The first of January I was wondering what on earth I would write about- everything had been so calm and then all hell broke loose. Not least was the weather which has seen an inordinate amount of torrential rain- more like monsoon weather and which has brought more problems and more work with the animals, and is still going on.
Firstly my husband became unwell. then I started having dizzy spells from an inner ear infection and then Ponto my gorgeous sweet-natured doberman started limping. On top of that Giles Lane my girlfriend Sarina’s son was taken hostage by the Japanese whaling ship while working for the Sea Shepherd marine protection organisation and at the beginning of the week I was informed about 4 miniShetlands that had lost their pasture and were due to be put down on the Friday.
The good news is that the Australians went to the rescue and Giles and his friend Benjamin Potts were released and that I collected the 4 Shetlands yesterday- Thursday- 24 hours before the deadline was up. My friend Jim Marskell offered to collect me in his horse box and go on to Rudgewick to pick up the little ponies who were absolutely gorgeous and loaded very easily. We then delivered them to my friend Ginny Clarke who until last August was one of my main volunteer animal assistants at the ABC Sanctuary. Fortunately she has been made the manageress of the Lockwood Donkey Sanctuary (which I was once patron of) and was in a position to take them in at short notice. They are now happily ensconced in a lovely open stable with a little paddock. I would have loved to have had them here but 3 were still stallions and with 4 mini Shetland mares here amongst our 12 gelded boys there would have been a lot of hanky panky which we could well do without. Also I am desperate for more stables - at the moment we just have enough for all the equines we have already and- as aforementioned the weather has been diabolical so the four little boys needed to go somewhere with shelter. Many thanks to the people who have helped through the website with the rescue operation. When they have settled 3 of the 4 will still have to be castrated and then, hopefully they will go and live with a mother and her 2 daughters who have already said they would like them and will thoroughly spoil them.
Back to the beginning- my husband is now better and my dizziness has gone although there was so much to do I had to ignore it anyway, but my darling dog was xrayed by my friend Paul ,the veterinary radiologist at Alphapet Vets, Kingley Vale and he gave me the disastrous news that my limping dog had inoperable cancer in his leg and has between 3 weeks and 3 months to live. Aged only 7 he is so much part of the family it is very difficult to come to terms with and I fear for my other dobermann Nellie from whom he is inseparable. A previous dobermann of mine Little Dorrit grieved so badly for her mother when she died that she started to self-mutilate. I tried ignatia ,the homeopathic remedy for grief, but nothing really helped until Ponto arrived. When in turn Dorrit died we introduced Little Nell to help with Ponto’s grief. This time I do not know what I will do- my dogs cannot chase the other animals at the sanctuary- so the right one is hard to find. There is such a need for greyhounds to be found homes we may take on one of those but initially it would have to wear a muzzle so it wouldn’t eat the numerous cats,ducks etc.!
The weather has been so dire that it has made a whole lot of extra work: There are equine raincoats to be washed regularly in gentle soap and cold water so they stay rain-proofed and every morning apart from the usual routine I am having to fill endless hay nets so the animals can stay sheltered and to shovel the manure into corners for the volunteer helpers so they don’t get kicked by a pony or donkey thinking another equine is coming to steal their hay! In fact I can often be heard saying”Hey it’s me” just to let them know I am human and not about to pinch anything! On top of that the chickens have to be locked up away from the elements so they don’t get blown out of the 12 foot high enclosure and let out every morning.So my normal 2 hour morning and evening routines are more like 3 hours at the moment. Thank goodness for all my lovely volunteers who put in an extra 3 or 4 hours each every day- I couldn’t cope without them.
Other problems revolve round the selfishness of the horses at mealtimes. Marty and Shabba, the big horses share a stable but the latter won’t let Marty in so long as there is food around. So Marty is fed under the awning until Shabba lets him in but I long to get him a separate stable. The donkeys fortunately are a lot more considerate to each other and you will often find Starsky, Hutch ,Phoebe , Chocolate and Dandy sharing one haynet if the others are empty. However after settling in the 4 new Shetlands with my friend Ginny I had to call out Tim, the vet from McMahon’s as Dandy was off her food- and normally she is the greediest so something was definitely wrong. It was what I suspected – she is 25 and her teeth are beginning to cause problems. Tim examined her and said there were definitely some dental problems and set to work. Though she put up such a fight that she had to be sedated so he said she definitely wasn’t that ill! Today she is tucking in to her food so that seems to have been the problem,
On the cat front the little black kitten has been homed with a lovely family and is deliriously happy, leaping about and having lots of cuddles. We still have to lock up the cute deaf cat, Paris whenever delivery vans arrive as he is oblivious to any noise whatsoever and Simba our lovely Devon Rex-moggie cross has just had major dental work too with several extractions. He is feeling his years and has decided to change to the top cattery where the other golden oldies are- they are all the same age-17 .
