likely to be cancelled if more important cases came in.

That left us with the task over Christmas to try and clear the leg up which meant applying the Pyo mousse twice daily and shampooing the area weekly. On top of that we needed to give her, her pain relief which was four times a day. The holiday was definetly more hectic than usual this year and by our standards that's pretty crazy.

Cookie did appear to be finding it more and more painful walking as time went on and at one point we feared the second leg had gone as well until Dawn found that she actually had an infection in her pads on the 'good' paw.

She has really struggled at the tail end of this year with hotspots and sores after being really clear for a few years. Reading up we thought that maybe she has a hormone imbalance and started her on primrose oil capsules which do seem to help a little. One we started to apply the mousse to the infected paw it cleared up really quickly and she was more comfortable in just about a day.

Yesterday at 7am I got Cookie into the car and headed off for the Liverpool University Small Animal Teaching Hospital not knowing whether or not the operation would go ahead. In the back I could see her sulking, but this was due to the fact that that she hadn't had anything for breakfast and she just stared at me the whole journey with those 'how could you' eyes.

Once at the hospital she was checked in and although in a lot of discomfort she almost pulled my arm off when she spotted Tom the vet as he came to greet us.

Booking in was quick as we'd already been through the procedure and the potential risks and once again I left her knowing she was in good hands but definetly with a heavy heart.

The day was then just waiting for a call and it finally came just before 4pm. Everything had gone well. Cookie was out of the anaesthetic and wide awake and as far as could be seen the operation was a success.

She needed to stay in overnight and all being well she will be allowed home today and then the healing begins. Then it's just the simple matter of keeping a 60kg Newfie quiet enough to give the knee time to recover....What could possibly go wrong?