Thank you, Mark. You now know that I have not read your book (on the success of which, many congratulations), but you can now see why …

Several readers have made the same recommendation. Vets who make house calls seem to be easier to come by in country areas, I am told, for obvious reasons. We are semi-country out here. There’s at least one working farm in Huntington township, though it’s corn, not horn. I am making enquiries.

A note of caution from one reader. A situation like this should not be dragged out for too long. He did drag it out, and eventually had to call the vet in when he spotted maggots in the poor dog’s ears. Nature has her own ways, not always agreeable to us.

And yes, I know Kipling’s lovely poem, though I find I can’t read very far into it right now.