by Alexandra Bastedo www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk
Going from winter to summer with no spring in just two days though welcome comes as a bit of a shock to the system. I can jettison my polo neck sweater and fleecy jacket but the poor animals don’t have that option. With thick winter coats the ponies and donkeys have been struggling in 26 degrees and our tiny black deformed Shetland called Jill Merrrylegs actually collapsed in the heat and had to be put in the cool barn during the day.
The things that have been enjoying the weather and have come out in force are flies, midges and mosquitos with the odd wasp and bee as well. In fact I think the summer is more difficult than the winter as fly fringes have to be put on all 25 ponies and donkeys and I have become the mean monster as I approach with polo mints or pony nuts in one hand and, hidden behind my back, a fly spray in the other,
Freckles, the grey pony’s bottom remains a constant factor in our lives as we bathe it twice a day and apply various healing anti-insect creams. Hutch, the brown donkey has been the other casualty as a tiny undetected flint has caused an infection in his rear left hoof. I am having to poultice it daily but my only reward for my trouble is an unwelcome kick which -so far- I have managed to avoid!
Thirty hens from the organic free-range farm arrived in much better condition than their predecessors. However with only 24 hours notice to find homes for them I dread to think what has happened to the other 2,470. When their maximum egg-laying potential is over although young and still producing eggs they are called “spent hens” and are no longer wanted on commercial farms. I thought our Silkie cockerel would think he had gone to heaven at the arrival of the new concubines for his harem but it was quite the reverse- they didn’t know what a cockerel was and drove off his unwelcome attentions with surprising ferocity leaving him cowering in a corner! A couple of days have now elapsed and peace reigns once more. However the bird I definitely don’t see eye to eye with is the Naraganset stag turkey who attacked me so violently that he broke the feed bucket. That was the last straw so he is now residing in the large shed with its outdoor enclosure until his spring hormones have subsided and he learns some manners!
The sheep provided an interesting conundrum as they had to be rounded up and put in the pig area. Blue tongue disease was diagnosed at Haywards Heath only 30 minutes away so tomorrow our vet Andy arrives to vaccinate them along with Russell and Peter two of our volunteers who hopefully will hold them while he does it. However moving sheep without a trained sheep dog is not that simple. Katie, the Texel ewe, and her two daughters, Kylie and Kim, were relatively easy as they followed their food bowls out of the field and up the path to the enclosure. However Keats and Kipling, the two Wiltshire Longhorns, were a nightmare and categorically refused to follow. I then realised that they wouldn’ leave Shabba the pony of whom they are particularly fond, so by taking him a more circuitous route through larger gates following behind they eventually arrived at their destination. I await to see how we fare tomorrow when we try to catch them!.
The problem with so many of the rescued cats we take in is that after such bad beginnings they have impaired immune systems. Cathy, my lovely neighbour offered to take on Tabitha our blind cat whom nobody else wanted. Her personality has been transformed by all the kindness and attention she is receiving and she has blossomed. However she has had infected claws and fluid around her middle which may be FIP- Feline Infectious Peritonitis- which ironically I have just written about in my latest A to Z health blog. All the medical options are being used both conventional and complementary because antibiotics will just not touch it. However a combination of Hepar Sulph 6 three times daily and the relevant vitamins seem to have made her somewhat perkier. It seems to be the same remedy more or less for most immune deficiency diseases and Teddy my little Selkirk Rex has to have a constant supply of remedies and vitamins if he is to stay well having had intestinal parasites, blood parasites and ringworm upon arrival a year ago.
The bane of my life at the moment is Pip, the dobermann puppy. I do believe he is quite the naughtiest young dog we have ever had. A compulsive stealer- he is as swift and crafty as Fagin,s young accomplices. He is also living dangerously and yesterday he absconded with a packet of aspirins off the sideboard. Fortunately he refrained from devouring them all and has lived to tell the tale. Things have come to such a pass that I have managed to unearth the plastic muzzle I used on another of my dobermanns who was also a compulsive rubbish eater and died of peritonitis at the early age of six. Fortunately Pip doesn’t seem to object to it too much and he is no longer able to ingest the variety of muck he was finding outside which has had the inevitable consequence of a runny tummy. Hopefully he will stay healthier that way.
There has been some consolation in the news that his sister Boogie, resident with our friends the Turners, definitely has the same destructive genes. At the latest count she had destroyed the rug in the hall, the carpet in the sitting room and several cushions – though I have lost count of the things that Pip has mangled. Today it was my husband’s Panama hat and the underside of a cane chair, yesterday he decimated one of his poetry books and brought down the curtains- again!
The other decidedly boring thing has been timewasters who come to see the animals more than once as though they were buying a second hand car or something. That has happened with Paris and Mandy who both are delightful.affectionate cats and need an indoor home. A lady so enthused over them that she wept— and we haven’t heard from her again. Another lady came to see lovely Dolly the piebald children’s pony twice and was still dithering several days later at which point I was so fed up I told her she couldn’t have her anyway. Re-homing can be a very irksome.
Whoops! —” Ne’er cast a clout ’til May be out” as the saying goes. Winter with rain has returned and I have had to unearth my polo neck sweaters again and put a raincoat on Gretyl, the fragile little donkey. However we must be grateful for the precipitation – in certain parts of Spain I am told they are having to bring in tankers of water to help with the drought- though I really hope that we will have a proper summer this year – unlike the last one which was soggy and non-existent!
An interesting week ahead as I shall be meeting up with my old co-star William Gaunt from the TV series “The Champions” when I go to see him playing in Chekov’s “The Cherry Orchard” at the Chichester Festival Theatre. I shall report on that re-union in the next blog—–
Good night,
All the very best,
Alexandra Bastedo.
Copyright A.L.Bastedo. www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk
If you enjoy reading about the animals we would appreciate a donation- however small- towards their upkeep. We are all volunteers and all the money is used exclusively for the animals. Tomorrow the farrier is doing all 25 horses – 100 hoofs- and we have the vet bill for the blue tongue vaccination as well. There is a Pay pal donation button on the website and also our P.O.. Box.
P.S. I am told this laptop is about to expire so am having to buy a new one and get everything transferred over. I hope all goes well but if it doesn’t there may be a hiatus!
