A busy week.

This past week has been pretty hectic, the 4 young ponies have been gelded, the vet has been out to look at Crystals tumours, the farrier has been to do his regular foot trimming and the vet was called out a second time to look at Joseph the Jacob sheep who was limping.In between this a couple of cats and Lucy dog have been neutered,Bradley Briard had a cough which is being treated and local newspapers have published articles on our struggle to survive.
So to recap, Merlin, Celt, Shamrock and Finn are now testicle-less, they have all recovered well and Finn has gone to stay with Cariad one of the staff who will have more time to get him used to being handled.He needs that extra attentionif he is to becpome as friendly as the other three, vital if he is to be homed at some point in the future. The vet is going to give Crystal a tumour shrinking medication but he thinks she is not in pain, she has some infection surrounding it so she is on antibiotics to clear this but all in all she is fine at the moment and there is no imminent likelihood of her being put to sleep.Thats a great relief to us all.
Joseph has the beginnings of foot rot so he has had an injection and future medication is needed though he seems a lot better already.
I waa forced to contact the media to publicise our financial predicament and this week all have printed the article though one stated that we have an expediture of £10,000 a YEAR. It should have read £10,000 a MONTH!! I wish it was that little annually, we would be sailing along merrily if that was the case.I am hoping there will be a good response, a couple of people have already been to the shelter with donations of cat food which is more than welcome. The catfood bill is enormous.Unlike dogs they will refuse to eat the cheaper brands ,preferring to do without than to lower themselves to the level of eating third rate food.It is beneath their dignity. Only those starving animals which are admitted will show no fussiness at the meal table but before long they too will start with the offended glare and the " Do you really expect me to eat that rubbish" look on their faces.
Pictured here are some of the resident cats waiting for the Dinner Lady - ME to dish out the afternoon meal.
Minnie and Georgie Girl have gone to their new home this week and surprisingly they travelled well .They now have their own name plaques on their stable.Pictured here at their new homein Anglesey. We will miss them but thats the way it goes, decisions have to be made for the good of the animals and we all have our favourites which we would like to keep.It is what is best for them.Thats what we are here for and with a bit of luck,well a lot of luck actually we will struggle through this difficult time and come out the other end.
I have just been called to help with a stray sheep which has wandered on to our fields and is very distressed trying to find his way out, i think he may belong to our next door farming neighbours but nobody is in at moment so cant contact them. They are the better type of farm, dogs loose in the farm yard, not on chains,sheep checked daily and even better are good neighbours- Liz Jones eat your heart out!
In case people do not know of Liz Jones, she is a journalist and fashionista who writes a column in the Mail. Liz has moved from London to the countryside with disastrous results, having got on the wrong side of her neighbours with her animal rights views. It can be hard for people like Liz(and me)but there has to be a willingness to try and fit in for the sake of your own sanity.Of course I could not cope if my neighbours were shooting all the birds out the sky or were factory farmers but even so I have a hunting pack of hounds (yes they still hunt) plus working terriers kennelled at the back of Freshfields and they are owned by a very unpleasant countryside alliance type(a retired doctor no less!)I admit to not being friendly with HIM especially as for years he allowed his sheep to eat all the grass here and refused to repair his fences, that is until a male friend stepped in and guess what, he repaired his fences immediately. That is SO annoying when I had been nice to him, pleasant even, though it went against the grain, and he refused to do this. A true example of a woman alone being taken advantage of. I am not anti men by any means but men like that really do make my blood boil.Of course the fact that he is a huntsman colours my judgement rather a lot!