So. It's been nearly 3 years since I said goodbye. Perhaps too long. Perhaps time enough. Either way, here I am, and there we were, in Brighton.

It was around about this time that I developed a hunger like I'd never felt before. It gripped me inside and led me to eat anything and everything, regardless of whether it was edible or not. Chip wrappers...rotten fish bones...seaweed...stones...driftwood...any poo I came across, including my own...My tiny belly just kept getting fatter and fatter yet it never felt full. I was like a scrawny barrel on scrawny legs, if you can picture such a thing.

What you have to understand at this point is that Eyes had never brought up a pup before, having been brought up herself with cats. She'd been around enough to know the basics, but some things were a mystery to her. And she was young, so young. Just 17, and barely able to look after herself. No wonder she struggled with me at times. Man, however...Well, I'm not sure about him. He really had no excuse. For any of it.

Eventually, however, it became clear that all was not well, and I found myself paying my first ever visit to the Vet.