Thursday 19 August 2010

An indoor home needed for Junior












Yesterday a farmer took a young sheepdog to be destroyed,Shep is just 12 months old but he is not only no good at working with sheep he actually attacks them .In all other ways he is a gentle young dog and is good with both cats and dogs . I believe we will be able to find him a suitable place well away from sheep country.In the meantime Volunteer Dilys is looking after him, coerced into it by daughter Nia who was doing her veterinary work experience at the Vet surgery in question.So far she has taken home a puppy, a kitten and now Shep.Mum , I think is panicking a little and will no doubt be glad when Daughter finishes her work at the surgery before she ends up with a house as full of pets as my own. I had the opposite problem when I lived at home.my mum was always bringing home stray animals and there was often a stray dog being hidden away somewhere in the house , away from from my disapproving grandmother.Mum and I would be joint conspirators!There were always a couple of cats in residence and the odd stray would turn up and enjoy a meal courtesy of my animal loving mother and occasionally one would move in .When this happend nobody would admit to the cat being a permanent fixture and mum would say that he really lived 'just down the road'.When exactly the cat would go home to 'just down the road ' is anyones guess as invariably he/she would spend all the time at our house.Looking back I suspect it was a ploy to persuade my grandmother that he/she was just having a warm or a saucer of milk and would then be gone!!!! The two cats I particularly remember arriving in this way were named by us - Stinkypoo and Witchypoo. I immagine old Stinks was not neutered, hence his name and Witchy was an evil tempered animal who would scratch and bite anyone who ventured near her.As far as I can remember they stayed with us for many years so the ploy worked.

Junior(pictured here) one of the cats abandoned by their owner in a boarding cattery in Anglesey has had swollen feet and has been diagnosed now with an auto immune problem which means that his feet will swell like this whenever he is on a hard surface . We need to find a home for him where he can remain indoors in a carpeted home. I wonder whether the owner was aware of this and it may have contributed to his abandonment.Something we will never find out.He is a really nice sweet natured cat,its such a shame he will not be able to explore the outdoors when he finally settles somewher
Mion who is fostering kittens for us has been terribly upset at the demise of one of her small charges. A very young ginger kitten has been having fits and Mion had hoped these would lessen with treatment but in fact they worsened so she has had to let him go.Knowing Mion as I do, she will feel devastated, she is so devoted to her foster babies and does an amazing job with them, as indeed do Dorothy and and Clare. I dont know how we would manage without them.By having these kitten (and Mum and litter) fosterers it means they do not occupy a much needed pen at the shelter during the weaning period time. We then can take them over when they are old enough to eat on their own and are ready for rehoming.Mion has also given a permanent home to Ned, the kitten whose growth was stunted and was always passed over in favour of the more bonny normal,looking kittens .Ned is growing well and is the apple of her eye. We are always hearing tales of The Exploits of Ned. In his case not appealing to the general public brought him the very best of homes in the end.
I had a lovely email from a lady called Sue in Lincoln who took one of our collie pups a few weeks ago.He was then called kai and came in with his sister Keira. Of course he is the one on the end of the photo, pictured with her other dogs. I am so impressed at the "line up'. I can barely get one of my dogs to sit , never mind all of them.Rhian is the other one who gets photos like this with her extremely well trained German Shepherds.(hers are featured on our Christmas cards) Its great to see him with the other dogs ,I love hearing about our animals once they have gone and especially when photos accompany the letters/emails.There are 3 more dogs now in our care .2 from a local dog pound, a young collie female we have named Sadie and a 12 weeks cross labrador female pup called Pepsi. Also now sharing my living room space is a 7 years old Shi Tzu whose owner is out at work all day and wants a home where he can have more company. They are all very homeable.

The best news of all this week is that Buddy who was returned after 2 years in a home has gone again! This time to holidaymakers from Stoke on Trent who fell in love with his picture displayed in our Barmouth Charity shop window.He is to be a companion to their own dog which is also a rescue and a bit scruffy looking like Buddy.Fingers crossed that this time he finds a permanent home.My only concern is that the other dog may become jealous of having another dog in the house although they seemed to like each other when they met. anyhow everything crossed for Buddy.

We are experiencing torrential rain here at the moment and some of the ponies are looking as though they want to come in so I am off to organise some shelter for them tonight.







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