Chapter 46 Summary and Analysis

Sister Rose, who operates a kind of humane shelter for animals at her home when she isn't nursing sick patients at the hospital, calls Herriot to ask him to come and check on an abandoned dog. Amberis of mixed breed with a trace of hound. Amber has hairless, irritated areas on her paws, around her eyes and her cheeks. At first guessing eczema, Herriot leaves Sister Rose with box of zinc oxide and lanolin. A few days later, he receives another call from the sister telling him that Amber's condition has worsened. He sniffs her hairless areas and detects an odor characteristic of demodectic mange—a condition that can't be adequately treated and that often results in putting the dog to sleep.

A scraped specimen of skin from the affected areas, viewed under the microscope, confirms the diagnosis. Herriot tries...