If I thought March was mad April is proving to be quite crazy. Coping with the animals on a daily basis is hard enough but dealing with the unexpected is what makes it both interesting and extremely difficult.
With ducklings and moorhen chicks springing up everywhere I had to bring out my waders again to rescue a duckling that was being drowned by its mother as she tried to free it. It was entwined in brambles which she kept attacking but only succeeded in submerging her infant in the process. I leapt into the pond and this time found it pleasantly shallow and in spite of being beaten off by its irate mother was able to return the duckling to her intact.
With the equines now numbering 22 and no room for any more rescues I was pleased to have an enquiry about two of the young mini Shetland brothers Hamish and Hogan. However when an elderly couple and their friends turned up to see them things went a little pear -shaped. The two little ponies are very used to seeing me and my helpers, but never in large numbers so when a group of total strangers converged upon them Hogan,the tiny one, freaked out, bolted and sent me flying in the process. Needless to say I never heard from the somewhat elderly couple and their friends again! But of course I was glad- for my poor rescued equines my little sanctuary is the best home they have had so far, I feel terribly responsible for them and am determined they will go to permanent, caring homes that are right for them.
Cats! My 20 year old semi-feral, deaf and blind in one eye decided to climb up an eighty foot oak tree and then could not get down. She is actually a pedigree chocolate point Siamese-Cornish Rex, but I was warned by the breeder when I took her on that she loathed humans. And despite receiving nothing but kindness over 20 years that situation has never changed. So how do you rescue a cat stuck up a tree that won’t be caught? The daily miaows were heart-rending but in spite of locking up all the other cats and smearing the trunk of the tree with her favourite tuna she would not come down. After 5 days I had to resort to climbing up ladders and leaving food and water on the branches. At least that way I would not end up with a feline corpse . I tried to get her, Ginny, Sarah, Tim, Melanie, Moira,Bob, Amelia, Ben- we all at different times got near but ultimately only succeeded in sending her higher up the tree. We even managed to rig up a cat trap in the branches but to no avail. In spite of the tasty chicken morsels inside she kept well away. We thought of calling the fire brigade but with very narrow access I doubted they would be able to get very near. Finally the heavy brigade were called in- foresters and tree surgeons equipped with harnesses that enabled them to swing like tarzan through the trees. It was highly dramatic to watch but I had to call the first one off as he only succeeded in driving her up to the highest spindly branch and I knew she would never survive the 80 foot fall which seemed imminent. Finally in the afternoon the second forester armed with a fishing net actually succeeded in getting up above her and netted her on a lower branch at which point she fell 20 feet to the ground and my friend Sonia did a rugger tackle trapping the cat in the process. There was applause- and relief- all round. Apart from being thin she was none the worse for wear and is now happily back in her cattery.
While all this was going on the sheep world was causing major ructions. When Jim, the farmer next door, had offered me Katie the Texel ewe because she was prone to get a prolapsed womb if pregnant and therefore could not be with his rams I said I would take her on . With just Princess, my other ewe,and my 2 castrated Wiltshire Longhorns, Keats and Kipling, she wouldn’t have a problem. Katie was always second best, but after Princess’ untimely death she really came into her own and became very tame and affectionate. I was horrified therefore to find at 7 one morning that she had a large red ball atached to her rear which was the prolapsed womb. I called out the farm vet who said that as she wasn’t with rams she couldn’t be pregnant and that we had a real problem. He would stitch the womb back in, but that in 2 months the stitches would have to come out and that there would no doubt be a prolapse again. It was all very depressing.
