Merlin

Crystalcreeks Dark Night

(Crystalcreek Spirit of Jess x Crystalcreeks Brave Spirit)
13/10/2008 –

Merlin was the runt of the litter, always the smallest and just the cutest.  His puppy nickname was Batman.  Unlike his wriggly hyper littermates he was super calm, if I was at the computer I would have him on my lap and he would just lie there calm as anything.  I had hoped to home Merlin with a friend, but her circumstances changed and so he also stayed with me.   In December 2008 at just 10 weeks old, I noticed that Merlin was not himself, very introverted and just wanting to curl up in a corner.  I rushed him to the vets and on examination they determined he had a blockage in his stomach.  At that time I had no idea what he could have got hold of.  When removed it was so indeterminate that neither myself nor the vets were any the wiser.  A few days later he was back for a check up and was doing really well, back to his cheeky self, but a week or two later he took a downturn again and this time he had an intussusception (where the intestine had telescoped inside itself).  He had another operation and lost about a foot and a half of his small intestine.  A few days later back for his check up and once again the vets were saying how well he looked and how active he was for having two major ops so close together – I still say that is because I refused their “recovery diet” and stuck to his natural raw diet!!

He was very up and down till he was about 6 months old, I had to feed him separately from the others as he could not eat the bones and other chunky stuff they did.  Then at 6 months he turned a corner and can now eat absolutely anything – whole rabbits, lamb ribs and necks etc. – he is a real scavenger, he raids the coal bin, wood and anything left lying around, you have to be so careful – but – everything passes through now no problem.  I put this down to the raw diet helping his intestine to heal strongly and as he moved on to bones and carcasses this helped with the scar tissue so his intestine is now as flexible as normal.  He is incredibly healthy except from being the runt of the litter his hips are worse than I would like at 26, he also has osteoarthritis in his right front elbow (discovered at age 2), possible from a knock - easily done as he is a complete clown and very clumsy.  I do wonder if he is a bit autistic as well as sometimes he seems in his own little world and doesn't always interact with the others normally, but they are very tolerant of him, although his brother Zak gets annoyed sometimes. 

He loves to chase and catch a ball, but hasn’t got the idea that you bring it back – it is more like chase and kill then leave!!  He does tend to run flat out regardless of how much room he has and then as he can’t stop in time and he often falls over the ball or slams into the shed.  He LOVES muddy puddles, he is like a toddler with wellies, he jumps in and splashes around and gives you this smiley challenging look.   He is so funny, a real character and I wouldn’t part with him for anything.

Wee Merlin - 6 wks	first snow at 6 weeks
Merlin at 16 weeks, 4 weeks after his second op	Merlin at 4.5 mths
Merlin snow nose	A real water babe
Handsome Merlin	Someone behind me?