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I love the intersection of my life with the animal kingdom; ‘owning’ and loving my pets, coming across pets from friends and neighbours, and rescuing animals in need.
It never rains but it pours.
No busses, then they all come at the same time.
Choose the expression you like; they both describe my incredible week of animal encounters!
Monday morning: guinea pig not eating
One of our 2 guinea pigs hadn’t been eating well over the weekend. We weighed him and overnight he’d lost 30 g which is a lot for a guinea pig. I called the vet and arranged an appointment to bring him in during the afternoon. In the meantime I could crush some of his pellets, mix with water and force feed him some of that.
Monday mid-morning: cat and hedge sparrow
My cat played with a baby bird outside. Maybe the baby bird hadn’t yet learned to be scared of the bell on my cat’s collar, clanging away (and also against the metal address tube), but the discovery set my own alarm bells ringing. It was easy to separate the two (although I must admit I didn’t think of diving into my animal ambulance work trousers where I keep a stash of hygienic gloves), and I soon had the baby in my hands.
My wife, who’s good with birds, told me it was a “heggenmus” (hedge sparrow).
I gave him a good look over and couldn’t see any wounds, but it was obviously unwise to let him go free with my cat still on the prowl. I put him into a shoe box with holes punctured in the top for fresh air. (In retrospect this latter point was a mistake. Holes at the top of he box mean a (restricted) view of the sky; a natural place for birds to fly towards. One of the advantages of keeping injured birds in a box is that it helps keep them calm, so holes at the bottom of one of the sides is a better place for ventilation holes.)
Now onto removing my lovable threat from the vicinity. I’d have had more chance taming a lion! My cat was primed and alert and not in the mood to be told what to do, or lead to where we wanted her to do it.
I called the animal ambulance (obviously I have their number at hand! 😉 ) and arranged they’d come pick up the hedge sparrow. It was a really busy period so I knew there’d probably be quite a wait.
Eventually our cat came inside so we battened down the hatches and brought the box outside. The hedge sparrow immediately flew upwards towards one of the large openings between the lid and the sides that shoe boxes tend to have. The sparrow’s parents were nearby, so we removed the lid and the baby came out of the box.
I moved out of view to give the reunited family some space. I heard the baby tweet from the side of our shed when I returned a little later, and some time after that there was silence – the happy family had moved elsewhere! 🙂
I called the animal ambulance to cancel the rescue. The phone line was busy so I left a message.
Monday afternoon: guinea pig, animal ambulance and vet
I always keep our pair of guinea pigs together during trips to the vet, even when ‘only’ one of them needs attention. This is so they have a familiar face / scent around them during a stressful examination. I’d just placed the two of them into the pet caddy when I saw the animal ambulance pull up outside my neighbour’s house. Had the sparrow got into trouble again, perhaps with a different cat (ours was still inside) and the neighbour made the call to the animal ambulance?
I knew who was on shift; I’ve worked with her a few times before, as well as travelled to the DierenLot National Congress on Animal Rescue and chipped a cat together, so I know her quite well. I popped out to say hello.
It turned out she’d turned up for my bird! The cancellation message had been missed, presumably as it was so busy! It wasn’t my fault, but I still felt guilty – especially as I was reminded I shouldn’t have released the bird; creatures caught by birds should always be rescued because cats have dirty mouths and a bite may have caused infection.
To top it all off, I needed to leave quickly for the vet appointment! Big apologies left, then I did with my guinea pigs.
At the vet I was given medicine to keep the intestines functioning, as well as advice to keep an eye on him and his weight. I bought some powdered food to force-feed him too. I know he finds this stuff disgusting, but he wasn’t too keen on the crushed pellets either. He’s had this “rescue food” before, and so too have our previous guinea pigs. None of them like it. The annoying thing is we’ve had a different make in other times which they’ve all loved! I made a note to try to get hold of an alternative brand.
(Whilst I was at the vet I asked them to trim their nails. I must admit to feeling like a chicken here; I’ve done it myself before, but my dear little guinea pigs squeak so much it’s emotionally very difficult!)