Two days later I noticed that Katie’s udder was full of milk. I knew she couldn’t be pregnant as there was stock fencing between her and the rams but I rang the vets again. This time a lady vet came out, removed the stitches had a feel and pronounced with absolute certitude that she was expecting at least two if not more lambs. “But she hasn’t been with a ram” I said “Well I’ve known a ewe feed her lamb through stock fencing so I imagine a ram and a ewe if determined might manage to make love!” I was stupified. She was sewn up once again- this time with stitching and a bow which I had to untie the moment there was a sign of anything happening. “You will have to check every few hours “she said. I was now a nervous wreck but at 7 am two days later with the help of Sarah, my neighbour we managed to deliver two tiny coal black female lambs. I was thrilled not only were there only two which meant they would not have to be bottle fed (a ewe only has two teats for her lambs to suckle) but they were also females so they would not have to be castrated either.And the daddy? It was obviously Sammie , the coal black ram. “Love laughs at locksmiths” said my learned friend Kate O’Mara who was staying with us at the time. I certainly know that next season I shall have to reinforce that stock fencing with something with smaller holes!
A few hours later and disaster struck again one of the teats wasn’t producing milk. I got on to Jim the farmer again and he brought up Lamblac which is formula milk for lambs. “You will have to feed every four hours “he said” So you had better take the stronger one up to the house.” “But won’t the mother reject it? “I asked ”Yes” he replied. At that point I resolved to keep them both with mother and to mix up and heat the milk in the cattery next door to the barn. Everything would be all right. The next day, Easter Sunday, things went from bad to worse and we found that Katie was producing no milk at all!Unlike small animal vets farm vets who are used to treating entire flocks show a certain reluctance to come out just for one pet sheep. We diagnosed mastitis and I was told to drive to Oving village to the farm vets’ closed practice where some antibiotics would be left in a flower pot at eight in the evening. Needless to say I managed to get thoroughly lost in the dark but as the call centre was in Cornwall had to persist until I finally found it. I then discovered the antibiotics were in injection form and had to ring the vet once again.”I’ve injected rabbits and cats before , but not sheep and you haven’t said where the injection should go in.” I said anxiously, “Hold it parallel to the body and put it under the skin of the chest”. She said.”You could also strip the udder clean and put some hot poultices on it.” Back home at 10 p.m. Sarah came to the rescue once again as we rugger tackled Katie to the ground put in the injections and poulticed the udder- and remembered to feed both lambs at four hourly intervals.-
At which point- midnight – I have to break off to go and feed the lambs, but that is by no means the end of the sheep saga so I will continue tomorrow.
Goodnight,
All the best,
Alexandra.
Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.
Next Day.
Just when everything seemed to be running smoothly once again disaster struck. I found the gate had come open which separated Katie and her lambs from the other animals and one pony, 5 donkeys and 2 goats were all in their enclosure. I was alarmed to find that Katie only had one lamb with her and searched around only to find the other lying prone on the ground. She couldn’t walk and once again I was on the phone to the vet. Fortunately as it was an emergency I was told to bring her in- xrays showed a break so severe that she has had to have a metal pin inserted and like her mother she is having to have antibiotic injections administered every day. However the good news is that she is now charging around like her sister and- cross fingers- the surgery seems to have been a success. There is another trip to the vet for a check-up on Monday and I must say the little lamb causes quite a stir whether in the arms of one of my friends in the passenger seat of the car as we drive along or stop at traffic lights or in the waiting room at the vets amongst the dogs and cats!
THEATRE:
We went to see the comedy “Boeing, Boeing” at the Comedy Theatre in London last week. It had a terrific cast and was beautifully done. I hope that our comedy ” Just A Gigolo” turns out to be as funny.
Tonight we went to the Connaught Theatre in Worthing to see my friend Kate O’Mara in the play of Daphne du Maurier’s “September Tide” which is doing a tour at the moment. Kate turns in an excellent highly charged emotional performance which is very impressive.
I have just spoken to William Gaunt who is doing 8 shows a week at Stratford-on-Avon. He has had fabulous reviews for his Gloucester in King Lear and also for his performance in the Seagull.The company will be going on a world tour encompassing Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Los Angeles, New York and Minneapolis. They come into London in October.
We both commiserated about the number of forgeries of our signatures which are being touted on E Bay and which look nothing like our real signatures. I NEVER sign A.Bastedo x so I am now issuing a Certificate of Authenticity on my web site with any photos obtained directly from me proving they are the real thing.
It is midnight again and the lambs have just had their late night feed so I am turning in.
Until the next time,
Very sincerely,
Alexandra Bastedo.
Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.