In the poultry world the young turkeys are literally finding their wings and are becoming more and more difficult to put in at night as half the time they roost in the trees. 2 years ago I had a young turkey die of hypothermia so I cannot risk leaving them out in this weather. I would like to put in the guines fowl too who are looking a little worse for wear but it is IMPOSSIBLE to catch them! My missed vocation -I wanted to be a vet- I am keeping 2 sick hens in the utility room in a dog cage and this evening after softening the crusty scab on the back of one of them with hot water I managed to dig out very gently a septic cyst that was smelling putrid and covered the hole with fucithalmic ointment from the vet. The operation was a success.
One week has already gone and Ponto is noticeably worse although he still enjoys his 3 legged walks a lot so we are going out several times a day. Tonight though as he has started to whine at night in his bed he has gone on to a serious pain-killer I obtained from Andy at Arun Vets who are guiding me through the pain relief for him. However too much will space him out totally so one has to tread carefully. How sad it all is- in all other respects he seems so very well.
I think my pigs are suffering from acorn-itis a specific gluttony peculiar to them so we have locked the gate to their favourite food until they lose some weight and eat their own food again. At the moment they are so fat they can hardly waddle so action had to be taken but they are not pleased and stand outside it- when they are not sheltering from the rain- making angry grunts and squealing noises.
That is all for the moment though I will be putting up another SOS about some chickens shortly as soon as I get the details.
In the meantime thank goodness Giles Lane is free and the 4 tiny Shetlands are fine and dandy!
I have a wonderful new alarm clock that knows the time -7.30-and wakes me up and also tells me the weather conditions. It is a little white cat called Jaspar: if he is icy it is freezing, if he is warm it is a nice day and if he is soaking it is raining outside. There aren’t many alarm clocks that can do that!
Goodnight,
All the best for this new year,
Alexandra Bastedo.
TIPS:
There is a cat litter called Kat-Kor that is particularly good if you need to get a urinary sample from your cat- normally an almost impossible feat.
One of my helpers has discovered a novel way to fill hay nets. She puts it in a dustbin like a plastic liner with the edge over the rim and it fills very easily in a fraction of the time. So simple and yet over all these years I have never thought of it!
Beware an all-in -one dog food that is easily available. A pet shop in Bognor who believe in correct feeding for pets pointed out that the extremely small print said it was not to be fed to farm animals. Why? What can’t a farm animal be fed that my dog can? Please always look at the small, tiny print on the packets and you will be surprised what you find. What makes me really cross is that the best dog and cat foods are only obtainable through the vets. I would like to be able to buy them more reasonably at my local pet stores.
We now have a donation button on our animal website at www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk and are very appreciative of any tiny contribution you can spare in order to help us continue with our work. There are so many things we still need for the animals not to mention the regular expenses. We are all volunteers so all the money goes to the animals. If you would like to visit the sanctuary in the spring when the weather is better and the hours are longer we will be happy to take around small groups. You can contact us through the website.
SHOWBIZ:
My husband’s show “Visiting Mr. Green” with Warren Mitchell by popular demand is doing its second theatre tour and opens next week in Plymouth.
He is also directing Roy Dotrice in “Brief Lives” which he also wrote and which won many awards when they last did it.It will be opening shortly in Colchester and then going on to Brighton. Richmond and Windsor.
Next Sunday I shall be in Poole with Ed Stewart hosting the big Mantovani Concert. I am really looking forward to it. I had forgotten how many beautiful songs he composed. He was a huge star in his time- the sixties.
Alexandra Bastedo is also a patron of Compassion in World Farming, the Animal Welfare Trust and Wildlife Aid, Leatherhead. She is President of Cat and Rabbit Rescue, and Vice President of Brent Lodge Bird Hospital. Sheis also patron of Paws Animal Sanctuary Findon. She is also a former RSPCA Branch President but resigned from that in order to devote herself more fully to the rescued animals at the ever increasing ABC Animal Sanctuary.
Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.
