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Animal Sanctuary

The story of the Alexandra Bastedo Animal Sanctuary

Alex Bastedo – Animals in my life

July 27th, 2006

Stories about my work with animals, their characters and foibles will appear here on a regular basis and you can see more at My Website (see the side bar >>)
Hello, this is by way of a test run and my first attempt at communicating on the internet, so bear with me!I have at my home, on 10 acres, over 120 animals of various kinds – all rescued (with the exception of the dobermans ). Many of the animals are very elderly and have been taken in when their owners have died or gone in to sheltered accomodationSomebody once said to me when I was distraught at the death of a cat: “If your pet lives out its life in your life then it is a very lucky animal”. It’s true and I find it helps the grief just a little. As I write I have 3 baby moorhens in my bathtub that I saved from drowning. They are eating well and bathing in a large saucer and making a terrible mess so I guess I won’t be having a bath for a bit! Normally they are such timid creatures but these 3 seem to be doing well. When they are a bit stronger I will put them back outside with all the ducks, hens, turkeys, guinea fowl and geese.With vets I use the excellent Arun vets at Pulborough, West Sussex, for conventional medicine (although I have to say Alphapet in Bognor near where I previously lived were terrific as well ) but turn to complimentary medicine when I need to. That was why I wrote my “Healthy Cat and Dog” books which can be found on ebay as they are now out of print .One elderly feral cat called Hettie – white with no ears due to cancer from the sun resulting in amputation – had suddenly become paralysed in one leg. The xrays didn’t show anything so I took her off to see Mark Elliott the brilliant homeopathic vet near Chichester. He immediately gave her acupuncture with remarkable results – she is much happier and starting to move around much moreAnother problem puss is the elderly tonkinese who was found up a tree in Bognor and went unclaimed. He has feline asthma (old lungs said another homeopathic vet) – he must be over 17 – and I have found he is doing brilliantly on an inhaler 3 times a day instead of drugs taken internallyPigs – my two Vietnamese pigs took great exception to the arrival of 2 goats and started attacking each other. I gave them the homeopathic remedy Lachesis for jealousy. It didn’t work. My local friend the eminent retired vet ,Francis Hunter who writes books on homeopathy said that what they needed was Staphisagria for resentment. 2 days of that and they stopped fighting!On the donkey front we have taken in a new lunatic from the Sidmouth donkey sanctuary in Devon called Chocolat. The poor thing was living next to a pub and was totally spooked by the over euphoric clientele so she is upset by everything and everyone. However we have experienced traumatised animals before and eventually with a lot of kindness and patience they get to trust you, but it can take time. We will get there in the end

 .On a personal note I am no longer President of the RSPCA Mount Noddy Branch in Chichester as I did not agree with the way it was being run and  wish to devote my efforts to fund raising for my own rescue centre The Alex Bastedo Animal Sanctuary with its expanding numbers of unwanted animals, and for my other favourite charities. If you would like to communicate with me, please send me an e mail via my website (see the side bar >>). You are also welcome to write to me at my PO Box: The Alexandra Bastedo Animal Sanctuary
PO Box 2195
West Chiltington
Pulborough RH20 2XB. I will try to update this blog on a regular basis to let you know what is going on and will be also including lovely pictures of the animals. It is still work in progress, but hopefully it will all be running smoothly soon.

That’s all for now

All the best, Alexandra

(c) Alexandra Bastedo 2006

The Corsican Holiday

October 19th, 2006

 Even on holiday it is difficult to keep away from animal problems. In fact there are very few places I can go to if I really want a proper rest. My holidays in Tunisia and Morocco were a disaster as my whole time was spent worrying about the animals. In Morocco I even caught ringworm (curable thank goodness) from some poor starving kittens. I sent some homeopathic powders for ringworm to a member of our hotel staff but whether they ever arrived or were administered I will never know.In Corsica things are much better though at the end of the season in late September there always seem to be dogs running loose that have gone hunting and never re-found their owners who have left for mainland France without them.

 We go there every year to the ninth century village of Sant’Antonino on top of a mountain overlooking the sea and with the eagles circling above, the brebis (local sure-footed sheep) clanking with their bells below and the donkeys braying to each other across the valleys and Shanks’ pony only to get around- it really does seem like paradise. However on this occasion my oasis was marred by the news that a close friend who owned the local donkeys was seriously ill with cancer. The eight young ones would always be able to find work giving donkey rides around the village led by her partner but I feared for the future of the four elderly ones- they usually end up as salami if there is no call for them- and resolved to find a way to save them when the moment comes. I rang my friend Dr. Svensen at the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary to see if they might contemplate transporting them to England although I feared they might be too old to withstand such a long journey. Shortly afterwards her son Paul called me from Italy to say they had just opened a new donkey sanctuary near Torino (Turin) in Italy which is not far from the port of Livorno which is 40 miles by sea from Bastia in Corsica ,which is only one hour’s drive from the village. He said as soon as it was necessary they would be happy to come and get the 4 mokes and they could live out their lives in the luxury of their new sanctuary. What a terrific charity the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary is- they really do such good work for needy donkeys around the world.

