It has been a very hectic day today with a visit from Andre the Equine Dentist who visits every 6 months to see to the horses teeth.He started at 8am so it was a very long day for him and the staff who were all exhausted at the end of the day. Some need dental work (the horses not the staff!)(which will have to be performed under anaesthetic so a vet will come out tomnorrow to anaesthetise the ponies and Andre will return to do more dentals. Whilst the staff were waiting to go in the stable cum dentist surgery with the waiting ponies, they took the opportunity to do some grooming, above Vanessa is grooming Little Bobby shetland and Dentist Andre receives some assistance from Handyman John and Rosie.I doubt very much when John started work here fixing fences and mending broken doors that he thought he would ever end up as a Dental Assistant for a Horse Dentist! Today he probably wished he was still fixing fences as Shane managed to give him a hefty kick for his pains.
32 horses and ponies were treated and checked today and just three need further treatment tomorrow. Not a bad outcome considering we have so many elderly animals, that is why Andres visits are as important as that of the farrier.Horses can lose condition rapidly if they have problems with eating and the older they become the more likely they are to need regular dental checks. Its Common sense but most of the animals we have admitted have been sorely overdue for this work which indicates to me that many horse owners do not regard this as part of basic care.
The good news today is that Bettys frail kitten has perked up and has worked out where the food is on tap! Thats a relief, its no easy task handfeeding newborn kittens and there is nothing like Mums milk with its colostrum for them to thrive.
The lovely little fleeces which were sent by June in Liverpool arrived today, they are lovely and we will be trying them on Candy later.I think they must have been made for chihuahuas but they are ideal for cats.Every time we have a cat in which needs shaving there is a massive hunt for a jumper to cut up so these are wonderful and will be very useful now and in the future.
We have a cat called Misty with a middle ear infection and I have taken her into the house , for two reasons - one is that she will be better off there than stuck in a pen until she recovers and the other is that her pen is now freed up to receive the next litter of kittens which should be arriving later this week. Misty seems to be fitting in well with resident house cats Holly no ears and Pooty the old grumpy tortoishell.Pooty glared at the newcomer initially but after warning her who was the boss (HER of course) she seemed to accept that two was now three. Pooty is not generally affectionate, the only time she comes to me for a fuss is when I go to bed, she comes up for a fuss lasting all of a minute then rushes back to her favourite place on a fluffy pillow next to the bed and there she remains all night.Holly on the other hand is a fusspot and demands attention at all times, now the weather has improved she has developed a liking for nocturnal exercise and wakes me up around 3 am to let her out for a wander. Being so rural and set a long way off the road,it is safe for her though I always ask people to keep cats in at night in case they are run over/killed and would always do so unless they are in a similar location as the shelter.
Recently I received two emails from people involved in dog breeding, both were extremely irate that on the Freshfields website we advise people NOT to go to a breeder for a pet but to give a home to a rescued animal.Reasonable I would have thought for a charity trying desperately to home their animals, however these people believe that we should simply advise people to go to reputable breeders!!!!!! Why on earth would we do that when we have so many animals ourselves which need homes? .
One of my staff has dogs which she adores and occasionally has a litter from.(a fact that upsets me)She is very careful where they go and if anything goes wrong she will have that dog back immediately,all homes are checked and she keeps in touch for the rest of the pups lives.She is a Reputable breeder and a very occasional one, she is a kind person who works hard at the rescue centre and loves her charges here, even adopting a few that she became particularly fond of. Nevertheless it is a bone of contention between us and we have agreed for the sake of our working relationship and our friendship (yes we are good friends)that we will not discuss our differences of opinion. That does not mean that I accept the breeding of dogs, I never will whilst there are so many being destroyed annually in the UK and not all are mongrels, there are millions of unwanted pedigrees, all breeds even the more unusual ones can end up unwanted.I find it obscene and will never ever condone it but sometimes true friendship can transcend such differences.
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