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Must consider getting insurance for Phoebe - we've never had any problems with her but she will be twelve this year and better safe than bankrupted! :)
A cool start to the day here - the ice knocked out from the bird bath yesterday still hasn't melted.
A cool start to the day here - the ice knocked out from the bird bath yesterday still hasn't melted.

Things may well have completely changed though over the last couple of years since we first became aware of this problem - and so I could be wrong.

https://boughtbymany.com/news/article...

She has a Temperature but they think she will be fine and have given us a Syringe to dose her with a rather disgusting-looking slurry paste that is supposed to replace all of the good Bacteria in her Digestive System and encourage things to settle down.
She obviously isn't keen on this idea - but can usually be relied upon to be a little angel at co-operating with me on the taking Medications and so she was very good about letting me squirt it into her Mouth and then swallowing it ... her Face was such a picture of disgust afterwards though! ... she screwed her Eyes up and started grimacing and sticking her Tongue out at me, bless her! ;o>
Thanks for that, suzy - I've skimmed through it and will read it properly when I've got more time :)
Just got up to take my dinner plate into the kitchen (pork fillet with roasties, stuffing, peas, carrots and gravy) when I saw, sat in the garden on one of the solar lights, a female Sparrowhawk. She didn't seem bothered by me coming into view through the patio doors, merely turning her head in my direction then totally ignoring me.
She sat there for a few more minutes before flying off to a tree in the garden behind ours.
Just got up to take my dinner plate into the kitchen (pork fillet with roasties, stuffing, peas, carrots and gravy) when I saw, sat in the garden on one of the solar lights, a female Sparrowhawk. She didn't seem bothered by me coming into view through the patio doors, merely turning her head in my direction then totally ignoring me.
She sat there for a few more minutes before flying off to a tree in the garden behind ours.

We are only just settling down to deciding on what we want for Breakfast now that we have got Mitz all sorted, calm and settled down again - LOL!!! ;o>
We also get the odd Sparrowhawk amongst other Birds of Prey here too - and we know to look out for them because they are usually heralded by the sound of a lot of screaming warning calls from all the other Birds in the area!

It may be that, being as Phoebe is 12, it would be far too difficult or much too expensive to start insuring her and really not worth your while in doing so? You never can tell with these kinds of things, can you?
We have always opted to have Pet Insurance because we have deliberately chosen to take on poorly Rescue Pups that have had conditions requiring Treatments and Medications virtually from the same day that they became a welcome part of our family - and we have done very well out of doing so - as most of our little hairy woofers over the last 30 years have needed to have regular ongoing maintenance care as well as sometimes requiring the odd emergency Veterinary care to be able to continue to keep fit and well and living on to very good ages ;o>
It might be worth checking out some Websites like these ones? ...
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk...
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/ins...

Unfortunately my M&D are a force of Nature to be reckoned with and very much a law unto themselves - and so despite both the Vet and me suggesting and then trying to insist that we don't keep on with trying to feed Mitz they have kept tempting and tempting her with pieces of Chicken even when she, herself, has refused it ... and so she has very reluctantly eaten a few pieces and I've subsequently spent the best part of the day cleaning the bloody awful result up! ;o<
So I am currently sticking to just nibbling on odd pieces of Bread with my Medications as I also don't have any appetite for anything else now either!
At least the Vet seemed happy enough with Mitz this Morning but, if this keeps up, then she will surely have to go back again later on tonight or first thing tomorrow Morning ... the poor little sweetheart ... x


If she doesn't show any signs of improvement or deteriorates any further over the next 6 hours then she will have to be admitted to the Veterinary Hospital and kept in.


A photo of The Cage at Lyme Park in Disley taken yesterday afternoon.

We had a lot of snow in north Staffordshire on Friday evening, which made it a bit difficult for me to get away from work as buses were getting stuck on hills and it was a bit risky getting around them. There was none in Shropshire, though, so once I was about 1/3 of the way home it became plain sailing.

did you have to use an after hours vet service? eek, when we've used the service attached to our vet, we were informed it would be a charge of (can't remember how much, it wasn't for lux, so a while ago, certainly £100+) the moment you ring the front doorbell! again, sing hosannahs for pet insurance!