In case there were problems I broke my holiday to return to England to check on the animals. Ginny ,who was helping to look after the animals in my absence, had done brilliantly but with so many animals there are always problems so we are in constant telephonic communication. Charlotte one of the barn cats that had been jettisoned when her owner moved to Spain had been at the vets’ with a bad eye infection and  Suki  the semi-feral brought to me by one of my volunteers had serious cat flu and ended up on a drip for several days. When I returned I found that one of the two 17 year old  cats we took in 6 weeks ago that had been thrown out when the owner got a dog was fading. She had been thoroughly checked over by the vet and had had her thyroid removed in an attempt to bring her back to health but in spite of vitamins, herbs, homeopathic remedies and very pure food mixed with a little water to help her elderly kidneys ultimately nothing could save her- not even Denes  Original Cat Food which I  thoroughly recommend which has turkey and chicken but no additives, colourants or sugars for maximum longevity. For a town cat she seemed to enjoy roaming around our large overgrown orchard but finally it all got too much and she passed away very quietly in my study. Her partner Caspar though is thriving in his new domain and is one of those surprising cats that has my two Dobermans thoroughly under his thumb, or should I say paw. However, I won’t forgive their owner in a hurry and hope someone kicks her out of her home when she is 80 – the approximate equivalent of 17 in cat years!

To end on a more upbeat note we have just taken in two lively 6 year old donkeys called Starsky and Hutch whose owner was eight and a half months pregnant and  couldn’t cope with so many animals. We used to have 7 donkeys but five died of old age so with Chocolate, the crazy donkey given to us by Mark, the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary vet, we are now back up to seven mokes. It is odd but visually one gets used to a certain number of animals and our paddocks had seemed rather empty so it is a delight to see them full again. Even bigger news is the arrival of a Cob horse rescued from some travellers- but more of that next time.

SHOWBIZ NEWS:I shall be going to a James Bond convention on  November 18^th and 19^th  in Manchester. I have been invited to attend because I appeared in the original film of “Casino Royale” and will be taking along my personal pictures of  myself with Orson Welles, Peter Sellers, David Niven, Deborah Kerr and John Huston. 

 I will be going to Guildford the week of November 6^th to see my co-star from “the Champions” William Gaunt, who will be appearing in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre prior to its London transfer..

 There is a strong rumour that my other favourite TV Series “The Aphrodite Inheritance” which I did with Peter McEnery and Brian Blessed is shortly to be released on DVD.

That’s all the news for now.

All the best, Alexandra.

 (c) Alexandra Bastedo 2006

November notes

November 10th, 2006

                          NOVEMBER NIGHTMARE.

  When I last wrote I spoke of the arrival of Marty the young cob that had been owned by gypsies. His owner had initially rescued him at the age of 6 months when she had found him tethered by the side of a main road. She then trained him absolutely beautifully but her circumstances changed and she found him what she thought was a lovely home. She was therefore horrified a few months later to find he was back with the gypsies again. She succeeded in getting him back and the sanctuary offered to give him a permanent kind and loving home. She came to see us and Marty arrived soon afterwards.In the meantime Starsky and Hutch, the two donkeys who came to us when their owner was eight and a half months pregnant and could not cope with all her numerous equines are turning into the clowns of our little equine world. They frequently pick up a ball between them with a handle and start to race round the paddock. At this point Marty thinks he will join in and comes up behind, they then get faster and faster trot, canter, gallop until finally one concedes defeat and the 2 donkeys go off in different directions. Marty then comes to a standstill bemused as to which one to follow!

As my lovely volunteers and helpers had slowly dwindled in numbers  until I was often doing all the 130 animals myself: one hour to let out and feed in the morning, 3 hours cleaning and one hour to put in at night and that is without all the extras like grooming or hoof picking or de-lousing birds I therefore plucked up the courage to advertise and was overwhelmed by the response- almost to the point of not being able to cope. There must have been over 100 replies whereas 2 years ago I was lucky if I had 5. I am quite happy to teach people all I know but have luckily ended up with an experienced lady groom, a male teacher who took a sabbatical and worked with animals on a farm in Wales for a year, 2 ladies with animal handling certificates and on top of that one ex-headmistress and another teacher also familiar with equines. So the animals are now being groomed all the time and are thoroughly enjoying themselves.

The other good news is that my friend Mike Tomkies, the famous wild-life writer called by to see me and decided to film all the animals- in particular naughty Starsky and Hutch with their crazy antics so I hope at some point in the evolution of my web-site and blog to be able to put films of the animals on as well for you to see. Mike is more used to filming Golden Eagles, wild cats, bears and otters in the wilds of Scotland or Canada so it is good of him to offer his services to the sanctuary and its domestic and farm animals although some do seem  wild at times like Chocolate, the donkey, and the 2 new feral cats! 

