Southerlies and Other Storms Ahead

The weather this week has been terrible. On Monday we had such strong south easterlies that the entire canopy off the top of the gum tree fell into my backyard. It was disconcerting as I had been in the exact spot an hour earlier. I spent the entire day rushing outside trying to keep the tarps on the hutches on the front lawn. Weighing them down with bricks didn't do the trick and in the end I had to tuck the edges under the hutches themselves and this seemed to do the trick.

I was already tired from traumas the night before. Piper cat began meowing at 9pm and licking her lips before she vomited her entire afternoon meal all over the carpet. I cleaned this up and we all headed to bed but instead of getting up on the chair beside me Piper sat at the foot of the bed. Round midnight I awoke to a weird sound and found she had had "an accident" so out of bed to clean this up while she sat facing the corner. An hour later I woke to the sound of vomiting and found her in the litter tray surrounded by undigested food. An hour later she was still there.

Monday she didn't want to touch her food and ran into the garage for the day, only coming inside later that afternoon. However Tuesday she began eating again so I surmised that she'd caught a stomach bug and that it had righted itself. Wednesday though she began having episodes of diarrhea and this was bloody so I rang the vet for an appointment.

After a thorough examination he came up with the terrible news that Piper has cardiomyopathy. Her body is filling up with fluid and her heart is beating very fast. The vet thinks in her case it is hereditary. He prescribed antibiotics for the diarrhea and heart meds but would not give her the first dose as he felt the stress of him forcing the pills down would cause a heart attack. He did say that it was lucky she got sick as usually cats with this condition show no outward signs but just drop dead!

Instead of leaving her with the vet we put Piper in the back seat and covered the carry cage with a sheet so she'd feel secure. It made for a very nervewracking morning as we kept checking to see if she was still alive.

Two days later I have managed to get the medication into her and Piper has begun to eat again. Last night it was so cold I made sure she was covered up where she lay on the chair. From what I have read it depends on what part of the heart is affected by the cardiomyopathy as to her prognosis. It could range from as little as six months to a few years. It seems so unfair as she is only two and a half years old and already dealing with having been born with a deformed tail.

Meanwhile we all huddle inside while this terrible storm freezes the country. I thought it was actually snowing here yesterday as the rain began coming in sideways. After receiving a huge power bill yesterday I am mindful of running the heater but there is no alternative. I hate winter!

Cages

Last Wednesday I finally managed to get out to see the lady who had offered me free wire rabbit cages at the Creative Fibre Festival. We were running late as the car took an hour and a half to start due to a dying battery (to go along with the brakes and tires that also need replacing) so I ended up there at 10.59am instead of 10.30am as promised. However the lady had pulled a double cage out and I was able to view it without getting out of the car which saved time.

They are double ones and look like old poultry brooder cages. Despite having been outside for ten years they haven't got a touch of rust that I can see. The wire is thicker than in my present cages with a double thickness coming up the side for strength. Added to that they're slightly larger than my present wooler cages plus they come with feeders. The lady says I can have them all- all 100 of them!

I spoke to my friend John who by coincidence lives round the corner from her, in fact his family passes by her property when they go into town. He has a trailer and will bring as many cages out as he can in stages. We'll pile them up under the trees at the back of this place after replacing my two banks of rusted cages which he says he will take away to the dump for me. I am extremely relieved as I have been trying to replace my older cages for so long now. I can't believe how providence led this lady to me!

Antarctic Blast

It was only 8oC (46oF) here yesterday but the wind chill made it feel even colder. Heading down to town I noticed heavy grey/brown clouds hanging low over the valley and I was certain we would get some snow. It was a four cat night as we all huddled together to share body warmth.

I have been rereading a book about Hannah Hauxwell the genteel daleswoman who was discovered by a documentary film maker in 1972 and immortalized in the programme "Too Long A Winter". This lady was living alone in a remote Yorkshire farm in Baldersdale with no electricity or water. In fact her circumstances were so dire she was living on about five English pounds a week and that included animal feed. The winters were so severe she would sleep with all her clothes on.

Despite being forgotten by the world (all alone since her father died aged 37 and her mother and uncle had died years before) Hannah was not bitter about what had happened and instead become a humble stoic individual whose chief delight was her cattle whom she regarded as her family.

Hannah became an instant celebrity after the TV documentary aired and two more were made plus three best selling books written. The attention didn't faze or change her one bit and the public's generous gifts actually made her life a little easier. In the late 1980s she moved from her farm due to failing health and now lives in a small Yorkshire village. Low Birk Hatt Farm was sold in pieces including couple of fields that were full of rare wildflowers (due to Hannah's family being too poor to use modern fertilisers) that were acquired by a conservation trust and renamed Hannah's meadow

After reading how Hannah lived so stoically despite great poverty and hardship I don't think I ever have the right to complain about my own circumstances again. Unfortunately being human I know I will!

