Mike's musings

Bad news: Suzy's really ill. After she was no better this morning, Kerry (the lovely vet who I took her to yesterday) said that she was pretty sure that it was a cardiac problem, and suggested that we take her to a specialist. We ended up getting her to Queen's Veterinary Hospital, which is the Cambridge University Veterinary School hospital. Before getting her there, I spoke to Dell Richards, the welfare officer for The UK Newfoundland Club, who was brilliant. She suggested that it might be a pericardial effusion or atrial myocardiopathy, and talked about the various prognoses for these two diseases, both of which are fairly positive.

The veterinary hospital were fantastic, and lovely to Suzy and the three of us (Moo brought Suzy from the vets just after getting back from Jen's, and, of course, brought Jo along). They said that they'd get back to us later in the afternoon, and phoned us back around six o'clock. Unluckily, Suzy has actually got dilated cardiomyopathy (more here). Her body is currently in volumetric overload (far too much fluid in her system), and this is a bad sign, so the prognosis is really bad. We hope to hear by the end of the weekend what the next steps are, but we're steeling ourselves for the worst. Even if she gets through this, the disease is progressive, and she's not ever going to get completely better - it's just a matter of time.

Suzy's has been fantastic, helped me through seven months of unemployment, and through the two of us through the time when we were having problems conceiving. One really nice thing is that the vet at the hospital wants her to come home, whatever the prognosis: they'll take our monitoring information, and she'll be happier and more relaxed with us. And we get to spend time with her.

Music today

• Messe Ave Maris Stella - Josquin Desprez (A Sei Voce)