On the subject of Chocolate November 4^th and 5^th were horrendous for me because of all the fireworks let off for Guy Fawkes . You would think with ten acres my animals would be safe but not at all, you would have thought we were at war and 2 sets of totally selfish and thoughtless neighbours gave me and all my other friends with animals around here a thoroughly bad time with rockets actually showering down on the backs of the animals .With cows in the field behind , horses to the right, horses to the front, sheep to the left and my 130 animals next to the sheep you would think that people would be a little more sensitive and compassionate- but not so. It meant that both nights I had to go outside 3 times with a torch to comfort all the animals. The Shetlands who were nearest to the barrage were in an absolute panic and sweating with terror so I let them into the field with the bossy ponies. I knew they wouldn’t do each other an injury as they were too frightened by the common enemy- the fireworks. The sheep were baaing pitifully, the goats were screaming and the donkeys were wide-eyed and braying in alarm. However in the midst of all this the wild donkey Chocolate came to me for comfort and protection and I put my arm around her neck for a while. It seems to have been some kind of a break-through as I have been able to touch her ever since. I had been about to use a special technique that a new friend Sue adopts when breaking in wild ponies. She gets a rubber glove and fills the fingers full of sugar lumps so they are both jointed and sweet-smelling. She then fills the palm with straw and ties it to a long whip or pole. She is thus able to rub down and handle a wild animal out of kicking distance!On to the cats that I had kept locked in and they were all hiding in corners and equally terrified. Felines can be scared off their territory and not be able to find their way back so for 2 nights it was impossible to let them out, The birds in the trees were twittering in alarm and my own birds in their enclosure were all in distress as these fiendish rockets descended upon them. The turkeys have been belligerent ever since and so have the pigs.The same thing happened in the summer except with the drought in this area the grass in the paddocks was set alight by the fireworks and my neighbours hay next door caught fire and had to be put out. What can I do about it? At the moment nothing, my selfish neighbours are acting within the law, but how England can call itself a nation of animal lovers and allow such cruelty to living creatures to go on beggars belief. Arranged firework displays on village greens are one thing but letting off huge rockets with horrendous bangs amongst helpless animals is quite another.

 Another telephone call two days ago from a lady who has recently got a divorce (like Raffles, the Shetland’s old owner) asking whether I would like to give her 15 year old 14.2 gelding a loving home. His name is Meldrew and he arrived today, so more of him next time. 

 SHOW-BIZ NEWS:

I saw William Gaunt, my co-star from the TV series ”The Champions”, last night at the Yvonne Arnaud theatre in Guildford playing Big Daddy in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” I have to say in a totally unprejudiced way he was wonderful in the role, mesmerising and spell-binding in a beautifully directed production and he deserves to get an award for his performance. A far cry from his role as Richard Barrett in “The Champions”.

Tomorrow I go to London to see Michael Howe in the musical of “Footloose” Michael and I played opposite each other in the musical of “Pickwick” with Harry Secombe and Roy Castle. I hope to be playing opposite him again in a new comedy by Jeremy Lloyd of “Are You Being Served” and “Allo, Allo” fame) starting at the same Yvonne Arnaud Theatre next September and directed by my husband Patrick Garland (who ran the renowned Chichester Festival Theatre for 10 years). There are 5 other major roles to be cast, but more of that another time.

 Signing off once again,

All the very best,

Alexandra.

Copyright Alexandra Bastedo 2006 

The New Arrivals

November 26th, 2006

                                        The arrival of Meldrew the 15 year old gelding has proved a great success. The moment he was let out of his enclosure to join Marty and the latter came up to him he stamped his front hoof as though to say  “I’m older than you and I’m boss” and he has been in command ever since. Marty the 4 year old cob worships him, they eat together in the same stable and even do their piles of manure together. It really is heart-warming to see them so happy and co-existing peacefully with the donkeys, sheep, goats and cats who share their territory

In the Shetland enclosure I had to call out the vet to see Raffles who had developed loose stools. He was given a liquid antibiotic and was also prescribed live yoghurt in his food. I had never thought of giving yoghurt to a horse  before although I have frequently given goats’ yoghurt to sick kittens, cats or dogs. It worked a treat and Raffles is now back to normal, but all 4 ponies are being kept in at night  off the grass as an added precaution.                   

  Chocolate, the wild donkey has suddenly had a radical transformation.She had grown closer to me during the ghastly firework nights when she had needed a cuddle to calm her down but the final breakthrough has been because I discovered she has an addiction to ginger nut biscuits. In fact I think if someone were to invent a ginger nut perfume for people with equines it would be a big success. I remember one of my previous vets telling me he used to wear Chanel No 5 to get near a particularly difficult horse so he smelled like its owner. Anyone who now goes into the field with a ginger nut finds Chocolate the most docile and obedient of donkeys- but without it you still cannot get near her. The animal behaviourist is coming over soon from the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary for a session with her but if I have a ginger nut about my person he is going to find a totally transformed donkey!                       

On the chicken front I have just taken a delivery of 6 free- range chickens and I have to say it is quite an eye opener as they hardly have a feather between them. I have taken in battery hens before who are of course far worse as they are ashen in colour as they rarely see the light. Those are even more traumatised and have to be introduced to the outside world very gradually but the density of many free range chicken farms is so intense that the hens are very overcrowded and hardly get to move at all. Thus they peck each other and are in total contrast to my lush feathered birds who have a whole orchard to scratch around in. However a little stubble is already appearing on their skin so soon I hope the newcomers will be indistinguishable from the others.                        

  My cat news is pretty disastrous as my beloved Hogie, the old Tonkinese, has died. It had been a battle to keep him alive with steroids over the last 8 months but they had finally stopped having any effect, he was beginning to be in distress and though I would have loved him to be with me still I knew the vet was right and I had to do what was right for him and have him put gently to sleep. I always insist on a pre-med injection though so the animal is already peaceful and unaware when the final injection is administered. I have now buried him in my garden but as he was my personal cuddly purring teddy bear I shall miss him a lot. Of course, the other problem is that his particular companion Sheba, the old Siamese,  is desolate without him so I am having to make a particular fuss of her to try to compensate for his absence.Mark Elliott, a favourite vet and friend( www.homeopathicvet.co.uk), once said to me upon the death of Hodge, Hogie’s predecessor and another grey Tonkinese rescue, “Concentrate on the living” and I must say that while grieving for Hogie animal rescue doesn’t stop and there are many more that need to be helped.

