Patients in the bear hospital!

This guy was left in my care before Christmas for a longish stay!  He was in such a state that his owners knew that it would take a while for me to complete his recovery list!
When I first examined him I wondered if there was anything I could do - the poor chap needed every part of his body attended to. 

He no longer had any paw pads at all and his little stumps had been wrapped in fabric which had blackened with age, and it was with trepidation that I unpicked these coverings to see the extent of the damage.  The fabric around the neck was almost worn away down to the wood wool so that needed urgent attention.  The red buttons he had for eyes did not do him any favours, so I replaced them with vintage glass eyes.  Sadly he did have to have some new wood wool (excelsior) to inject some live into him especially as every seam needed restitching.  After a good gentle brushing to remove the worst of the dirt I could not believe how he turned out.  My only fear is that his body now looks too good to be true, but in actual fact the mohair really wasn't so bad under all the dirt.

He is quite a big headed bear, but right for his age and originally he was a blue colour which I discovered in various parts of his anatomy!  I don't really like doing such an extensive repair and my feeling is that it is best left alone if possible.  However, in this case he did need that help to face the world.

I wonder why his head looks a different colour but perhaps he had been wrapped up in something for a long time or dressed.