Every month brings different problems but this June with its combination of rain and warm temperatures is making the normal problems I encounter with the animals much worse.
I managed to get a week’s holiday in Corsica from the 3rd to the 10th of June but even there they were encountering strange weather. Instead of lying on a sun-bed sheltering from the sun’s harmful rays under a beach parasol wearing a bikini I sat under an umbrella sipping a cappucino at the port of Calvi looking at the raindrops hitting the sea sporting a blue raincoat. At night my husband and I were forced to make up log fires it was so cold.
Back in England it was distinctly warmer and the flies seemed much more numerous than usual .In spite of the garlic I put in the equine food the horses, ponies and donkeys have all been plagued by them in various degrees. This has meant an added investment of fly repellent sprays and wipes, fly fringes and face masks which all have to be applied every morning. Needless to say most of them hate the sprays so I get extra exercise each morning chasing them round the paddocks! Even Gretel the little grey donkey is now so much better on her feet that she can run away from me. However, as her intake of garlic is much more recent than the others she gets severely bitten if I don’t spray her as well. On the rescue front my friend Sue Marskell has taken on 2 standard Shetlands for me as at the moment the sanctuary is full. She has also been looking after a pretty 13 hand pony called Nutmeg . She is blind in one eye so I expect her to become a permanent resident here. She arrives this Friday.
In the cat department there is a sequel to the skin problems that some of my felines were encountering last month. Antibiotics had been prescribed for my husband’s elderly Maine Coone but when I took him to see Matt at Arun Vets he discovered that in spite of the flea collar and lavender sprays that I use that in fact the poor cat was suffering from an infestation of virtually invisible fleas. I hate the spot-on treatments as once my Siamese had an open sore afterwards and a kitten developed neurological problems so I have always prefered more gentle measures. However it seems the new breed of fleas is impervious to most alternative natural remedies so I have been forced to resort to stronger chemical measures except in the case of my very elderly or particularly delicate cats. What do I use on them? The old-fashioned flea comb!. It works extremely well but is very time consuming. I have also had to spray all the rooms and catteries – leaving them unoccupied for 12 hours- to kill all the potential eggs that might develop into adult fleas. What a saga!
The next assault will be on the lice that sometimes congregate on the chickens which must also be proliferating in this warm muggy weather. Apart from the effort of catching each one – often in a fishing net- I then put each reluctant hen in a plastic bag that I have filled with lice powder leaving the head sticking out of the top. That way it is much more economical as the powder doesn’t go all over the place. I shall also be keeping a look out for red-mite which would mean spraying the hutches and scaly leg on the hens which can be killed by rubbing in vaseline.
This year with the help of my farmer-neighbour, Jim Green, I managed to get Katie , the ewe, properly shorn, I had heard that if the timing was correct it should be when the lanolin was rising in the wool and so it proved. When I rubbed my hands in the shorn fleece they were covered in a thin film of odourless lanolin which was quite wonderful. On the whole fleeces no longer have a value- if only the cosmetic industry could find a way of harvesting that lanolin our sheep could have a purpose once again and not just be destined for the abbattoir and the Sunday Roast. Katie’s 2 lambs are thriving and little Kylie has now had the pin successfully removed from her damaged leg. They are both gambolling and playing as little lambs should.
News too on the dog front. Nellie our doberman has had a ruptured cruciate ligament for which there are 2 possible operations. One is less invasive but doesn’t always work as the pin can snap if the dog is very active and the other is more major as it involves some form of graft. The latter also meant Nellie would have to be kept immobile for 2 weeks in a small area. With extensive experience of Nellie’s screaming when left alone I knew this would not be a welcome option. In the event the new Xray showed some improvement and with the help of physio and a large dose of glucosamine daily I hope to avoid her operation. But it was a close shave!
That is all for the moment I will shortly report on Nutmeg, the pony’s arrival. The re-homing of Arthur , the Selkirk Rex cat, to a lovely new home with a walled garden- I am on tenterhooks in case it doesn’t work. He is such a clever feline and loved it here but I had to lock up all the other cats when he was let out he was such a bully! Also the re-homing of 2 new indoor cats- one a gorgeous Persian and one a sensitive apricot-coloured long-haired cat. I have cleaned their eyes and ears with the appropriate drops and de-wormed, de-flead – and after a lot of cutting and combing- de-matted them. They will be going to a lovely large apartment in London.
SHOW-BUSINESS.
I have been contacted about touring around England with another play. However as the dates clash with my husband being away in Colchester directing a play with Warren Mitchell I doubt very much that I will be able to accept. It would entail being away from the animals for 4 months which I would find very difficult. The new volunteers are all proving to be excellent but with about 150 animals there is always an awful lot to learn and it takes time.
Late as usual, so a very goodnight-
All the best,
Alexandra Bastedo
Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.