There are 3 new arrivals in the feline world in the form of Selkirk Rexes. I had re-homed many Cornish and Devon Rexes before with their corduroy fur but these Selkirks have long curly hair which needs a lot of attention. They consist of two male cats – one ex stud cat that lashes out and the other a youngster that needs the snip and doesn’t always use a cat litter. The third is a spayed female with a very bad skin condition. I regard all 3 as a challenge and hope with a change of diet to very pure sugarless, no additive or colourant foods like Denes and Udo’s Oil plus vitamin E and cod liver oil they should all come round in temperament and develop shiny coats. At that point I hope to rehome them.                                     

 On the sheep front Sammy, the old black ram, is becoming a real problem. My two ancient ewes are on heat and driving Sammy mad on the other side of their fence. As a result he is taking his frustration out on me and my helpers by attempting to send us flying and we have to fend him off with a wheel-barrow. However the answer according to my vet may be a vasectomy- that way everybody will be happy and the 2 old sheep won’t get pregnant! In the mean-time he has been banned to the farmer’s field and we are once more able to poo pick without getting rammed! But enough of my little sanctuary until the next time.                             

 SHOW-BUSINESS:

I went to see Kevin Spacey in “Moon for the Misbegotten” at the Old Vic theatre in London and cannot recommend it enough. Kevin’s performance was so extraordinarily compelling he deserves to get all the awards. 

On a personal note I attended a James Bond Convention. I was asked because I played Meg in the David Niven sequence in the original James Bond film “Casino Royale”.  I was also in the Orson Welles – Peter Sellers section but didn’t appear on screen as Orson and Peter had taken all the lines and instead spent 6 weeks sipping champagne in Orson’s caravan with my beautiful girl-friend Danny Sheridan. I particularly enjoyed seeing Barbara Bouchet  at the convention who remains as lovely as ever and meeting up with my dear friend Kate O’Mara. We hadn’t seen each other for ages so had lots of catching up to do and hope to be doing  the play “Just A Gigolo”  together next September . 

For those of you who are in England and love animal sculptures I can thoroughly recommend a visit to the charismatic Patrick Mavros’ exquisite shop at 104 Fulham Road London. He hails from Zimbabwe and sculpts all the wild animals in silver even doing the underside of their feet.(www.patrickmavros.com) 

That’s all for now 

All the best,                                                                       

Alexandra Bastedo.

Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.

Dark December

December 10th, 2006

         A most extraordinary coincidence- the other name for Meldrew our new horse is Shabba. Since the death of Maddie, my lovely grey mare two and a half years ago I had really been looking for another gentle grey mare. Ginny, my helper, looked up the name Shabba and found it means “grey mare”. So he may be a black and white gelding but I did get my grey mare after all!       

  On the horse front there are three new rescues. The lady who gave us the donkeys Starsky and Hutch when she was eight and a half months pregnant now has a three month old baby girl and is finding that looking after her numerous equines is too difficult. She therefore rang me to see whether I could take on three of her remaining miniature Shetlands. A fourth had drowned in the river that ran through the field where they were kept. Realising the urgency of the situation I immediately said “Yes”. I removed the tractor from the tractor shed so they could have a stable and put them in the field with Rhett and Sky, the Welsh ponies, intending to keep them apart initially. Hogan and Hamish, two black gelding brothers duly arrived with Mistletoe, a dark dappled grey mare that may be pregnant. Mayhem broke out as the three tiny ponies seemed intent on kicking each other but I think it was merely initial panic as twenty four hours later they seem to realise that no harm will come to them and are happily accepting their evening feed and extra hay. Rhett and Sky are fine about the midgets in their midst and simply give them a wide berth at the first hint of any squabble.         

 We had major problems in the donkey world when Dandy was diagnosed firstly with a hoof abscess and subsequently with laminitis. The latter is a painful disease of the feet usually due to the wrong diet or to encroaching old age. Lush grass is usually the cause, but at this time of year that is most unusual. I think instead it may have been my fault for feeding them extra hay in the barn when they refused to go out- justifiably- in the gales and torrential rain. Dandy is now on a restricted diet and pain- killers and I re-bandage her hoofs every two days and put boots on them for the mud. She is now doing much better. Encouragingly Chocolate our fiendish young donkey is continuing to make progress and is abandoning her wild ways.

 Unusually fights have occurred amongst the cats provoked I suspect by the arrival of the large grumpy Selkirk Rex who is a recently neutered stud cat. He is in the middle cattery with his little friend Edward and winding up my other cats by hissing at them through the wire. He attacked Tatiana who was in with them so she is now recuperating in my study along with Tabitha the blind cat. That incident seemed to provoke Otto the nervous Tonkinese who promptly set about Phoenix the large black cat. Surprisingly Phoenix was defeated and was left, poor love, a dribbling neurotic wreck. Two days confined to barracks and he is fully recovered.             

