Snowbound Once Again.

Pictured is the deaf cat admitted recently. I asked Mei why his owner did not keep him indoors and she said she asked her that but had no response! It stands to reason that deaf cats need to be kept indoors for their own safety, apparently the owner had not noticed that he was deaf and it clearly must have been a problem which she was unable to deal with.Somebody will love this affectionate animal so he is probably better off being put up for adoption with us.
Gail (cattery Gail)turned up here yesterday evening with an abandoned cat which had been living rough around a supermarket car park for two years.He seemed very pleased to be somewhere warm and has never stopped purring.We were told that there is another cat with him but there was no sign of that one so Gail will try and find him/her to bring him to a place of safety and warmth.
I have received a call today from a man who has had a cat trapped in his car engine for the past four hours; he has tried to get help but had no success so as he lives close to town, I have sent him round to our Caernarfon shop and hope that Roy will be able to assist him. I am waiting to hear the outcome.
Like so many other areas we are once again snowed in, there is about 5 inches of snow on the ground and even the roads are not clear. Why has the country run out of salt? This time we should have been well prepared.It is particularly frustrating for those who live in rural areas and have no shops within walking distance. At least the dogs like it, the cats prefer to be sensible and stay in their houses but the dogs are overjoyed to see the snow again. Paddy loves to chase the other dogs but he is so slow and clumsy he has not a chance in hell of catching up with them but he likes to try and has fun doing so. It does not loook as though we will be able to have the horses back this weekend and the arrival of dogs due to be admitted has had to be postponed until the weather improves. They will be safe where they are for the time being so there is no immediate worry.
We have had to call the Vet out and had to wait until Dafydd, the only one with a four wheel drive was free! We had to make the call because Sorrell has somehow had an injury to one of her back legs and it is very bad, you can see the bone through it. I can only assume one of the other horses has kicked her, the problem is that on a pastern there is little skin to draw together with stitches so she has it covered with a dressing and bandage and we have to hope that it will heal itself.She is none too happy being kept in her stable, in fact she is downright furious at us but she has to have ther dressing kept clean so there is no choice. The vet is returning on Monday to check on the wound and re-dress it. Dafydd is the pin up at the surgery and is greatly admired by every woman I know and his visits are always something the staff look forward to. There is always great enthusiasm to call him out and I have to make sure it is absolutely necessary!! Poor Dafydd, I am sure he must find the adoration embarassing.
The new owners of terrible Taz the young and very disturbed German Shepherd are still struggling with her and her neuroses. They have been recommended to use Serenum drops and they feel that she does seem a ,little calmer on these.I wonder if anyone else has had experience of these? If they work I would like to know as we often have exciteable and nervous animals which are difficult to home and for their own sakes it would be good to try something to keep them calmer. I do hope that they get to the bottom of her problems, she is so young and so affectionate but she really is a handfull. It is so sad when dogs are not trained from puppyhood, what is cute behaviour in a pup can be dangerous in a full grown adult animal.It makes me mad because it is not the fault of the dog but of the owner who has not put any work into their pet.Some people think all they have to do is buy a pet and it comes ready trained. If they are not prepared to put time and effort into it, they should not have a pet, especially a large breed dog which when left untrained can be quite intimidating.
Well, what will tomorrow bring? will any staff manage to turn up? Somehow I am doubtful, the snow is here for a few more days I think and it is starting again now. It is costing so much to feed the wild birds, I hate to think of them struggling to survive in this cold spell so am going through big bags of food like it is going out of fashion.When I shop for more, I see people doing the same thing - stocking up with provisions for their garden birds . They are so wonderful to watch it is the least we can do to help them. Perhaps it has always been this way but there seems to be more awareness now of the need to assist them not only through the winter months but all year round.
I am off now to top up the feeders and to help Vanessa bring in the ponies before it goes dark.