Scrappy is back! He's feeling so much better. He was enthusiastically sniffing out the car window as we drove through downtown. Restaurants, many restaurants, mesmerized him with their food smells.

Once in the back door Scrap stood on his back legs to sniff the kitchen trash can. Next he focused on the special diet dog food Dr. Bill gave us. Yesterday he didn't eat a thing; just now he wolfed it down and licked the bowl clean! Coming into the living room he assumed the traditional position, on a pillow in his snugly bed, next to me. Scrappy has fallen asleep. Things feel right in the world.

The diagnosis? It's the return of an old nemesis of Scrappy's- pancreatitis. It is in an early stage, we're catching it before it got really bad. Small dogs are more prone to gastrointestinal things because all the parts are smaller and closer together.

The x-rays were beautifully done; Scrappy was a good mellow patient. Dr. Bill put the 2 views on the light table to show us. Scrappy's spine is PERFECT. I wish Miss Juliette's looked like that.

The clue to why Scrap was acting sick and in pain yesterday showed up in his stomach. The tissue surrounding it was thicker than usual, a darker color, where a healthy tummy doesn't show much in an x-ray. I was so glad to know he didn't injure himself somehow having a frenzy when Bob took me to the doctor.

While at the vet's Scrappy got the royal treatment. Subcutaneous fluids, pain medication, special anti acid for the sore tummy, and another med to keep the intestines "moving everything south," as Dr. Bill put it. I'm to call in tomorrow and let him know how the night went.

Oh, it is time for my medicine. I'm going to sign off now. We're all healing here at Mini Mt. Olympus. Yay!