   Meanwhile with the death of my gorgeous Hogie, my old grey Tonkinese a vacuum was created in the house. Sheba, the elderly Siamese, and his constant companion, moaned and wailed for a week but has now recovered and has moved up in the pecking order aided by the presence of Olivia the recently rescued Selkirk Rex. She has definitely taken her mind off things and is content to play second fiddle allowing Sheba to be top cat- the position previously occupied by Hogie. For my part I still miss him terribly and nobody can replace him but in the interests of my mental health I try not to dwell on the past but instead to look to the future. Also very rewarding is the fact that I have cured Olivia’s awful skin condition with de-worming pills, sulphur tablets, vitamin E and cod liver oil capsules and a little Udo’s Oil and, of course, a total change in diet. She certainly seems a lot happier in herself.                   

 In terms of the animals I long for these damp, dark December days to be over. I no sooner let them out and clean the stables and pens than it starts to get dark, they all start calling and by 4p.m. they have all been fed and are put to bed once more.                  

   However, though he is sadly missed Christmas Day is a lot easier since the death this summer of  dear old Henry, the donkey, who was in great demand for the nativity scene at the family service at the Sidlesham Church. My mother would arrive in the morning and immediately complain that I was ignoring her because I was outside grooming Henry. When the horse-box arrived I would then quickly change out of my jeans into a rather smart suit and my husband, my mother and I, like proud parents would all go off to church to see Henry perform.                   

  On one occasion Henry had been standing outside awaiting his entrance in the pouring rain. Finally when the little procession came through the church Henry stopped and refused to budge. I had to leave my pew and putting my shoulder to his rear heaved and managed to get him going only to find upon returning to my seat that my pastel coloured suit was covered in mud! Never perform with children or animals – this was certainly the case with the poor vicar as our attention was diverted by the young shepherd boy who was intent on hooking down the candelabra above his head with his crook. Disaster was averted in the nick of time as the priest ended his sermon and moved the little nativity group over to the crèche where all the children had left gifts. However once again we were mesmerised this time by Henry’s tail which was slowly rising. The children stepped back and there was an ominous pause in the proceedings.”I think Henry is about to make his offering,” said the vicar. We held our breath, but slowly, slowly, Henry lowered his tail again. He had decided not to disgrace us after all! 

  ANIMAL TIPS:

Do not leave your dog alone with the Xmas tree if you have decorated it with chocolate ornaments. One year our Doberman managed to remove each one but in the process dragged the tree round the room and trashed the sitting room. Chocolate too is poisonous to dogs and cats so do not kill them with kindness. 

Do not leave a cat or kitten alone with the tree either as they may want to play with the baubles and may even get electrocuted by the fairy lights. 

A final warning: beware of azaleas, chrysanthemums, cyclamens, holly leaves, mistletoe, oleander and pointsettias all of which if ingested are poisonous to dogs and cats.

GALLERIES:

An excellent young modern artist and friend- Simon Eden- on www.simondavideden.com – had the first viewing of his new exhibition in London on December 14th. His work is most original and a large number of his canvases have already sold but the actual exhibition and indeed his website are well worth a look. It is taking place at 1 Pump Court, Inner Temple, London and viewings can be arranged through Kristin McCormack on 0207 8274000.

CONCERTS:

My god-son Simon Mulligan an international concert pianist (of whom I am immensely proud) has a recital at the Wigmore Hall in London called”Concert for Alexis” on Friday 5th January at 7.30 pm.He will be playing Beethoven, Weissenberg, Czerny and Strauss.You can hear Simon on Radio 3’s “In Tune” programme on Tuesday 19th December at 6.15pm talking about his recital. For tickets you can call 02079352141. Online www.wigmore-hall.org.uk

THEATRE: 

My friend Kate O’Mara came to stay and is still expressing an interest in doing the play “Just A Gigolo” with me next year, She is about to start a tour of England starring in Daphne Du Maurier’s play “September Tide

My friend Liza Goddard is appearing in pantomime at the Malvern Theatre and is then touring in a new Alan Aykbourn play. Toyah Wilcox is appearing in the panto at the Brighton Theatre Royal and I shall be seeing her there.

 Leslie Grantham, my leading man in Jeffrey Archer’s play “Beyond Reasonable Doubt” earlier this year, is doing the pantomime at the Plymouth Theatre.

 William Gaunt is appearing at the Trafalgar Studios in London in “ Gates of Gold ” and is giving a stunning performance.

 My husband and I have just appeared at our local church this evening doing one of our anthologies called “A Sussex Christmas” along with the excellent local choir. The church was packed and we all enjoyed mulled wine, Sussex fruit cake and mince pies afterwards.                  

I hope you all have an enjoyable Christmas,                                     

All the very best,

                Alexandra. 

Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.2006.

WISHING YOU A HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR.

January 12th, 2007

            Nothing is as important as good health and with pollution in the air, nitrates and nitrites in water and additives, colourants, msg and chemicals in much of our food it is becoming increasingly more difficult to stay healthy.            

 For some time now I have been involved in promoting animal health and wrote “The Healthy Dog” and “The Healthy Cat” books in an attempt to simplify and make more accessible all the information I had gleaned reading American, Australian and English veterinary books and talking to homeopathic vets like my friends Tim Couzens, Mark Elliott and Francis Hunter. I am fortunate to have the latter who is a retired vet as a neighbour. He is the former Chairman of the British Homeopathic Association and was  the President of the British Association of Homeopathic Veterinary Surgeons. He is now President of the League of Friends of the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital.          

