Roxie, a black cat finds a home

I am starting today with an optimistic view to try and combat my blues of the last week.
Well there has been a very good start to the day with a longterm cat being homed.Roxie was a great favourite of mine, a lovely big and bonny black cat who was always"talking" to anyone who came near her pen.In spite of her desperate attempts to attract attention she failed to catch the eye of anyone until today -as I am always mentioning black cats are generally overlooked in favour of prettily marked cats.Well not today.Today Roxie rules supreme.Yes. Yes Yes. AND more kittens have been reserved so things are going well in the cattery.
I have had a message about Ben the old collie in the house,it seems there is a likelihood his owner may have somewhere to live soon and will be able to take him back.I have mixed feelings about this because he has failed to keep in touch in any way over the past 6 months and the only time he came was months ago with a friend of mine who brought him here.When I brought Ben out to meet his owner the dog wagged his tail briefly but raced back into the house seconds later and seemed totally indifferent.I have no wish to part dog and owner and if he wants him back then that is the decision I will have to abide by but does Ben want to go back? I did not want an extra dog,I have enough already but it concerns me that he showed such lack of interest in the man when he visited.Its a difficult one,they had been together for 12 years but probably Ben enjoys the canine company here and the daily runs in the fields here.He is also on pain killers taken twice a day so that will need to be kept up.Anyhow nothing is certain yet.
A little terrier called Harvey Moon has been admitted,he is in the house with the Maggie Marthas and Suzy the other old Yorkshire terrier and of course the last arrival old Teddy. I will take a photo of Harvey Moon later when he settles down a little.
Harveys owner has mental health problems and although he loves the dog a great deal,now feels unable to cope.There are days he told me,when he cannot leave his flat and so Harvey is not receiving the attention and care he needs.He was a nice man who obviously cared very much about the future of his dog and he has done the right thing which is to be applauded.Not only that, he has taken out a regular standing order to help fund the care of his dog.Now THAT is an unusual but very welcome occurrence.
The wonder of microchips- a rehomed dog of ours has been picked up, taken to another dog rescue who failed to check his microchip,passed him on to another person who took him to his vet and discovered the Freshfields microchip! Thankfully the dog is safe but I am very angry with the original people who adopted him and did not return him when he proved a problem but chose instead to take him to another rescue. I am angry too with the person who runs the rescue for failing to check for a microchip before rehoming him but at least he is safe now in what appears to be a decent home.Clearly my judgement let me down originally and someone else did the homecheck and passed it which proves that people can be so plausible- .Thank heavens that we have so few failures like this ,it would make me really question my ability to see through the often surface charm and pleasantness.Now a homechecker needs to go to see the new carer and ensure this is a permanent and responsible home. Homing animals is a minefield and is always a worry so I am grateful to those adopters who keep in touch and send regular photos of their pets.
Just as I am finishing this,Mei has run in to tell me that Connie, the shetland pony with the heart murmer is showing signs of "choke".She has discharge pouring from her nose and is lying down.The vet has been called, we are worried that Connies heart problem could affect her ability to recover from this. Please dont let it be a negative and sad end to the day.