There are times when things get a little out of control. It has happened before and it is happening again. Mark Elliott, my veterinary friend, once said “With so many cats all the same age (around 17) you are going to have a bad time sometime soon.” With that generation gone I now have another bunch of rescued cats of that age and they are all beggining to ail in one way or another. Usually I take the risk of giving them an anaesthetic and a dental as it can extend their lives by quite a few years if infected teeth are extracted and the poison removed from their system. So this week 3 cats have had most of their teeth removed and one called Alfie even had all of them taken out as they were so rotten and steel wire inserted to hold the jaw together. In the end it may turn out all right but at the time I was upset at not having the situation fully explained to me. I was not sure that a 17 year old cat with a chronic heart murmur should be put through such major surgery. The wire will be taken out in 2 months if it hasn’t caused problems before that and hopefully the jaw will have knitted together. However many years ago I had a Yorkshire Terrier that was savaged so badly by a labrador that her jaw was crushed and had to be wired up. When the wire was removed the jaw disintegrated so I am aware that it does not always work.
One of the new rescued felines Sebastian, aged 5, has also been having a rather rough time. When he came his mouth was drooling sometimes with blood. The local vets suspected cancer but it has turned out to be osteomyelitis which should be curable- so he too has had to have most of his teeth removed. But as though he didn’t have enough problems when I went down to the barn to lock the cats up in their cattery at 10p.m. the other night I heard the bloodcurdling noise of a most dreadful fight. When I swung my torch on to the fighting animals I discovered a fox was attacking Sebastian and had savaged his face. Worringly he disappeared fo 24 hours and upon his return needed yet another trip to the vet’s for antibiotics. However he now seems on the road to recovery so I hope he doesn’t get himself into any more trouble!
As if that were not enough in one week Nellie the dobermann got an infection in her right back paw but strangely walked on that one and kept the left back paw on tiptoe. Yet another trip to the vet with murmurings of cancer but I knew that would be unlikely in a 5 year old. It has proved to be a ruptured cruciate ligament which unfortunately will need an operation. I rang round the acupuncturists for animals but was told they could not be any help at this point. After the operation however acupunctire will be beneficial. Antibiotics for the infected foot have been prescribed with iodine foot baths and until the operation we have been told to keep her quiet. However she is so boisterous and playful with Ponto the other dobermann her playmate that it is well nigh impossible to keep her calm.
Two new donkeys arrived and one proved to be in a parlous state. Someone had picked them up at a Cambridge market They had Belgian passports which said they were both 3 years old. The brown gelding is somewhat boisterous but basically good natured but the little grey jenny could hardly walk and hardly eat. I called the marvelous McMahon horse vets out and the vet nick-named Chobba immediately diagnosed chronic laminitis and teeth that had splinters going into her cheeks. He set to work filing the teeth and cutting back the overgrown hoofs, and told me to keep her off grass with a rationed hay intake, give a painkiller and a five day de-worming program. He also said the the gelding was 7 and the jenny over 12 so the passports were totally wrong. My friend Mark, the vet from the Sidmouth Donkey Sanctuary, and Wendy their representative in my area offered to take them on but the little girl is so sweet natured I have resolved to get her better myself. There is nothing quite like the love and affection of a donkey that has been treated badly when it finally comes to trust you and to realise that kindness is the order of the day.
On the lamb front little Kylie, as we have called her, is progressing well with the pin in her leg but has still had to have 2 visits a week to the vets to have the bandage changed. Since I can’t drive with a squirming lamb on my lap I have at sometime had to co-opt each of my friends into coming in the car with me. However she has been a very clean lamb and not spoilt anyone’s clothes yet although she continues to cause near crashes when other cars spot her in the passenger seat! The next step on Tuesday will be a visit from the acupuncturist to see if that helps her to walk a bit better on her injured leg.
So it has been vets, vets, vets with the accompanying bills. I sometimes wonder that people can afford to keep animals at all these days. That’s why my friend Celia Hammond and the PDSA have been so marvelous in helping people treat their animals at greatly reduced prices. I just wish they were nearer to me!