  However, my interest in animal health was considerably advanced as the result of a conversation with a remarkable lady doctor called Dr. Mary Loveday, a neurologist, a bio-chemist and a practitioner of complementary medicine. In fact she was quite cross when one day I called it “alternative” medicine. “It isn’t” she said “conventional and complementary medicine should both be used for optimum health as necessary.”At the time I was 37 and full of aches and pains with chronic indigestion and after hearing about this remarkable doctor I joined her lengthy waiting list of one year (eventually she was obliged to close the list altogether as the volume of people wanting to see her was so enormous). When I finally managed to see her this warm, attractive, sensible doctor attached me to her Vega machine – a perfectly painless procedure- and started to explore. She asked if I had any problems and I said that I had :pains in my legs,back and just between my lower ribs. “I am not surprised” she said”You have hardly any calcium in your body.”It turned out that I was very allergic to dairy products and was therefore not receiving any calcium from them. When I asked what percentage of her patients had that problem she replied “85 per cent” “Who is milk good for?” I asked “Calves” she replied. It also turned out I was allergic to yeast as in bread, mushrooms, vinegar, some  grape and melon skins and to acid drinks like citric juices and- unfortunately- wine and champagne. On my way up to see her on the train I had eaten a salad sandwich and a cow’s yoghurt and drunk a fresh orange juice thinking how healthy it all was- I was totally wrong. Tea and coffee weren’t too good either and particualarly chocolate which I had always known gave me nose bleeds On top of that I was also deficient in Evening Primrose Oil (for hormones), vitamin E and Fish Oils (skin, hair, nails etc), Folic Acid (hormones) B1 (cramps and aches and also a bug repellent) B2 (anti-depression), calcium (for strong bones and for aches and pains), calcium pantethonate (general health) chromium (anti-sugar), magnesium (anti stress, headaches and for regular bowels), B3 (for circulation) and with zinc to cut off adrenalin which I was told to take at night.I was also to take a vitamin B complex as I was so deficient in the vitamin Bs. Of all the vitamins unless prescribed by a doctor a B complex is the correct way to take vitamin B so the ratio of the differetnt elements is correct. Also never overdose on iron or vitamins A and D as in fish oil or cod liver oil. Apart from the aches caused by a calcium deficiency the pain between my ribs was a pancreatic condition. “This is very serious” said Dr. Loveday so you must do exactly as I say.

When I went back for my check up a few weeks later she said that things were a lot better except for my zinc and nicotinamide levels. “Oh,” I said”Those are the ones you told me to take late at night and I often forget.” “In that case take them with the others” was the slightly irritated reply. At one of my later check-ups she commented that my vitamin E levels were not up to par. “I don’t know why” I said” I do take them but I have run out of fish oils” “Well that’s it” she said”Vitamin E and fish oils work together for optimum effect.”

 She was extraordinary- I could never get away with anything. With her machine she could tell exactly what I had been doing and as a result my immune system got better and better.              

 As the veterinary world did not seem to have an equivalent one day I asked Dr. Loveday what I could do for my favourite cat- Hodge the 6 year old rescued Tonkinese- who had just been diagnosed with Feline Aids. He had seen several vets and had been given a year to live. “Well” she said “You have nothing to lose so why don’t you do for him what you do for yourself only in smaller doses. Fortunately it was very easy to give him pills, but with other cats I often crush them, put the powder in the V of a piece of paper and tip it down the throat. With oils I would cut off the end of the capsule and squeeze the liquid along the lips or even put it on a paw to be licked off.For Hodge with Feline Aids I gave him: 1000mg of vitamin C, kelp, zinc, vitamin E, fish oils, calcium, a vitamin B complex, organic garlic and a multi vitamin-mineral like Immunace by Vitabiotics. Instead of the one year he was given he went on to live a further 10 years dying at the good age of 16 .            

  Byron, a rescued British Short-haired Tip, that I took in at the age of 10 had Feline Infectious Peritonitis and I was told by my vets that the prognosis was not good. He had 3 courses of antibiotics and none of them worked. He was very sick with fluid on the lungs and a distended abdomen so once again I felt I had nothing to lose. I gave him home-cooked food of chicken, turkey or rabbit with a little rice, broccoli, cabbage and  beetroot and chicken liver twice a week. After food I gave him the following: Vit C 500mg twice daily, vit E 50 iu once daily, cod liver oil a half a tsp daily, zinc 15 mg once daily, kelp, B complex 50 mg once daily, digestive enzymes (half a tsp from the refridgerator), selenium 50 mg daily and 1 tsp of Floradix liquid supplement also from the fridge. Also slippery elm powder, nettles, echinacea and organic garlic and homeopathically cantharis, carduus mar, lycopodium, mercurius sulphuricus, tub bor or arsenicum album. When I was convinced he was 100 per cent well I re-homed him with my friend Sandy’s mother in the Lake District and he went on to live to a ripe old age.            

 I had tried the conventional route with both cats and in both instances the medicines had not worked so I had nothing to lose by turning to nutritional supplements, herbs and homeopathy. The results were nothing short of miraculous and there isn’t an animal here at my animal sanctuary that doesn’t receive some form of supplement along with the purest of foods. PLEASE read the small print on cat and dog food so you will know what you are actually giving them and not just what is advertised on the label. You may be in for quite a surprise! Samuel Hahneman , the founder of homeopathy, said that homeopathy could not work long term if the nutritional base was wrong and from my 25 years of experience with the animals at the sanctuary I know that to be true. In fact if there is one problem here it is longevity- there are a lot of very old animals, even Henry the donkey died last summer at the age of 40, an extremely good age for a donkey.              