Monday evening: trail of geese
There were 2 cars in front of me driving at the pace of an arthritic slug. Eventually we came to some traffic lights. The car at the front went straight on, and the car in front turned right. And me? By the time these two had registered the red-to-green colour change, got into gear and pulled way, the light was back at red and I was left behind.
No matter. With that slow car in front out of the picture my hopes of getting home before my chariot turned back into a pumpkin had a chance of being realised. Unfortunately this wasn’t to be the case because despite waiting a century for my light to give me the green go-ahead, I caught up quickly to my previous leading car. He was still driving slowly!!
A minute of crawling by at a pace slower than crawling, then all of a sudden he sped up. And then I saw why – parallel to the road is a canal which is home to tens of geese. A break-away group traipsed back and forth across the road for reasons only geese know! The driver in front of me had spotted them and was giving them the time and space they needed to keep them safe!
Likewise, I took care as I passed them, and flashed my lights to oncoming traffic with a hand signal to warn them of their oncoming brush with geese!
Tuesday morning: stubborn cat
My cat was due for her yearly vaccinations in the morning. Like yesterday, I couldn’t get her inside, let alone inside a pet caddy! I called the vet to let them know, and asked if instead I could bring my guinea pig back in because he was losing weight rapidly. No problem!
Tuesday late morning: cat and dog
Our neighbours have a beautiful, friendly and energetic dog. I love watching her run around having fun in their garden. Barking is never a problem for me! But now the barking had a different tone. I looked up from my computer screen and saw a different dog in my garden!
She belongs to a nearby neighbour and is also a joy to pet when I come across her! 🙂 But not if you’re a cat! She barked at my cat who sat atop our pergola, arched rigid and hair as spiky as a chimney brush 🙁
What to do? Grab my cat and bring her to safety? Or remove the threat and bring the dog away?
I’ve already had experiences with stressed cats in the animal ambulance and have 3 scars (4, in certain light) to prove it. But personal injury wasn’t my concern. This is my cat and she needs my help! But I know her. I knew on a practical level she wouldn’t come to me so my best shot was taking the dog away. A happy, gentle dog. A dog who didn’t want to come with me. A dog who was really heavy to lift – but I managed!
Until I came to a closed door.
Maybe this close body-bonding helped. She stayed nearby when I set her down to free a hand and open the door, allowing me to hold her collar and lead her gently to the neighbour. She recognised where she was and ran for it, slipping out of the collar! Thankfully the owner was in! 🙂
Tuesday afternoon: compliant guinea pigs.
No trouble bringing the guinea pigs back to the vet!
Verdict: the bottom teeth were uneven and needed to be ground level. This needed anaesthesia, so I left my little “half-pound potatoes” with them. I picked them up later in the afternoon with painkillers and some antibiotics for his gums which looked red.
Wednesday: animal rescues
Wednesday afternoon means Animal Ambulance shift! 🙂
Thursday: back to the vet
My guinea pig is still not eating, even after his dental work and some recovery time. The vet agreed on the phone this isn’t expected, so I brought him (i.e. both of them) in for a check-up.
Nothing wrong with him can be found. We were advised that if his weight drops by more than 100 g then we might consider taking him to guinea pig specialist in a nearby town.
Friday: cat vaccinations
We managed to get our cat to the vet this time! I wasn’t aware (but grateful) that vaccination shot appointments include a health check for the cat. All was in order! I noted the vaccination was given in the same way that cats are chipped (pinching the skin on the back behind the head, and injecting the cat there).
I asked the vet to administer some drops against fleas and ticks too. I’ve done this myself 3 times already and each time it goes really badly; she runs away before I’m sure I’ve given her the full dose. I watched carefully and he was happy to explain exactly what he was doing.
All of a sudden my cat bolted from the table!
