DO you ever have those weeks when you wonder what else can go wrong?

Pets all tend to like the kitchen, be it cats on the counter, or basking in the radiated warmth of the oven, or dogs hoping for dropped food.

I have a friend who refers to her dogs as “kitchen speed humps”, as they are always lying underfoot.

Indeed Fluffy, is not only always under my feet, she takes care to position herself between me and the work surface or cooker. Up until Sandra's mishap, I confess, I used to just work round Fluffy, only occasionally telling her to move.

Sandra was cooking spaghetti. She picked up the pan to drain it in the sink and fell over Margie. The contents of the pan went straight into the dog's face.

Whereas you can tell a human to stand in a cold shower until the ambulance arrives, and save them from a great deal of scarring and pain, trying to convince a 70lb dog, which is already telling you what it thinks of its predicament via its teeth, is another matter.

Sandra tried hard to contain her belovedMargie as she screamed and lashed out, but in the end it took three of them to bundle her under a blanket, just to get her into the car and on to the vet.

Having got her friend to call ahead as she was driving, the vet was waiting in the car park and was able to sedate poor Margie, so they could get her inside for treatment.

Margie now has about three quarters of her face with a large scab – you can even see lines where the spaghetti fell. Mercifully, she hasn't lost any sight and although shocking to see, her injuries, if keep clean and dry, are expected to heal.

She will always bear the scars and will be in pain and on medication for some weeks. Sandra says the bill for treatment, including a long stay in vetspital, is her penance for not banning all pets from the kitchen.

From this moment forth, Fluffy has a new kitchen regime. She stays on her bed, which is away from the business end of the kitchen, or gets shut out. The thought of seeing injuries like that on her sweet, trusting face is just too much to bear.