Well the visit to Mum was full of ups and downs.
We booked a new-to-us cottage about 15 mins from Mum's home. It was only one bedroom, so DB had to sleep on the sofa bed in the living room/diner/kitchen It was nice enough,and the people were lovely. It wasn't ideal with the sofabed in the living room, but it was relatively inexpensive.
Mum was a little under the weather, and her dog obviously had nouth problems again. I told Mum that the dog had problems again, and she made a vet appointment for the following day.
The Home is lovely, the staff are wonderful, and Mum is very happy there. We saw her again the next day. Her friend took the dog, Lola, to the vet. We decided to wait until she came back, just in case.
It wasn't good news. She did bring Lola back with her, but Mum had to be told that Lola needed to be put to sleep before very long.
We had to leave later that afternoon, and Mum was mostly OK.
On the way home, we phoned to see how Mum was and was told that they were waiting for an ambulance to take her to hospital. We asked whether we should turn the car round and came back, but we were told there wasn't any point as there was a long delay for the ambulance.
We got home on the Friday evening, phoned the hospital on Saturday. We got an update, and had a brief chat with Mum before she was moved to part of A&E where there was no phone signal and where they couldn't get a phone to her.
We went back early Sunday morning, having booked a different place to stay. The new place was just a couple of minuites away from the hospital. W We went to see Mum several times that afternoon and evening. She asked us to arrange for Lola to be put to sleep, before she came out of hospital. She said her friend's husband would take Lola to the vet.
We weren't happy about this, it wasn't fair on the poor dog., She was a rescue, and being bundled into a strange cr, with someone she barely knew, to be taken to a Vet 45 mins away and which she hated visiting, would be a horribly stressful thing for her.
So on Monday morning, we drove to a local vet. I asked them if there was any chance they could come out that day to put a dog to sleep. I explained that we weren't registered with them, and I gave them all the details. I paid up front, and said we would be there to meet them at 12.00
We phoned the Home to let them know what was happening. We then went off and visited my Mum's old house, and then got to the home with about half an hour to spare.
Lola had been staying in the lounge area while Mum had been in hospital. She got lots of fuss and attention, and even more so that last morning. They gave her roast beef, took her for a couple of "walks" outside. We sat in the lounge and played with Lola for a while, until the vet arrived.
My brother welcomed the Vet, and I took Lola along to Mum's room. She got up on the bed, and we made a fuss of her while the Vet and her nurse sorted things out. I asked the Vet if Lola would know we were there. She said that, once she'd had the injection, she wouldn't be aware of much but she would be able to hear us.
My brother played with her while the Vet gave her the sedative, and I talked to her throughout, right up until the Vet confirmed she had gone.
It was the best ending she could have had under the circumstances, and I am eternally grateful to the wonderful people at the Vet who went out of their way to help us.
Mum came out of hospital on Tuesday.
