by Alexandra Bastedo
Where to start. So much has happened since I penned my last blog that I haven’t had time to write until now. In fact I was so exhausted I have just managed to take 3 days off and wrote this at a retreat in the New Forest. Sometimes a ‘phone call out of the blue can turn your life upside down. Thus my daily routine with the 150 animals at the sanctuary was brought to a standstill when my agent rang to say I had been asked to act in two episodes of East Enders. As the part was charming and fun – I am sworn to secrecy about it!- and as the salary would go towards the animal feed I immediately said “Yes”. However life instantly went in to overdrive as I had to ring up Gatleys and order in stocks of Layers Pellets and Mixed Corn for the birds, Denes Cat and Dog food for the felines and dogs, special donkey food for the mokes, Happy Hoof, Alfalfa A , Calm and Conditioner and garlic for the equines plus extra supplies of fly fringes and anti-midge lotion for the plague of summer insects. Our not so flaming June and damp weather without a cold winter has meant insect problems are rife.
Fortunately my compassionate volunteers – almost all animal lovers are kind people- offered to help cover the situation and with time off between the episodes I was able to drive back from the BBC Elstree Studios and resolve any animal health problems.
There was Billy the one year old Maine Coone that I had offered to take from Stacey at Paws Animal Sanctuary at Findon (where I am President) as I had other cats with similar skin problems from particular spot on treatments. He also had cystitis and had had a long course of veterinary administered steroids. I managed to cure that with the homeopathic remedy Cantharis 30 and put him on sugar free foods immediately. Not so easy as he was used to additive , colourant and sugar-laden brands and refused to eat such a pure diet so I have had to wean him off his habitual foods slowly. Paris , the deaf white cat has been joined by his friend Mandy the ginger and white cat who is allergic to the sun at my lovely neighbour Cathy’s home. There they are being pampered and their particular needs are being catered for- what fortunate felines.
Great news too is that my friend Lee Turner (the owner of Pip my dobermann puppy’s sister) has told me about a wonderful non-chemical, no side-effect treatment for fleas for cats and dogs. It is Johnson’s “4 Fleas” tablets available at most pet shops. If you put your pet on a white sheet and administer the pill ten minutes later you can see the fleas drop out dead. At last a flea product that doesn’t seem to have any side effects at all. So many of the cats that have had a bad start in life have lowered immune systems and just cannot deal with chemically based products so for the ABC sanctuary and Stacey at Paws who frequently has poorly cats as well “4 Fleas” is a godsend.
Teddy , the Selkirk Rex is also highly allergic to chemical products but even without them he was still having facial skin problems. My enlightened vet said he had a cat of his own with the same problem and that he had an allergy to plastic food bowls. Now he has very shallow china ones and his face is a lot better. Apart from that my husband has become very fond of Dancer our young white house cat. Why? Night after night he has been presenting him with poor dead moles and our pitted and rutted lawn has now returned to its former glory. None of our humane anti-mole products had worked. Once the late Rex Harrison went to see his agent at his country home and asked why there were lots of children’s plastic windmills sticking in the ground. “It’s for the moles” said his host. “Oh, I didn’t know moles needed electricity” said Rex. The vibration was supposed to drive them away but we certainly had had no luck with them- until the arival of Dancer!
Enough of the cats – the equines are more work than ever because of the terrible plague of flies and midges this year. We have had to invest in some anti-midge coats for the most sensitive ponies and have shampooed them all with Malaseb and Dermoline shampoos and on occasion have washed them down with Deasect – which is supposed to treat almost anything. We also ordered large pots of the magical Camrosa ointment which seems to cure most skin problems. Internally we added zinc, sulphur, vitamin E and a teaspoon of yeast to their feed. On top of that and sprays there are fly fringes too as the flies drink from their eyes and can cause infections.
All but one of the equines were looking really good after all that tender care and that was Freckles. Four costly vets visits achieved nothing and all the prescribed treatments including steroids over 2 months were to no avail , he was still tormented by terrible, itching skin. Finally I turned to my friend Sue Marskell, one of the founders of the excellent “Nag Magazine” a mine of equine information and her husband Jim and friend Gail who have an extensive practical knowledge of horses. They offered to take him away to their own stables and he is now doing much better- in fact he has almost totally recovered thanks to them, a Hibiscrub rub down and —- amazingly—- a bath in Fairy Liquid washing up liquid. Months of expensive treatment and all he needed was Fairy Liquid! I shall never buy another shampoo again!
Other news is that my friend Del Baggott has come up with the idea of doing a 2009 calendar of rare photos of mine from “The Champions” cult TV series period. They will be available shortly through my www.alexandrabastedo.com website and all the proceeds will go to the animals in the sanctuary.
SHOWBUSINESS:
My husband Patrick Garland is directing Simon Callow at the Edinburgh Festival in a “Festival of Dickens” which he has adapted from two of Charles Dickens’ stories. It will be on from August 4th to the 16th.
I went to see William Gaunt, my co-star from the TV Series “The Champions” who was starring in Chekov’s ”The Cherry Orchard” with Diana Rigg at the Chichester Festival Theatre. He really is turning into one of our best actors- everything I have seen him do recently has been stunning. I do hope I get the chance to work with him again one of these days.
East Enders: As I knew the animals were in very good hands I was able to concentrate on the work in hand and I have to say it was a most enjoyable experience. The director John Greening was excellent and created a very relaxed atmosphere in which to work and the cast and crew alike were most welcoming and warm-hearted. Often when you join a series with well established characters you feel like an interloper but this was not the case on EastEnders and I was made to feel quite at home. As to the plot I am still not allowed to say—yet!
Must go, I need to get some sleep in order to stay one step ahead of Pip our incorrigible and exhausting dobermann puppy.
Until the next time,
Goodnight,
All the very best,
Alexandra Bastedo.
Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.
Alexandra runs the ABC Animal Sanctuary on www.abcanimalsanctuary and is very appreciative of any help you are able to give throughy through donations or adoptions on the website. She is also happy to take round small groups of people who are interested in seeing the work the sanctuary is doing and can be E mailed through the website.