The vet confirmed she’d received the full dose, that “She doesn’t like the wet!” and importantly – for me – that my difficulty in treating her myself isn’t just me! 😉
I was heartbroken that my cat was extremely jumpy for the following few days and I felt I’d lost some trust with her that I’ve painstakingly built. Thankfully, from the viewpoint of some time later as I type this out, that trust is now restored! 🙂
Friday afternoon: cat and dragonfly
Our cat brought in a dragonfly but I was too late to save it 🙁 . The dragonfly is a beautiful creature! Double wings, colourful body, and it doesn’t fly with an annoying buzz. Not that a bell on a cat collar scares away all birds, but I wonder if insects are alerted by it?
Aside: I’ve written an article for the next Animal Ambulance magazine on the subject of how animals find water during the hot, dry, summer months. During my research I was amazed at insect physiology. I’m sure that if there’s any alien life out there, they’ll be more similar to insects than to us. Or a thought closer to home, that if humans are overcome by a different animal species in the future it will be insects. In either scenario, it makes sense that we make friends with insects now!
Friday night (all through it): little owl
A hot Friday summer evening. Young children, allowed to stay up late on a non-school night, scream outside. They shrieking in paddling pools and thump on the trampoline. Tired parents with a glass of white wine and a bottle of beer scream at them from a distance by the barbecue. Teenagers away from their parents, scream and loiter outside. Mopeds and un-oiled bikes scream outside. Tinny music from your neighbour’s headphones carries along the airways. Bass from your other neighbour’s boom box competes (and wins) with a diesel-powered lawn-mower, a strimmer and a pneumatic drill.
A few hours later humans dribble back inside, like insects crawling under a rock. Nature has its turn now. The stars come out and nocturnal animals take to their territories. Tonight, it was the turn of a creature’s loud whistle from the back garden.
It started around 23:00 and went on till after 05:20. And I know because it kept me awake in an animated state of curiosity! Admittedly I have sensitive ears, but even my wife was disturbed. She made a recording and sent it off to her mother who also knows a lot about birds (and who is also, evidently, awake in the early hours.). She identified it as a Little Owl (“steenuil”).
My wife thinks she saw the underneath of it lit up from some idiot’s garden lighting as it flew overhead, but wasn’t sure. Either way – and I can’t explain why – I’m impressed! 🙂
Aside: An “aside” because it actually happened the week before but it sort of fits in here. My neigbour asked if we wanted to go halfsies on some pigeon deterrents on the roof. Apparently pigeons land there and discuss life’s problems which disturbs our neighbours. We said no! There are plenty of other birds making a noise within earshot in the dusk – on the roof and elsewhere. We don’t see the point of kebabbing pigeons!
Saturday: pet shop
Not really an animal encounter, but a pleasant encounter with a pet shop salesperson who really knew her onions!
One of my recent rescues brought me to a pleasant nearby town where a kind finder had rescued and then sat with a wounded pigeon waiting for us, whilst others simply walked on by without a care. She’d called into a local petshop for a box to put the pigeon into, and they’d obliged.
I and my wife decided to visit this town for a little look around, and we passed this pet shop. We popped inside to find another flavour of rescue food for our guinea pig. We couldn’t find any so asked the lady there for help. I was really impressed with the knowledge she had about guinea pig care, and she gave us lots of advice, even though she wasn’t selling us anything!
Sunday morning: cat walk
Our church service is at 15:30 which means Sunday mornings become the perfect time for a gentle walk on a day of rest!
I’m lucky to live just a 10 minute walk away from a huge forest which is where I love to ramble. The 10 minutes spent approaching the forest are spent weaving through the rat-run of a residential area, which is just what a local brown and white cat was doing too!
Obviously we needed to say hello to each other; I extended my finger and I was rewarded with headbutts! 🙂 After 5 minutes or so she moved off and crossed the road. Halfway, where she decided that this spot in the middle of a (quiet) residential road was the perfect place to lie down and roll around.
Perfect, except for the approaching car. My efforts to lure the cat to the safety of the pavement failed, so I waved the car down and walked into the road to carry the cat to the side. This was the moment she stood up and walked off! The driver gave me a friendly wave, and we both carried on with our lives, happy that this beautiful cat had crossed our life paths (if not the road!). I’d like to think the cat enjoyed her brief time with me too!
In Summary…
What a week! 🙂
PS: Our guinea pig is regaining his weight! 🙂