No Gordon, it's a photo someone has posted up on one of our local Websites. It's a view across part of Lyme Park - which is one of several large Country Estates that are all within just a few miles of where I live here in Stockport ;o>

did you have to use an after ..."
Our Vets has 5 separate Veterinary Clinics around Stockport with one of them being a 24 hour Hospital one for Emergencies only - and so we've been directed to have 2 standard and 2 Emergency Appointments at 4 different places since all this suddenly escalated up for poor Mitz early yesterday Morning.
She has been very gently washed a few times so she still smells lovely, bless her ;o>

They didn't want to give her one yesterday as they wanted her to continue to purge if she had too - but she has been crying and 'praying' today which, as every Pet Owner knows to be and dreads to see, is a very bad sign indeed.
All Fingers crossed that we have finally got over the worst of it all now ... x

Why didn't I keep my flippin' Mouth shut on thinking we might be okay?! Tia has been a bit quiet all Morning and I was hoping it was only because she was tired ... but she has just raced out and had the runs as well!
Mum is already on the Phone to the Vets ... again!!! ;o<

You'll have to change your nom-de-plume:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBpFp...
I do hope things improve soon with Mitzi. You have enough worry with Tia. Fingers crossed the meds work.

Rig spent Sunday night at the emergency vet's with a suspected gastric torsion (very nasty) but thankfully it wasn't. Trouble is we don't know what it was so we're going through various tests to try and pin the problem down.
Getting a urine sample today was tricky but we managed eventually. No problems showing from that so we may be trying a blood test tomorrow.

She is now stretched out full length on her Back on the Sofa with her Front Legs and Back Legs out so she definitely can't be feeling uncomfortable ... although the disgusting Wind that she has shared with us all Evening has been truly awful though! Poor Mum has sat next to her most of the time pulling Faces and gasping for fresh air! - LOL!!! ;o>
I've been sat on the Floor, next to Mitz on her big comfy Bed, for as much and as often as I can bear to over the last 48 hours, and can barely move myself and am absolutely knackered now - but I think she is getting there now? She has tentatively tried lying on her side several times and even briefly rolled onto her Back twice - which is the position that she usually spends most of her time in while asleep and awake. She quite definitely doesn't want to eat anything but she has been managing to regularly drink Water all Evening with no more further ill effects.
The Vet rang at 10pm to say that there is absolutely no sign of any Poisons showing up in any of her Test Results and I get the feeling her high Temperature has dropped considerably since this Morning based on how much cooler she is feeling to the touch now.
This all just came completely out of nowhere and it's been quite a challenge in managing my Dad as well as the little hairy woofers as he doesn't adapt well to coping with any kinds of family or household dramas and crises. My poor Mum has barely slept since Saturday - and I feel as good as useless to her these days compared to how practical and how active I used to be.
Mum and me are going to try to go to Bed now as we think that we can leave the Girls to sleep by themselves for a few hours at least while they both seem to be comfortable. I think Mitz is still going to be rather fragile for a day or two yet - but it's such a relief to not have her getting herself in a terrible mess again and constantly crying, 'praying' and even staggering around at times like she was at 7am this Morning.
What an exhausting and distressing few days it has been! I wish that we could go back in time and start off the New Year all over again! - LOL!!! - it's all been a bit of a shocker so far and we are barely even through January yet?!! ;oO

You'll have to change your n..."
Awww bless you, Val ... x ... 'suzysnowflake7' ... I love it!!! ;o>