Mad Goats and Cranky Cats

Winter nights always find me heading to bed early with a good book and three of the cats end up there with me. Demelza takes her place at my right shoulder and Peaches usually further down the bed. With Gypsy there is a huge drama as she makes "the big entrance". First her head pops round the door to check we're watching before she makes a mad dash across the floor and up on the wicker basket at the opposite side of the room. From there she walks across the dressing table and onto a chair before climbing up on the bed beside me and burrowing under the sheets to cuddle. However this past week she has decided to sit on my chest so I can't read which is also nervewracking as she is within striking distance of Demelza.

I don't know why these two don't get on but suspect it's all to do with jealousy. Usually Demelza has the younger cat bailed up on top of the furniture but lately Gypsy has begun fighting back which is what happened Saturday night and unfortunately I was caught in the middle. I felt my head being lacerated by her claws and yelled which frightened her into falling off the bed taking my face with her. On examining the damage I found scratches on my chin, a deep one on my forehead and a fine laceration over my right eyebrow and in the side of my mouth. I applied disinfectant before getting back in bed feeling sorry for myself. Gypsy did her usual routine but just ended short of the bed on the chair with her back to me. We all went to sleep but I was woken an hour later when Gyps began wailing and crawled into bed for a cuddle- her version of an apology I guess.

I thought that was all the excitement I'd be getting for the weekend but when I opened the curtains yesterday morning at 7am I saw that Tobermory my cashgora goat was on my front lawn. On further investigation I discovered someone had left my back gate open. I snuck out with the dog for protection and managed to replace water in some of the rabbits' bottles before Toby spied me and charged, pirouetting with his horns down read to headbutt my knees. I only just managed to go backwards up the ramp and get the back door shut with him in hot pursuit. I turned off the light till Toby wandered back down and then let the dog in. Some help he turned out to be!

I rang the landlady managing to wake her up and she promised that once the landlord had come back from doing something up at the woolshed she would pass on the message. Up to then I would remain a prisoner in the cottage. For an hour and a half I worried that I hadn't fed the chickens or the mother hen and her chick out front. Plus the tarp on the outside rabbit hutch was flapping loose and it had begun to rain.

By 9am the donkey had also wandered in and was cheerfully eating the garden. Looking out the kitchen window I couldn't see Toby at all so decided to go out again. Taking an alkathene pipe with me to hit him over his horns if he attacked I shakily went to the hen house and fed the ravenous fowls before sneaking out front to feed the mother hen and chick and weigh down the flapping tarp. All the while I was looking over my shoulder expecting the manic goat to charge out from where he was hiding but also hoping that if he did Briar the donkey would defend me as she hates him with a passion.

At 10.30am the landlord arrived with one of his hunterways, another Toby. He admitted to me that he had taken the catch off the gate while trying to fix it last week and never returned to replace it which is why it had sprung open. He couldn't find Tobermory or the donkey so decided they'd gone back out and was just about to leave when he saw them hiding behind the hen house. Sending Toby dog to get them out instead they made a break for it and ran round to the front. Reappearing from round the cottage Briar came trotting past me and went through the gate with the dog after her. Unfortunately he became so wound up he began chasing one of the horses out in the paddock. Meanwhile Toby decided to head back to the hen house with Ken running behind him. When he saw the dog worrying the horse he yelled "Get out Toby!" and Tobermory being an intelligent animal thought he was referring to himself, changed direction and trotted out the back gate.

Life is never dull in the country!

Return of the Prodigal

Last night I was dishing myself some ice cream while watching American Idol when I heard a small knock at the back door. Couldn't see who it was through the glass so turned on the light and it was........Angel! After five and a half months away she is in pretty good shape, not too thin but not fat either and very very foul tempered.

I fed her twice and kept her inside all night by locking her in the laundry. When I opened the door at 5am she was asleep in the litter tray as she used to do (must add it had clean kitty litter in it) rather than sleep in the clothes hamper like the other cats would have done. Gave her a huge breakfast and she has just gone outside.

I am worried that she is so bad tempered. She'll smooch around my legs one minute and then turn on me if I go to pat her. If she is still around by Wednesday when I'm due in town I'll take her to the vet and get Doug to give her the once over. Haven't had a vet bill for six months so I guess it's time to break my run of luck.

Other news is that the farrier finally turned up on Tuesday morning two weeks after he was actually due. Didn't even have to tie Briar up as she stood with her head right down Eeyore-like while he trimmed her hooves. He always says he wishes all donkeys were like her as most are real horrors to work with. Unfortunately his prices have gone up again (second time in six months) due to the rising costs of petrol so it's now $30 a hoof trim. I've booked Briar in for another pedicure in July.