Rita Frost

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Last Christmas, on a snowy winter's morning, Mr Frost decided to take his black Labrador, Rita, for a walk. She just loved playing in the snow. The Frost family cat, Jack, enjoyed following them out for a short stroll, and the neighbours were used to the sight of the three of them ambling down the street together.

<Before falling into snow>

They were walking along the banks of the river Thames in knee-high snow, when suddenly Mr Frost heard a meow. When he turned to look, Jack the cat was nowhere to be seen. Mr Frost and Rita ran towards the meowing sound and suddenly fell into a big ditch covered in snow! All three managed to extract themselves, but now their family name seemed very appropriate.

<After falling into snow - can you tell the difference?>

Mr Frost got everyone home quickly. He settled them next to the open fire, wrapped Jack in a blanket on the sofa with a bowl of hot tuna and some warm cat milk. Rita was snuggled into a duvet and received some delicious warm chicken. Mr Frost himself had a mince pie and some mulled wine. Soon everyone was thawing out and feeling quite content. But when Mrs Frost arrived home, she noticed that Rita still had a small problem: her whiskers were frozen!

Being responsible owners, Mrs and Mr Frost brought Rita straight here to Cogges Veterinary Surgery, where we diagnosed a nasty case of 'Icy-whisker', a condition usually found in the northern regions of Greenland, where humpback whales frequently suffer from a similar disease (which is why you rarely, if ever, see a whale with whiskers!)

<Humpback whale: no sign of whiskers!>

Icy-whisker can be serious and can lead to the permanent loss of the whiskers. We started Rita immediately on warm intravenous fluids and settled her in a snug kennel (the only kind we have here at Cogges) with lots of hot-water bottles. She was obviously fed a specially heated recovery diet.

<Portrait of a spoiled dog>