  I am not a doctor and I am not a vet so all I can ever tell anyone is what I would do for myself or for my own animals in any given situation in terms of vitamins and minerals and diet. At the moment I am still making inroads on the 3 Selkirk Rexes. After I had sent off stool tests it turned out they were all suffering from Campylo-bacter or Giardia  which are unpleasant intestinal parasites. After being told to give a 3 day course of Panacur Granules and with the help of Merc Cor for the bleeding in their stools from the weakened gut and probiotics to encourage the “good” bacteria Arthur, Eddie and Olivia are much happier in themselves and their nasty scabby skin and diarrhea has now cleared up.         

 Part of the reason I have delayed writing is that I have been very busy with a major animal rescue operation and cannot risk imperiling it until it is over so hopefully I will be writing about that in my next blog.             

 Meanwhile if you need professional advice here are my favourite practitioners of complementary medicine: Dr. George Lewith (London and Southampton) www.complemed.co.uk  , Dr. Alan Stewart (Brighton, Sussex), Dr. Patrick Magovern (Ireland) and Patrick Monckham who has taken over from Dr. Mary Loveday at 126 Harley St, London W.1.

My preferred homeopathic vets are: Tim Couzens BVetMed VetMFHom MRCVS (East Hoathly, Lewes, East Sussex), Christopher Day MA VetME VetMFHom MRCVS (Farington, Oxfordshire) and Mark Elliott BVSc VetMFHom MRCVS (Emsworth near Chichester, Sussex) It was to Mark that I turned when I couldn’t find vitamins specifically tailor-made for my animals. With him and with  Kalpesh Patel. an experienced Pharmacist MRPharmS,  from Vega Nutritionals (who do excellent human vitamins as well)  we formed Pet Nutrition Concepts and the result was a wide range of vitamins and minerals for animals obtainable from www.homeopathicvet.co.uk . If conventional medicine isn’t working for you or your animals I highly recommend these doctors and vets. My friend the eminent vet Francis Hunter is now retired but I very much advocate his books: “Before the Vet Calls”, “People are Pets” and “Every day homeopathy for Animals”. 

CONCERTS:

 Simon Mulligan, the international concert pianist and composer- who just happens to be my godson- had a sell-out concert at Wigmore Hall in London last week and was absolutely spell-binding. Those who are more musically expert than myself said he was absolutely fantastic!

THEATRE:

 My great friend the actress Kate O’Mara is staying with us this week-end as she starts the Daphne Du Maurier play “September Tide” at Horsham on Monday.

We are going to see Liza Goddard in the new Alan Ayckbourn play “If I Were You” at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford next week, January 17th to January 27th.

Philip Franks and Peter Egan, another friend are to star in  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic”The Hound of the Baskervilles touring around England shortly. They will be at Guildford March 19th to March 24th.

                                       That’s all for now,                                                  

                                            Stay healthy and happy,                                                            

                                                    Very best wishes, 

                                                                     Alexandra Bastedo.

Copyright Alexandra Bastedo 12th January 2007.  

FOWL FEBRUARY

February 18th, 2007

                      The headline of the Daily Mail newspaper today reads”Matthews Turkey Factory Squalor”.  The fact that there was an outbreak of the highly virulent Avian Influenza in Suffolk was of utmost importance to me because of the large number of rescued hens, ducks, geese, guinea fowl and turkeys that I have myself leading a totally idyllic free range existence. However, I was reassured by Philip Lymbery the head of Compassion in World Farming that the wild bird population flying around was fine and that they believe the responsibility for the disease is firmly at the door of factory farming. 

Until recently my husband and I lived in the village of Almodington just outside Chichester in Sussex and I had occasion to spearhead a campaign to close down a battery turkey farm just up the road from us. The village had been idyllic set amongst farmers’ fields with lovely views,  peaceful and quiet. There wasn’t even a pub or post office and apart from saying “Good Morning” all the neighbours went their separate ways. 

One day our paradise was shattered by the arrival of masses of poor battery turkeys. A local farmer decided that it would be more profitable to raise poultry in his glass houses than his usual tomatoes. The heat under glass through the hot summer was intolerable and when I went up to investigate I found a number of turkey corpses outside on the grass.”Can’t you let them outside where it’s cooler ” I said “They’ll lose weight if they move about” The farmer replied. I obviously wasn’t going to get anywhere- animal welfare was not part of his agenda.Fairly quickly things went from bad to worse: foxes absconded with the turkey corpses and buried them in our gardens, the local rat population exploded,hordes of large black flies arrived in our houses and when the wind blew in your direction the smell actually made you want to vomit- which was hard on me as I spend so much time outside with my animals. It was at that point that my neighbour Terry and I started to hold clandestine meetings at my house for all the villagers , united in our hatred of the farmer and his horrible turkey farm. The environmental health officer was called in and he was just as appalled by what he saw and said he would never be able to eat a non free-range turkey ever again.

