Today is the second day after Cassie had her first chemotherapy treatment. We visited her at the vet's clinic again after hours and arrived to be let in by the weekend nurse. There is a skeleton staff operating due to it being the weekend and we are taken to a consultation room to wait for the nurse to bring her out to us from the kennels.

We stand in the doorway and the nurse opens the door at the end of the corridor with Cassie in tow. She is off her lead and walking slowly towards us. She sees us and we call her name and she looks really happy to see us. We are told by the nurse that it's the most she's ever seen Cassie wag her tail. She wanders into the room we are waiting next to and we give her lots of attention. She has managed to lose one of her bandages but still has the other with her catheter attached, ready to reinsert the IV fluid which has become her lifeline when she returns to her kennel. Her belly is definitely looking a little smaller than yesterday but we are told that she has lost yet more weight.

They still can't get her to eat anything and we were asked to bring some of her favourite food with us to try and tempt her. Out comes a dish of small pieces of cheese and another with some lean pork. She looks at each piece offered with some interest but still refuses to eat either of them. We keep trying on and off throughout the visit but each time we are met with the same interest, then refusal.

We are left with her harness and lead and a suggestion that we can take her outside for a little walk in the fresh air. The nurse leaves us to get on with the task of looking after her other charges and another nurse comes to us with an update. They are pleased with the progress she has been making so far and are hoping that her refusal to eat will not last too much longer. They have, again, tried various foods to tempt her with no success. She has always been a little stubborn at times but you can tell she is hungry and we're not sure why she is turning her head away each time.

We decide to put on her harness and lead and take her outside for some fresh air and exercise in the hope that it might make her feel hungry. We wander her over to the strip of green down the side of the building and she takes in all the smells, happy to be in our company. We turn around to come back and she decides that she can't go any further and sits down, not wanting to get up. Mark has to carry her back to the building where he sets her gently down outside. We need to ring the bell to be let back in and she slowly walks back to the consultation room with us.

She is worn out and after a few more fusses, she falls asleep on the floor next to me. I wish we didn't have to leave her behind but we can't take her home until she is eating for herself instead of being fed on a drip. There is a clear improvement in the way she looks from how she looked two days ago. She is brighter in herself, her tummy has definitely decreased in girth and she is a little more comfortable lying on it. The night nurse walks past and we let him know that she is ready to go back to her kennel to get some much needed, healing sleep. He returns a few minutes later trying to coax her to walk down the corridor. He gets her to her feet and she stands in the doorway. We both say goodbye to her but she refuses to move until I walk in step beside her down the corridor all the way to the kennel.

Tomorrow is another day and hopefully one that will bring her appetite back.