Tricki’s obesity

Tricki’s obesity is the result of a well-intentioned but damaging pattern of overfeeding and limited exercise, and it becomes the crisis that prompts James Herriot to remove him from Mrs. Pumphrey’s care temporarily. His recovery does not depend on an elaborate medical procedure: it comes through a changed routine, measured food, water, and the activity and companionship of the dogs at the surgery. The episode makes the contrast between affection expressed as indulgence and care shaped by an animal’s actual needs central to Tricki’s story.

The development of the condition

James Herriot’s concern begins when he sees Tricki with Mrs. Pumphrey in the street. The dog has become conspicuously overweight, and his appearance and lack of energy alarm the veterinarian. Mrs. Pumphrey explains that she has interpreted his listlessness as malnutrition and tried to build him up with extras between meals, including calf’s foot jelly, malt, cod-liver oil, and Horlick’s at night. Her account reveals a gap between her intention—to strengthen a pet she believes is weak—and the effect of the food she provides.

The problem extends beyond those additions. Tricki is persistently eager to eat, and James Herriot understands that his appetite makes the household’s feeding habits particularly consequential. Although he had previously advised Mrs. Pumphrey to reduce sweet foods, she admits that she resumed giving them because Tricki seemed weak and she found it difficult to refuse him cream cakes and chocolates. The treats, including other rich foods James Herriot suspects are part of the routine, combine with the lack of sufficient activity to sustain the weight gain.

Exercise has also diminished. Tricki still has short walks with Mrs. Pumphrey, but the ring-throwing that had provided another form of activity has stopped. James Herriot therefore gives a direct prescription: reduce the food substantially and increase exercise. He stresses that the instruction must be followed strictly, while Mrs. Pumphrey agrees but struggles with the emotional difficulty of withholding food. Her immediate departure seems to mark the start of a new regime, yet James Herriot doubts it will be enough.

From warning to hospitalization

Within days, the predicted deterioration becomes clear. Mrs. Pumphrey calls because Tricki has stopped eating, including his favourite dishes, and has begun vomiting. He spends his time lying down and panting, and no longer wants to walk or take part in ordinary activity. The crisis shows that the earlier problem is no longer only excessive weight: his condition has worsened enough that James Herriot considers a change of setting necessary.

James Herriot proposes that Tricki stay at the surgery for about a fortnight under observation. Mrs. Pumphrey has never been separated from him and fears that he will pine and die without seeing her every day. James Herriot nevertheless insists that Tricki is seriously ill and that taking him without delay is the best available course. He carries the dog to the car wrapped in a blanket, proceeding despite the owner’s distress. The separation temporarily interrupts the pattern in which Mrs. Pumphrey’s anxiety and affection lead her to give Tricki the food he wants.

A different routine at the surgery

At the surgery, Tricki initially shows little interest in the other dogs or his surroundings. James Herriot gives him no food for two days, but makes plenty of water available. By the end of the second day he begins to attend to what is around him; on the third, he responds to the dogs outside. His return to activity unfolds gradually, as he leaves his bed, joins the group, and follows them around the garden.

The ordinary rhythms of the practice supply what his previous routine lacked. At feeding time, Tricki watches the dogs compete for their meals; an extra bowl is then put out for him, and he moves eagerly towards it. Thereafter his progress is rapid. He receives no medicinal treatment, but runs and plays with the others, joins their scrimmages, and becomes part of their group. He also hunts rats in the old hen house at night. Exercise is no longer an item on a plan that is difficult for Mrs. Pumphrey to maintain; it is built into Tricki’s daily life among the dogs.

Recovery and the meaning of care

While Tricki improves, Mrs. Pumphrey remains anxious and repeatedly calls for updates. James Herriot avoids her questions about the comforts and clothing she had arranged for him, but can report that Tricki is out of danger and recovering. Her response to this news includes bringing fresh eggs to build up his strength, an echo of the earlier tendency to express concern through food. The household at the surgery enjoys the extra provisions, but Tricki’s improvement has come without the rich diet or special equipment his owner associates with looking after him.

After two weeks, Mrs. Pumphrey arrives to take him home. James Herriot finds him running with the pack, transformed into a fit, muscular dog who can keep up with the others. Tricki leaps back to his owner and covers her with attention; the reunion confirms the bond between them, while the contrast with his earlier inactivity makes the physical change unmistakable. The beds, toys, cushions, coats, and bowls Mrs. Pumphrey had supplied have not been used. She credits James Herriot with a triumph of surgery, but the account’s quiet irony is that no surgery or medicine was needed. Tricki’s recovery depended on correcting the everyday conditions that had made him ill: excessive food, too little exercise, and affection that could not easily set limits.