However having rescued battery chickens as well and seen their anaemic colour from lack of light and their lack of feathers because of pecking in overcrowded cages I know that battery hens can hardly be said to do much better. The latest hen arrivals are the most affectionate sweet natured birds and I find it intolerable that the human race can treat animals and birds in such a way just in the name of commerce. Bernard Matthews is a multi millionaire as a result of his factory farming of poultry- I just hope he gets reincarnated as one of his own birds if there is such a thing as reincarnation!Anyway the good news was that our little village with the help of the environmental health department took the farmer to court and after quite a fight with Compassion in World Farming and David Spackman,the top poultry vet,lending their considerable support we won the case. The turkey farm was shut down. And after that the villagers didn’t just say “Good Morning” for having been united by our turkey battle we were all on first name terms! So the news of the virulent Avian Influenza bug at Bernard Matthews turkey factory farm comes as no surprise but if these practices continue if we are not careful it could well spread to the wild. The government is stopping poultry fanciers’ shows  in England where the birds are cossetted and in optimum condition with the owners immensely proud of their birds, but allows  the movement of poultry products from diseased areas abroad. I have to ask what is the logic in that?!                        

   I wanted to write before but have been very caught up in a major animal rescue which has taken a fair amount of diplomacy to achieve. It has involved 2 donkeys, one pony, 6 Shetlands , 2 horses and 16 cats,12 ducks and 3 geese which are now safe and most are being wormed, having dentals, being de-flead , being shaved in the case of the Persian cats as they were so matted, and being given special food and vitamins to restore their health. The last major rescue I achieved involved 3 ponies, 77 feral cats which Celia Hammond helped me rescue and one Hungarian Puli dog that had been taken away by the RSPCA it was in such poor condition. However I had the ownership made over to me and fostered it with a dear friend for the rest of its life.

 That exercise also meant walking a tight rope and it is important not to show your disapproval of the people you are dealing with or you stand to jeopardise the whole rescue operation. The only thing that matters is to get the animals away safely. So the volume of work for my kind volunteers has been substantially increased as have the feed bills, the hay bills and needless to say the vets’ bills. I shall be writing about the rescue operation and those lovely animals next time in far more detail because this has been a very exhausting period. If by any chance you would like to help with even the smallest contribution( even 50p or 1 dollar) the sanctuary has an account with Paypal or cheques can be made out to : ARUN VETS or GATLEYS ANIMAL FEEDS and sent care of The Alexandra Bastedo Animal Sanctuary . P.O. Box Number.2195, West Chiltington, Pulborough, Sussex RH20 2XB. England.It would be much appreciated and will be personally acknowledged.

TIPS:

Persians can have what is called a lion cut if they have to be shaved which leaves them looking rather like attractive feline poodles. I imagine it would help them in a heat wave.One of the new cats had ring worm quite badly so I am treating him with sulphur 6x, vitamins E and zinc(5 to 20 milligrams daily)  vitamin C and Udo’s Oil with Omega 3 and 6 and homeopathically with bacillinum 30c.Dr. Richard Pitcairn’s veterinary book is particularly helpful on the subject.He says you can also use a poultice of black or green tea or smear on vitamin E oil or fresh Aloe Vera Gel. Fortunately I always keep an  Aloe Vera plant for just such problems.

Shabba or Meldrew, the horse has a cold and Sue, my horse expert friend, told me to make a bed of Bliss bedding with citronella and eucalyptus which can help with the air ways and also to feed him on the ground so the mucous from his nose drains downwards. With the changing temperatures  at this time of year it is also important to change the thickness of his rugs accordingly.

Feliway is a product you can plug in to an electric socket and it emits a scent which helps to calm down frightened new cats.

Always worm and de-flea a new cat immediately. With horses they should be de-wormed  on arrival as they can contaminate the pasture. With our new ponies we found red bots in the manure the next day.If you have dogs and cats and particularly if you are in contact with cat litter you should de-worm the whole family on a regular basis with a family wormer like Ovex from the pharmacy. It is most important if there are children in the house.Pet chickens and turkeys should be de-wormed too once or twice a year and de-loused fairly regularly. I do this by putting the hen in a carrier bag full of louse powder with its head out. This means the powder doesn’t go all over the place.

Bad news- unfortunately one of the young Shetlands is a young entire stallion and there are mares around. As I am not in the business of selling animals the vet has said he will need three helpers for the castration so I just hope I don’t let the side down by fainting                             

  Please avoid battery poultry products if you can. If you were to see how these birds are kept and what they are fed you wouldn’t touch them. I have made a dvd called Poultry Matters about how to look after hens correctly set at my own sanctuary with all the other animals, I am happy to sign them and sell them for a donation to the animal sanctuary if you would care to keep your own hens- they really are characters and are so rewarding.   It’s late so I am signing off for now but I will be back soon,                                            

  All the very best,                                                      

  Alexandra B.

PS Have just taken a load of photos of the animals in the snow and film of them playing - hope to have it on the web site in the near future.

PPS. I am looking for a mature person or persons to take on 2 beautiful, sweet natured Persian cats both speyed females. One is ginger and one year old (She has a lion cut at present because she was so matted) and one is white and 6 years old. I would have to do a home check so it would have to be in Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire of Kent. They could be indoor cats. We are so full up they are at present residing in my bathroom!Also 2 tortoiseshell sisters aged 3 , one manically affectionate, the other partially sighted and shy.They could live indoors or in a protected environment. They have been so traumatised in their past that they need caring owners. These are living in my office but fortunately don’t touch a thing- they are very neat and tidy!

Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.