Another Birthday Boy!

It was Tiber's (aka Dave)11th Birthday yesterday and according to Doug his owner apart from a few lumps and bumps he's still doing well and keeps active.  His life did not have an easy start as when he was around 3 weeks old he developed a horrible condition called ' puppy head gland disease' sometimes known as 'puppy strangles'  - he was from a litter of 9 and was the only one affected by this which is apparently very usual.  It started off with a couple of little pimples on his muzzle but ended up with his whole head and face swelling up and erupting with large pustules of ooze.  It was so upsetting to see this poor little pup going through such pain but throughout it all Tiber just didn't let it bother him one little bit.  He never missed a meal and still wanted to play with all the others even though when they knocked him it must have hurt him a lot.  We went to the vets about 3 times a week and the only thing that worked was steroids and antibiotics in large amounts - not ideal in a puppy but the alternative was even worse so we decided to try to give him the best chance.   Most of the hair on his face and head fell out and the chances of it growing again was pretty remote.  His face had to be bathed and oiled 3 times a day which he seemed to really enjoy so that was never a problem.  
By the time he was 9 weeks old he was completely better and the only side effect was a totally bald muzzle, he did have some hair coming back on his head by that time but you can imagine how comical the poor little devil looked :o)
A friend of my vet had been hearing the story about 'Dave' throughout his treatment and he contacted me to say that he would love to have him.  Doug came to pick him up and from the first minute they seemed to love each other which needless to say gave me a huge lump in my throat.  He decided that he didn't want to call him Dave (don't know why not hehe) so renamed him Tiber, but to be honest he'll always be Dave to me :o)    Doug has kept me updated regularly over the years and always sends me pictures on his birthday which I love getting.

Tiber was totally fearless throughout his illness and followed this pattern when he went to Doug, which did get him in trouble at times but he seems to have survived intact all these years.
He still hasn't got any hair on his muzzle but now its all part of his charm.

I wish him a huge Happy Birthday and know that he got spilt rotten xxxxx