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Tskui recovering from a hit and run driver is well enough for biscuits now and won’t keep still

I’ve been meaning to bake dog biscuits every day this last harrowing week. It all started 6pm last Saturday when in Elwood a firework display was set off.

Jak was on the beach with the dogs. Tskui, the older sensible one, bolted and Mungo followed. She made it across one lane of traffic and then bounced unconscious off a car onto the grass on the central reservation.

So, yes, if you thought you hit a dog on Jacka Boulevard at a few minutes past six on Saturday 21st July, you did. When Jackie arrived Tskui lay there bleeding and having shat herself. Mungo was sitting next to her.

A kind couple stopped traffic, got some blankets and lent Jackie their phone. I was in a panic. I ran down to the beach but couldn’t find them. (If you are those people who helped please contact me because I’d like to thank you properly).

Within 30 minutes we were at the Port Phillip Animal Hospital in Middle Park. Luckily, there were no broken bones but there was concussion. Three of Tskui’s legs were stiff, one floppy and there was internal bleeding, especially in her lungs. It was touch and go and neither of us could sleep properly (although four bottles of wine helped).

Sunday she recognised us but couldn’t stand up and whimpered as we left. To add to the humiliation her cage was sandwiched between cats.

Monday, soaked in urine, she hopped into the hospital’s reception. At least she was walking. Tuesday she came home. She hopped from the back of the car into the front which made me feel confident.
For most of the week she lay heaving for breath on a new bed I bought her, too stiff, and possible too depressed to move even though I was hand feeding her poached chicken. I slept downstairs on the sofa so I could help her out the the loo at night (surprisingly frequently in the first few days back).
She looked to be improving when we visited the vet on Friday although there is no feeling in her floppy front left leg. Saturday she was back at the vet with the worst upset tummy I’ve seen. She spent the day listless on her bed.

Finally, today we took a picnic blanket to the park. She sniffed the air, hopped around caught a ball and bollocked, Mungo, the naughty dog. Her ears pricked up and it helped temporarily to bring her out of her depression. Her tummy appears to have improved.
In the next month or so if she doesn’t recover feeling in the leg it will have to come off. In the meantime, we’ll be taking her to acupuncture in the hope that we can save it.

For now she can enjoy these biscuits (and I even pinched one).

Again thanks to everyone, Craig the vet, and our neighbours Jacqueline, Sue and Floyd (who gets a coupleof biscuits) for comforting us last Saturday.

Cinnamon and allspice dog biscuits (adapted from Bone Appetite)

Two cups whole wheat flour
One cup Pollenta
Water
6 tablespoons olive oil
One egg
One teaspoon brown sugar
One teaspoon vanilla
Two tablespoons cinnamon
One teaspoon allspice

Mix everything together and add the water until it comes together in one lump. Cut into shapes 2cm thick (I believe cat is a favourite). Cook at 180C/350F for 45 minutes.

Mungo, the bad dog, steals Tskui’s biscuits.

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