Incisors, Part 2

Remember the flowery yarn sculpture I posted yesterday, atop the post box in St. John's Wood? When I walked by yesterday morning it was gone. That didn't last long.

We're having a bit of drama with Olga's teeth. First, a bit of backstory: You may remember that a couple of years ago, we were going to have Olga's incisors removed -- those long pointy canine teeth in the upper front. They were both damaged and one had become infected and swollen. But when the vet took it out she found what she believed to be cancerous tissue beneath, so we didn't get the second tooth removed. It appeared more stable and we thought Olga was on her last legs, so why bother?

It turned out, though, that Olga didn't have cancer. And now, her second incisor has become a problem. This week she once again developed the swollen snout that told us something was wrong the first time around. Dave took her to the vet a few days ago and apparently it is indeed infected, and she needs another extraction. So that's going to happen this Monday.

Meanwhile she got some antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory, and her snout is pretty much back to normal. She's bouncing around and eating as usual, gnawing on her Kong as if nothing's wrong. But I'm sure she is in pain so I think we have to do this. I'm a little concerned about putting her under because of her age, but she's pretty healthy and her heart has always been strong.

(Yesterday, while walking Olga on the nearby housing estate, I saw the caretaker sweeping the pavements. He's watched me walk Olga through there for a decade now. "How old is your dog?" he asked somewhat incredulously. "Yeah, I know, she just seems to go on forever," I said.)

The vet's also going to look at her other teeth. I hope they don't take more out, because Olga loves chewy treats and toys and I think she would really miss not being able to gnaw. But I guess there is that possibility. Ironically, she eats Dentastix -- which are supposed to keep a dog's teeth clean and healthy -- like there's no tomorrow.

Want to hear another audacious plant rescue story?

When I walk Olga in the morning, we often pass a lawyer's office on Finchley Road. Around the beginning of July, I think, the lawyers moved to a new location, and the office was left vacant -- just some furniture and one lone houseplant by the front door. I noticed this plant and every time I'd walk the dog I'd peer through the glass and watch it getting more and more wilted. There's nothing more depressing than a plant that's been left behind in a vacant building.

So I e-mailed the attorneys and said, "Hey, I'd be willing to adopt this plant if you don't want it." I honestly didn't think it very likely I'd hear back, but I had to try, just to soothe my own conscience. Surprisingly, though, one of them wrote me and said they'd leave the plant outside the office at 3:30 on Friday. So Dave and I went by yesterday afternoon on our way home from work and happened to catch the lawyer there, and I collected the plant.

As you can see, it was in pretty sad shape -- wilted but also very leggy. There are actually two plants in that very ugly pot -- a Dracaena and something else. ("Oh, good, another Dracaena," said Dave. We have five of them now.) I cut back the wilted plant quite a bit, figuring it might recover better if it has less foliage to support.

Here's how it looks now, next to the rescued ficus tree and the rescued rubber plant. I'll repot it in a normal flowerpot as soon as I get some more compost. The plant hospital is thriving!

(Top photo: A street scene in Kensal Rise, earlier this week.)