Don't fall ill at lunchtime.

A nasty scare today. Eva vomited copiously around 10 o’clock - not an uncommon occurrence with dogs. Then just before I was due to take her and Meg out at lunchtime she was sick again, this time shaking uncontrollably. Pat suggested she may have been poisoned so I phoned the vet. Lombi’s assistant told me to go to the chemist’s and get a certain drug to inject Eva with. But at 12.50 I found the chemist’s had already shut for lunch - to re-open at five! Having phoned her again the vet told me to phone the emergency number posted up outside the shop. I rang it repeatedly over the next hour and a half before we got a reply: the pharmacist didn’t have the drug. Meanwhile Lombi had rung to tell us to take Eva to his surgery in Amandola. By this time she had almost stopped shivering and seemed much better in herself. Lombi examined her and gave her a precautionary injection. However he said she was in no danger and had probably eaten slug pellets which although unpleasant didn’t do any damage.

HOWEVER, if she had been poisoned she would almost certainly have died - we couldn’t inject her ‘subito’ as instructed by Lombi’s assistant because everywhere is shut for four hours while the Italians eat their pasta. The moral is: if you want to live, don’t fall ill at lunchtime!