Why I'm heading to the gym after a good day's work now - Julian Norton

The poorly boxer had been off her food for a week or so, but everything had changed thirty six hours after she started her most recent medication.

“She knocked on my bedroom door late at night. When I opened it, all she wanted was food! She’s been like a new dog ever since!”

The positive response to medication confirmed my suspicion of oesophagitis, a condition which is more common than we often imagine.

Dogs can’t say, “I’ve got this terrible burning sensation just near my heart; and it makes me feel quite sick,” as a human with heartburn might. In dogs, the early signs can be easy to miss, for a clinician and an owner.

Endoscopy can help, but sometimes there are almost fifty shades of red or pink to be seen down the ‘scope, which can make the process – at least in my hands – somewhat subjective.

A biopsy can confirm the diagnosis, but at some cost to both patient and purse. The procedure is relatively non-invasive, but fiddly and sometimes the lab report is still not completely conclusive.

Anyway, Amy had apparently been cured, and everyone was pleased.

“I think you’ve saved me thousands of pounds in tests, so thank you once again Julian.”

I dispensed a longer course of treatment and arranged another check up in a couple of weeks.

Not every day at work is filled with successes, but this was a positive start – just the type of case I love managing.

Yes, often we do need to commit fully to a raft of tests, cover all bases and get clarity on the problems, but sometimes experience and intuition can be just as useful.

The day continued along a cheerful vein. By six thirty, as work came to an end, the gym was calling.

My preference would have been to head to the hills on my bike, but I know it’s important to put some gym time to help the recovery of my knee.

The knee has, like Amy, recovered extremely well, but it still needs some nurturing, the strength and mobility still not quite perfect.

It can be difficult to turn the steering wheel towards the gym, where I know an hour and a half of pain and suffering is in store.

It would much easier to head home for tea and chat and a glass of wine or two. But, I grit my teeth. Tea, wine and chat will still be there later on.

As I got ready in the changing room, I overheard two lads having a conversation. One was opening the locker to retrieve his clothes and the second had followed him out of the gym with some consternation.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going.”

“You can’t go now.”

“I can, I have to be home by seven.”

“But you’ve only done one exercise!”

I couldn’t stop chuckling to myself. It was beyond half-hearted! The early-leaver made a few more excuses and concluded with: “No I haven’t. I’ve done three!”

By now, I was struggling to control my laughter. The total lack of commitment was funny enough, but the attempt to justify the trip by managing three exercises was hilarious.

Unless those three exercises had been heinously hard, it hardly constituted an intensive training session.

But, maybe he’d had a hard day a work; perhaps his tea would be ready, or the lure of the sofa was too great.

Either way and whatever the reason, I didn’t expect that I’d be seeing him again at the gym very soon.