Our previous two Girls nearly died several times as they both had almost total Food Intolerance and shared in some form of severe Crohn's Disease - we managed to get them balanced and to keep them extremely healthy and happy for most of their lives on a very strict restricted Diet and so they lived very well into their old age right up till the end ;o>
These two came to us with a much milder form of something similar but we have managed to keep them balanced and healthy too on a slightly less restricted Diet this time around. Thank God for decent Vets and Pet Insurance! ;o>
Awww, poor Rig!!! ;o< ... please keep letting us know how he is doing, won't you Derek? It sounds like it is really awful for him right now, the poor poor love ... x x x

x Nighty-Night x Sleepy-Tight x and very Sweet Dreams to all x

We had just crawled into our Beds when the crying started ... and even though I tried my best to rush down the Stairs as fast as I could ... ! ;o<
Three more distressing, messy and explosive accidents followed on which led to M&D and me all spending almost 2 hours in cleaning up while also taking it in turns to try to comfort poor little Mitz who was constantly crying and also to try to calm down a very stressed-out and hyper-agitated Tia as well.
M&D took poor Mitz back to the Vets at 4.30am and they immediately admitted her to the Hospital as she is clearly very unwell and now showing the early signs of dehydration too. And poor Tia is completely and utterly exhausted and very upset and so I now have her upstairs with me in my Bedroom. I was a bit worried that she wouldn't settle? - but she just came in, lay straight down on her Bed, and passed out!
So ... BEDTIME AT LAST!!! ... before Breakfast for Tia in 2 hours time!!! ;o>

Yesterday....I've bought a new mattress. That's it...that's all i've got to say today. No more bed springs digging in me back...phew!

And I've spent the day so far re-checking and re-cleaning everywhere, and working my way slowly through seemingly endless stacks of Dog Bedding Laundry!

And I've spent the day so far re-checking and re-cleaning everywhere, and working my way slowly through seemingly endless stack..."
Hi Suzy, that sounds like a really nasty stomach bug your Mitz has picked up. Hopefully the treatment at the vet should get her through it OK and back home soon.
Thanks for your concern about Rig. Thankfully he seems to be just about back to normal now. Took him back into the vet's this afternoon just to pay the bill for his treatment and so they could see that he's much better (he's a very popular visitor and they were all worried). He did his usual trick of charging through the door and sitting bolt upright in front of the treat jar in reception just to make it clear that he was fine and HUNGRY.
It was quite funny as one by one all the vets and assistants popped out of the various parts of the building to say hello to him while the people waiting were wondering what the heck was going on. It was a bit like royalty visiting.
We've come to the conclusion that the whole problem was probably down to whatever it was he scavenged and ate on his Sunday afternoon walk. The rest of it was most likely down to reaction to the anaesthetic and subsequent manhandling to get him positioned for the x-ray on Sunday night at the emergency vet.

Conjures up a wonderful picture! Poor old Rig, he wouldn’t be best pleased.

Ohhh, bless him!!! ... I just love a dog with attitude! - one that knows exactly what they want and isn't ever shy or backwards in making it obvious to everyone! - LOL!!! And I'm SO very glad to hear that he is back on form again and enjoying revelling in all of the adoring attention that he is getting ;o>
I don't know what to make of Mitz? - the Vets thought Poison or a Severe Infection of some kind at first - but she has not eaten anything since Sunday night and they say that if they can't get her to eat by tomorrow then they will assume it to be a Blockage and X-ray her again before considering Surgical Examination.
They are keeping her in, which we sadly feel is all for the best under the circumstances, as Mum and me were finding that we couldn't cope with the ongoing stress of her crying nonstop, the hourly cleaning up, having no time to get any sleep at all, and a freaked-out Tia also being in such a terribly distressed state over her Sister as well.
We have all managed to get a few hours in of dozing this afternoon and are feeling so much better for it - and Tia is being brilliant and coping remarkably well without her beloved Sister - all calm and content after a day of restful peace and quiet and lots of lovely cuddles.
Apparently Mitz has spent most of the day asleep under a light sedation and will be continuing to staying on the Drip overnight and thankfully Tests for Organ Failure and Pancreatitis have all come back as negative so far.
We shall just have to hope for the best and see what tomorrow brings us.

Conjures up a wonderful picture! Poor old Rig, he wouldn’t be best pleased."
Well a 43 Kilo dead weight takes a fair bit of manhandling. It would be different if he was a Chihuahua :-)

Weatherwise we have had our first sprinkling of snow early on this morning but mostly it's been sunny blue skies for the past few days, long may it continue to be so! Just finished a long three day stint at work with two sleepovers due to staff shortages, down to the dreaded 'flu. It will be nice to crawl into my own bed and Mrs O' is also pleased to have me back home, she is not to keen on sleeping alone despite my snoring and other unsavoury habits!

