Opal arrived in November 2020. Daddy Twilight has before lost his heart to a precious lemon setter and now Opal has come into our lives and has taken our hearts once again. There we were, waiting for an appointment time for our new carte de residence. A bit of a historic moment really, given all the brexit malarkey. So, we were of fine mood, and optimism for the future was in the air. The text arrived: Lemon setter in Poitiers SPA, 11-ish, grim mammary tumours. ‘Oh’ we say together. Then, Mike bless him, didn’t even look up, he just said, ‘when is she coming?’ Poor Opal had been found wandering and had been at the SPA for some time. So, our precious girl, with a name taken from her new daddy’s mum’s birth stone, she was welcomed to Twilight.
Darling Opal has to be the greatest scatter-brained of all the Puds we have ever had here at Twilight. The sweet lady clearly had no life in her puppy farm box life, human contact most likely being a rarity, and canine company too, other than her pups. Immediately, Opal attached herself to Mummy Twilight from day one, and hasn’t let go, though she is marginally better through the day, as long as she can see us and we do not leave the building!
Looking for Mummy 
Loving Daddy
She is desperately needy, and will claw hard to get as close to you as she can, your face is her aim, so care has to be taken. She just needs love. But as she has learnt that love is in abundance here at Twilight all the time, she has relaxed a little. She has allowed herself to learn how to play like a puppy herself. Playing with the other puds, perhaps her best chum being Steffi. She has learnt that she can roll on her back on the grass, and feel the freedom in her soul. But only as long as someone is not far away – otherwise there will be tears.
Enjoying the play park 
Running in the garden 
Sleeping peacefully 
Beautiful Opal
A little while ago her huge mammary tumours were removed, although it was not possible to remove them in full, so we know the cancer lurks, but she has already outlived the vets’ prognosis. Recently, she just had the longest season. A sad state for an older bitch. Her season state threw the whole house into mayhem, bringing Fifi into season as well and driving our poor chaps crazy. Opal was booked in for tests, and we thought we were out of the woods, but then further disaster struck. Dear William was booked in to have his chaps ‘seen to’ at the vets, but suddenly that very morning Opal started to bleed and show signs that she was not at all well, likely with her uterus. William could wait, so we used his slot to have dear Opal urgently operated on. A pre-op scan showed we might also be looking at a bleeding tumour and bladder troubles. Poor lamb went into surgery on a 50/50 basis. Our little princess is like a cat with nine lives. She came through and was soon snuggled tight with Mum in bed, although wriggling like a ferret! Over the next few days Opal continued to improve with hefty antibiotics to keep infection at bay and ooodles of love.
Our dear precious Opal is beautiful. She is a bundle of love, but with that sadness it is only just found. She loves to walk to see the neighbour, but needs a lead as she might just drift off into la la land and run faster than mummy! She has no comprehension of being ‘clean’, but then why would she, living in a small stone area all her life. We forgive her those indiscretions, and praise her greatly when the grassland is found first! She loves to love and be loved. We are deeply privileged to have her beautiful soul with us, and everyone has their paws crossed for a full recovery.