Sorry for the delay... but a lot has been happening lately

Firstly let me apologise for the delay...Plenty has been happening since that last blog entry - the one with that baleful photo of me back in February, with the baldy scabby thing on my head and the 'helmet'... The helmet! For four months I wore that thing!... It was loud, hot and the term 'tunnel vision' was mentioned more than once.
So anyway the helmet is now a thing of the past - but not before much angst, anger, ineptitude, misdiagnosis, mis-information and a few vets later...  some disappointment and plenty of money... not mine I hasten to add, has been spent. I haven't actually had anything to call my own since my stripey towel disappeared just after I arrived in a box from Crete and was handed over to new uprights in MacDonald's car park in Sevenoaks just off the M25.
I am, as I write this, just finishing a course of anti-itch tablets that cost a hundred quid (GBP). I know!...For a while I thought that the word 'effing' was directly linked with money - you know like pound or dollar... because it was always part of the description... "a hundred effing quid!!". The upright family were astounded... but apparently nodding and just falling into a stunned silence when a vet mentions the cost of a prescription is quite normal until we all get back into the car for the journey home. So anyway I was delighted when I stopped having to scratch every five minutes and especially when a wonder pill arrived in an envelope through the letterbox... It tasted quite nice too. It's called Bravecto... and since then I have felt much stronger, happier and every balding teenager's dream... my hair has started growing again. Dogs can't even do comb-overs so you just have to brave it out in social situations which can be quite agonising... you know, out in crowds and when hoping to chat to other dogs...You don't want to have bald patches being the first thing that others judge you by... especially mangey ones.

By the way... and some of you may already know this... When you need pet medication and you are sure of your requirement and its efficacy you can ask your vet for a prescription (£13 for 3 uses) for a specific product and then source the medication yourself via the internet - where, of course, you can find it for much less. We found Bravecto for £16 when the vet would have charged us  over £30. In Rudy's case we knew that he was having trouble with an allergy to Advocate and its job with him was to combat mites (Demodectic Mange). We understand that Bravecto can really only be prescribed to combat fleas and ticks at the moment - but ongoing trials are proving that it also deals very well with mites... and one treatment lasts for 3 months. Rudy, now that he is on it is doing very well. Only when this aspect of it is officially registered will vets be able to prescribe Bravecto for the treatment of mites... In just a few cases there have been allergic reactions to Bravecto - as with all of these things you may wish to consult your vet before going off piste... With Rudy and the complexity of his condition we became desperate and are now very happy that he is on the road to recovery...

Hi Folks! They still threaten me with 'the hat' if I start nibbling!

So yeh... things are definitely looking up. I have hair growing in all the right places... Yes, even those places! But there is one big worry about that. And I know I have mentioned this bit before and always in a nervous and uncomfortable way. But once I'm clear of my skin problems I will be able to have the castration (ouch!) which until now I've successfully managed to dodge. The uprights here keep saying that I will be much nicer to know when I have had the 'nut job' (their description not mine). Just at the moment I fancy just about everything in sight when I'm out for walks, until I get close up and can see and sniff (I'm sorry it's just what dogs do) whether they are ... well, let's just say - my type. So the chop, pretty soon, is finally inevitable... Shame because I think I would have made a good dad! I'm not sure quite when and where this procedure may be done. Occasionally I am transported to another country where the grass is greener and the land outside the house is bigger and I can run and run. I know I go to see a vet there every trip even though there is nothing wrong with me... she gives me a pill and stamps my passport and charges 40 effing Euros. So this next time I might be going as a health tourist... There's posh!