Every season brings its own problems and this autumn it is acorns. Horses, ponies and donkeys are able to eat a few but too many can be harmful so every morning along with the manure we sweep up all the acorns. So much so that Phoebe, the donkey, who is quite the glutton of the group is having to wear a grazing mask to limit her intake.
After the 3 day drunken orgy of the pigs last month from which they finally recovered I had kept them locked in their enclosure to avoid a repeat performance with an overdose of fermenting apples from the orchard. I was somewhat alarmed therefore when Acorn, the boar, started to scream loudly every morning as he tried to get up. This time I had to resort to calling out Emma the vet responsible for saving Katie and her two lambs. As farm vets usually only visit herds or flocks I think it makes quite a change for them to visit animals that actually have names. She was thrilled with the progress of Katie, Kim and Kylie ” But” she said ” Acorns are poisonous to sheep so they must go back in the field .” We had so enjoyed the company of the 3 tame sheep following us around that they were occupying the same acorn strewn ground near the house as the pigs and were only going back to their pen in the barn at night. So now they are spending their days with Shabba and Marty, the two horses and the two Wiltshire Longhorn castrated rams on normal pasture.
Back to the pigs and I explained to the vet that they were about 16 or17 years old. Of course pigs are usually eaten a lot earlier than that so elderly pigs are not animals that vets often come across. Emma needed to take Acorn’s temperature and to listen to his chest to ascertain what might be wrong with him. “You cannot catch a pig” is the saying and so it nearly proved. With nothing to get hold of Emma had to lasso his top jaw which took several tries as Acorn instantly recovered and entered the fray pitting his full body weight against us. Finally the rope was in place and I was given the task of hanging on to it with all my strength while she did the examination. His chest seemed okay and she decided to remove his one tusk which was almost touching his cheek and potentially painful. However taking his temperature by his rear end as he reversed into his sty was far too dangerous. In the end she decided to give him a large dose of antibiotics to guard against all eventualities and suggested some glucosamine for his elderly joints. Four days later the screaming has stopped and he is back to his normal self rootling around the acorns, a perfectly safe and natural food for pigs with Hazel , his wife.
Some time ago I had used acupuncture on my dobermann, Little Dorrit, to great effect. She had been moaning with pain and the conventional vets had suggested xrays and painkillers. Instead I had decided to go to Mark Elliott, the homeopathic vet and he decided to use acupuncture on her. The screaming stopped and she came out of the surgery her perfectly normal self. This time I resolved to ask Jill Adair, the well known vet and acupuncturist, to come and see Gretyl the little donkey and one of my semi feral cats with a limp. She immediately discovered that Gretyl’s problem lay in her shoulder and not in her hoofs and put various needles in that area for twenty minutes. Needless to say she is now doing much better, the cat after an examination is now on antibiotics and glucosamine like the pig.
Poppet was returned from her new home as the Siamese that she had gone to live with turned against her. In fact Poppet had learnt some few unsavoury lessons and came back hissing and spitting! Fortunately it didn’t last long and she soon settled in once more with her friend Arthur. However, after two failed attempts at re-homing Jo and her daughter Hannah, two of my volunteers, decided to take them to their new home. So far the reports are favourable and they are being well behaved . Hannah has always adored them both so hopefully this will be their final abode. While missing them I have to admit their departure has made dealing with the rest of the feline population much easier as they all had to be locked up in their catteries whenever Arthur and Poppet were let out at night. The former enjoyed chasing anything smaller than him, although strangely, after seemingly frightening altercations none ever had a scratch to show for the encounter so maybe it was all bluff. Anyway now all the felines are free to come and go as they please even if life may prove a little boring without him!
The time that Shabba and Marty spent away with my horse trainer friend Sally Cooper has proved to be invaluable. Both have come back with much better manners and they even seem to be more appreciative and more affectionate. Apart from the training they received I found it immensely valuable to observe the way Sally herself interacted with them. Marty, the large cob, who is only about three, is now responding to an extensive vocabulary and along with Shabba can now be ridden by my volunteers. Nutmeg too, the one-eyed pony, has responded well to training by my volunteers and we suspect that she may have once been a show pony. They all love the attention and it is lovely to see what healthy, happy, ponies they have become. In fact thanks to my assistants and their stirling work they are all looking lovely.
Socially, we hope to be taking the little black Shetland Jill- also known as Miss Merrylegs- to the Worthing Christmas Fair on Saturday December 8th and we all also be having a fund raising morning at Sparks Yard in Arundel in November for the sanctuary . The actual date to be announced very soon on our website www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk
More of the other animals next time,
All the best,
Alexandra Bastedo.
SHOWBIZ:
The play my husband has directed “Visiting Mr. Green” starring Warren Mitchell is on a number one tour of England and is receiving rave reviews wherever it plays.
We attended Ned Sherrin’s funeral yesterday and it was very sad to have to say our goodbyes to such an amusing, kind, generous and talented individual. I had spent a very happy time at the Chichester Festival Theatre some years ago playing Kate Nickleby in his musical “Nickleby and Me”. And when he heard I had written my books he very kindly immediately invited me to promote them on his radio show “Loose Ends”.
My husband, Patrick Garland, and I will both be presenters at the Brighton Theatre Royal’s Anniversary Gala on November 4th.
I shall also be compering a Mantovani Concert with Ed Stewart in Poole in the new year.
Updates can also be found on my new theatrical website www.alexandra-bastedo.com and my grateful thanks to Ian Carrott of www.doyourownsite.com and Jo Bailey for the design and for their considerable help in getting it up and running so quickly.
Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.