Ohhh, bless him..."
Thanks Suzy, it does sound very strange. Hope you have some good news tomorrow.

"
On the shop's sample mattress, yes, but i gotta wait a week for mine to arrive. I pick a nice firm traditional mattress, none of that silly memory form nonsense...i hate those things! Not easy to roll about on those...and some reason, one gets very sweaty on those memory things. I like to move around on bed! Thank goodness i ain't got a partner....i'd feel claustrophobic in bed...nevermind what the partner will think of me pushing her out!
Just gotta say though...mattresses.... gee they're expensive things these days ain't they? I assumed that one could get a bog standard one for around £100-150 or so....not in my case....aw no..cos I is a lanky bugger ain't i, so there's a premium for extended ones, so aren't i lucky! The standard lenght is 6'3", but i need another 3 inches, cos i don't like feet hanging off the end innit! Also, for some reason...the very firm ones cost more...and i have to have a firm one..can't stand those soft ones that one's body 'sinks' in...as i'm heavy chap at 16 1/2 stone! You wouldn't think it to look at me though..guess i'm just a heavy bugger!
Anyway...i'm now £400 nicker lighter..but if it lasts me another 8 years, then it's only about a quid a week, which doesn't sound much now, does it? Anyhow..since quitting smoking & switching to vaping..i'm not hemorhaging money on the cancer sticks anymore...so no big deal.
Just gotta find a way of getting rid of my old one now. There is a civil amenity recycling site, just a mile up the road from me, however, Mum's little Hyundai i10 is never gonna carry a double mattress comfortably...well..not unless we wanna get in and drive the car also, anyway!! Also, the council charges silly money to take stuff away, so......"Bro.....can i borrow you and your pick up truck please?!"...."Er...Bro....Brother...uh...hello.....HELLOOOO??!!"
He's a hard man to pin down, is me brother...damn workaholic!
Talking of expensive costs..my eldest nephew and his dad popped by yesterday, the young man recently celebrated entering his 20's, showed off his latest set of wheels....a vintage Mk5 Escort 1.4 5 door in deep blue, first sold in 1989. And as Fords go, yeh..it's a nice sensible well looked after example..nothing to knock one's socks off with. The most remarkable thing about it, was...there's not spot of rust on it, which surprised me, as my experiences of 1980's Fords, during the 1990's, is one of rotboxes...all of 'em! My first set of wheels was also an Escort (I had many Fords in my time), a 1980 mk3 1.1 shopping trolley, also in deep blue, only mine was suffering from near terminal case of tin worm, when i got it (yeh..thanks dad! - I thought you loved me?!) in 1991. That car last another 5 months..and then it was scrapped! £450 my dad spent on that pile of iron dust!
Anyway, gettng to my point (yes, there is one!) - my insurance premium for that very first year, so no NCBs behind me, on a 3rd party policy..cost me £300 for the year. Definately affordable, even though i was earning peanuts back then.
Now then, my nephew....is 20, 3 years driving experience under his belt, has 1 year's NCB to his name, clean licence, no acident history & lives in the arse end of nowhere in Wales, plus drives a bog standard 20 year old car, with zero mechnical or cosmectic mods, so no lairy paint jobs, engine up grades, phat alloys, stupid drianpipe exhausts, just a decent sound system, right?
So, his fully comp policy, comes to for that car is £200 A MONTH!!!! WHAT???!!! That's nearly 2.5 GRAND a year!!! Bugger me sideways...WHAT?! He only paid £280 quid for the motor! How the blazes can insurance companies justify that amount? And yeh..i do know under 25 year old drivers (especially males) aren't favourable within insurance circles...but..£2400 a year? Fecking rip off! It's not a hot hatch model. And he wants to own an original XR3 someday, since they're becoming scarce and therfor climbing in value....but the insurance premium for that car is just insane....nevermind what an RS turbo or Cosworth would cost to insure!
Car insurance sure has changed somewhat since my days...£300 a year was steal it seems! Oh....after i scrapped that wreck of an escort, i showed dad how it done properly..cos i bought a decent condition XR3i in red, with no rust and just 45k on the clock..insurance for that one (full comp on this one..i'd just turned 18)...£650....not bad for a then spotty faced teen and hot hatch! :)

