Thursday

Tonight Isis has been acting very strangely. She has been lying on the futon, head on my knee, looking relaxed. But every ten minutes or so, for no apparent reason, she has growled menacingly for a minute or more while attacking her left back paw.

Nothing I do soothes her until, after about two hours, I switch the light off. Then the attacks become less frequent. Now she is sleeping soundly.

I have just examined both back feet. They are fine. The wound on the pad of her right foot is completely healed. Neither foot shows any sign of irritation. There are no foreign bodies.

When I return she is usually sleeping peacefully. Although she is always pleased when she realises I am back, she isn’t over-excited and doesn’t appear to be anxious. The  neighbours report  that all is quiet while I am out.

The Polymath wonders whether the problem arises from separation anxiety as, unfortunately, I had to leave Isis on her own for over three hours yesterday and again today. Polymath is convinced that Isis bites her legs when she feels stressed. It’s possible.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Isis came from the Aeza cat and dog rescue and adoption centre in Aljezur, Portugal. For information about adopting an animal from the centre, contact kerry@aeza.org or  www.dogwatchuk.com