There has also been rather an interesting development in the health of two of my 17 year old cats with skin problems. They have been seen by conventional vets and I have tried every remedy from vitamin supplements, antibiotics, medicines, homeopathic remedies and skin creams to anti-fungal baths . However in another conversation with my friend Mark Elliott, the homeopathic vet I mentioned above, he reminded me that older cats often develop an intolerance to chicken and fish. Since I was feeding a predominantly chicken and rice diet I shall obviously stop that. My friend Francis Hunter, a retired homeopathic vet and my neighbour,also said I should try reducing the protein in the diet of older cats. I am always worried about causing kidney problems with too many biscuits so the answer is to add water to the food. I will report on their progress in my next blog.
To finish off my night-marish week I have lost 3 of my most experienced volunteers to excellent jobs. Unfortunately I can’t compete with the salaries at other major centres as all the money goes to the animals. However after an ad in the Friday Ad newspaper for volunteers there has been an excellent response , so this week I am teaching more people to look after the animals. Meanwhile it is good to know that the training my volunteers receive here qualifies them to work with important animal charities around the country.
ANIMAL TIPS:
PILLS: Sebastian and Duke are 2 felines that are problematical when it comes to administering tablets to, and both at the moment are having antibiotics after massive dental work. Neither has many teeth left but they still have claws! I can immobilise their paws by wrapping them in a towel but I am afraid from their point of view that just makes me a monster. Instead I find it better to hide the pill in some tuna or if it is a capsule I break it open and sprinkle it on the tuna. Tuna is the favourite food of most cats but as a full meal should never be given every day. It depletes the vitamin e in the body and can cause serious health problems. But by giving tuna at least I remain popular with the cat!
FOOD WITHOUT CHICKEN OR FISH: If like me you have been looking for cat food without chicken or fish you have to be very careful. There are very few tins around which don’t contain one or the other- particularly without sugar (often called caramel) as well. However Denes pet foods , based in Brighton, do a very good one which is turkey and lamb. Fortunately I had gone to Gatleys, my local animal feed store, and was greatly helped by James, the son of the owner. When it came to the dry or biscuit food he pointed out that in the list of ingredients (with writing so minute you almost need a magnifying glass) the majority of products while advertising just rabbit, turkey, duck, beef or lamb actually had chicken in the first position which meant there was more of that than any other meat. In the end I came away with some James Wellbeloved samples which would seem to contain what they actually advertise on the front. But it makes me cross to think that some manufacturers can so mislead their customers.
SHOW-BIZ NEWS:
What a week! There is bad news on that front too! We were led to believe that the play “Just a Gigolo” would go into rehearsal in August but the Guildford Theatre has just informed me that they cannot do it then. We are now looking at other venues with other producers and it looks like going ahead in the spring. However it may be for the best as my husband, Patrick Garland, who will direct “Just a Gigolo” has just been asked to direct another theatre play in August. More of that next time. But enough of all this, I must get back to the book I am writing about moving house with all the animals on the same day. It is called “Menagerie on the Move”and hopefully, unlike this particular blog, will be funny. Meanwhile the other good news is that the rights of my first book “Beware Dobermans, Donkeys and Ducks” are reverting to me so I will be able to re-publish and the publisher is re-issuing my other tomes “The Healthy Cat” and “The Healthy Dog Books”.
More news the middle of next month,
All the best,
Alexandra.
Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.
18th May. I have just had a question from “Drama Queen” asking what I feed the cats after dental operations and particularly the cats that are left with hardly any teeth.
The answer is extremely mushy food for the period they are on antibiotics. Sometimes I use Walthams Sensitive Diet or add water to Denes chicken and turkey or lamb and turkey and mash it up. At other times I put a little fresh chicken and water in a children’s blender until it becomes like a thick chicken soup. I re-introduce hard biscuits only when I am sure the gums are healed and in the case of Alfie the 17 year old with his jaw wired up I give him only very tiny biscuits that he can swallow without biting as he does not have any teeth at all.