Conjures up a wonderful picture! Poor old Rig, he wouldn’t be best pleased."
W..."
Thank goodness you didn't have St Bernard or a Great Dane, Derek! I once had to help lift a Great Dane over a field boundary fence (simply cos he was too much of a wuss to jump over it, which he would've had no trouble in doing so!), and it took 3 strapping blokes to life him up! The thing is, Danes don't 'look' that heavy, big... yes...but not stocky like...until you and try pick one up....gee..we were panting! This softy great lump of canine, was fully matured, so i reckon he weighed easily 70-80 kilos!
I reckon one would need a crane to lift up a Bernard though!

Well, if he does significant damage to another car it could cost his insurance company tens of thousands. If he injures someone it could cost them millions. Insurance is all based on actuarial tables: the premium will be based on the average risk of a male driver of his age and occupation being involved in an accident (which is high), the average cost of payouts, the overheads & profits of the insurance underwriters, providers and brokers, and the insurance premium tax.
While the risk of a young, single man being involved in an accident might not have increased all that much in the past 20-30 years (it was high then and it's high now), the average size of insurance payouts has increased several-fold because (a) the cost of vehicle repairs has increased as car design has changed and (b) the amounts paid in compensation to people suffering injury (whether genuine or ambulance-chaser-imagined) have shot up.

... x x x

He’s been emailing me apologising for some delay in production and has sent the choc to thank me for my patience!
He’s also said he’s coming to Scotland in November but doesn’t know the venues yet, but says if I’m there, to make myself known as he’d like to thank me for my support ;-)
I’m probably not what he might be expecting.

He'll surely be as delighted to meet you as you will be to meet him ;o>


I hope that it all goes well and we get to see you back online soon ... x


She's had a second X-ray and an Ultrasound as well today but everything is clear as far as they can tell. She is still very upset and crying a lot but we haven't dared try to visit her because we know that it will only make it all the harder and even worse for her being left there.
M&D are going to go in tomorrow at 10am and talk things through with the Vet before bringing her home - if we can't get her to eat either once she is home then she will have to go back again for a few days and have a Feeding Tube fitted to get some solid Food in her.
Tia is well-rested now without all of the stress and drama still going on around her - but she went and sat in their Box in the corner of the Kitchen at Lunchtime with her Face to the Wall and howled and howled like a Wolf at the Moon until we all came rushing in to cuddle and to comfort her ;o<
It's certainly been one Hell of a week and it isn't over and done with yet!

... x x x"
Followed by National Insult Day today?
;0)
Stand by for the torrent of name-calling...
(Only joking!)
Thank you Suzie. Your mere name brings a little Sunshine to our lives... ;0) X


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shakespeare-...

The poor little love currently has a bad limp in one of her Front Legs, a 'Bucket' on her Head, has had all of her Fur from her Shoulder down to her Back Leg on her Left side shaved off, and needs to have Sudocrem applied several times a day to the very sore-looking 'Nappy Rash' that she unfortunately has now developed all around her Tiddler and over her Tummy as well! ;o<
She has refused twice to eat for us - which is a worry - but is lying beside me all snuggled up on her Duvet and wrapped in a Furrybaby Blanket and looks to be painfree, calm and comfy.
Books mentioned in this topic
Ten Poems about Snow (other topics)And So This is Christmas: 51 Seasonally Adjusted Poems (other topics)
The Tiger Who Came to Tea (other topics)
The Quangle Wangle's Hat (other topics)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Christina Rossetti (other topics)John Keats (other topics)
Joan Aiken (other topics)
It might still mean a visit to the Vets first thing tomorrow though even if she does seem to be getting better and doesn't appear to be in any kind of pain?
Seriously, during the last 3 months our Pet Insurance has more than paid us back on over several years worth of contributions - and so not having any in place simply just doesn't bear thinking about!