cycas

I think it takes as long as it takes. With a young big dog and a kitten, you are probably going to have to watch them for a good long while, because both of them are likely to want to play, and it's SO easy for the dog to be too rough or the kitten to catch the dog with a claw, even if they have the best intentions. It sounds like things are moving the right way from your description - but kittens are so skittish! I have one cat who insists on playing with my young lurcher, and having had them both since last Feb, I eventually gave up trying to stop them because they both love it and are very careful. But it was I think at least a couple of months before I came to that conclusion, and I'd be more careful with a kitten because they are so fragile. My cat and lurcher are best buddies and leap about like loons.

Me too!

I have an old friend who has just completed a course of CBT - he's an actuary and has a very pressured and stressful job with long hours. He reckons it helped. (I reckon he should give up having such a stressful job and get one doing something more relaxing for less time, the money isn't worth stressing yourself into an early grave. He doesn't agree. )

I skipped the question (it is optional) as I don't see it's anyone's business but mine! I put 'No Religion' for Mark who had asked me to fill in the details for him : he was then disappointed as he swears he told me to fill it in to say 'Sith'.

Awwww, Baby Roxy! Belated happy birthday Roxy.

Good luck with the operation Snow. Mollydog had me up in the night several times, she has the runs, has been sick and is very woe. Am giving it an hour or so to see if her breakfast stays down, if not we are off to the vet. Again...

Yay! Am really hoping I can make it this year.

Get it checked out Mrs B - if you get it looked at it will probably go away, if you ignore it you just know it will come back & bite you on the bum at the worst possible time.

I'm hereish but still coughing, spluttering and oozing like a slug. Why do people insist on telephoning me when they can hear I have the voice of a very ill toad...? WHAT's WRONG WITH EMAIL?

Am totally zonked with cold. I need to go to bed but am coughing so much and oozing everywhere that I know sleep will be hard to find... Oh well, at least it's only a bug.

I've done all of those apart from the ATM and I bet I do that now you've suggested it! So you may be old and barmy but at least you aren't alone.

Yes, seems to be definite! Good. Don't think they'd thought it thorough.

Poor little guy. The Galgos have such a hard time of it.

Woohoo, congratulations and where are the photos...?

Awww, poor Billy! 11 teeth, how many does he have left? Hope he enjoys his scrambled egg and feels better soon.

It's open to anybody who manages to get their act together, book and turn up with a tent (or other accommodation solution...) . Seem to remember last time I went there were a few dog owners who knew nothing about OC who were chatting, spectating and Cindy managed to sell them a collar... I haven't been last couple of years, as Molls has had a few health things that I think would have made it less fun for her to do a long car journey. Fortunately she now seems to be be getting younger and more loud and outrageous again for some mysterious reason, so I am thinking we might get our act together and turn up this year too.

It's not my roof that is green (well, it probably is, on the grounds that everything is. But it's not green enough to be a problem, as it's a fairly dark colour and the Green is not very thick up there. Probably because the roof faces North out to Dartmoor and is not the most cosy of locations... It's the walls that are green. And the windows, windowsills, doors... Green grows on everything! The other day I put my car through a carwash, and it didn't get all the Green off so I had to scrub it afterwards with a brush... I think some sort of manual abrasion is required, but I can't get up there to scrub it, the house is kind of tall and skinny, and the land around it is very slopy so using ladders is a bit fraught. I'm deeply dubious about the copper ridge idea, I have lots of copper in the garden as an anti-slug device, OK, I don't think the green actually grows on the metal, but it certainly grows all around it... We are on an old copper /arsenic mine here, I think our Green is used to that sort of thing. I suppose we could give up and paint the house green... I now realise why so many of the older houses have slate cladding on the upper walls.

Amy has been looking at other options, but it's so hard to find somewhere central, dog friendly with accommodation for everyone, including campers caravanners and B&B-ers...

That's a cunning idea. How do you get at the top of the house though, it's the upstairs that is greenest!

What a pity you are so far from me, my foster Bob lurcher would be perfect for you. Well, I've not rabbit tested him as don't have buns any more, but I reckon that when my own two dogs (both of whom have lived with a houserabbit) go hurtling off after wild bunnies and he just stands there and looks gormless, he's a pretty safe bet.

I thought pressure washer but I was worried about the paint stripping off problem. The long pole things don't seem to come long enough, but maybe the idea of standing on a stepladder with a long pole thing would work.... Unfortunately there is a shortage of window cleaners in these parts so our windows have been cleaned somewhat erratically, if at all for some years.

She's been told that she absolutely cannot retest again (I think they have had previous tests, but apparently DEFRA are being much fiercer about this than they have been in the past, when retests were allowed), and that the only thing she can do now other than let them all be killed is go to court - which she can't afford, even if she thought she might win. It's really heartbreaking, I don't know why they won't let her at least re-test, and to be denied vaccination as well! It's just awful. It's not as though any of them are even ill.

I've just heard that two of my friend's cows, Tania and Queen Bee have been tested 'inconclusive' for TB. DEFRA are refusing to allow them a retest, and it may well be that Tania's daughter Faerie will also test inconclusive and all of them will be killed. These are dearly beloved well cared for cattle that have been bred on the same farm for many generations : I can't imagine how terrible this must be for the whole herd and their owner. She has TB infected badgers on her farm and can't do anything about them: she'd dearly love to vaccinate her cattle, but that's not allowed.

Where I live, it's very damp. It's a river valley and most mornings mist comes up off the river. Typically, our weather is damp and kind of warmish in the summer, and damp and kind of coldish in the winter. It's a perfect environment for things to... grow. Our house has rendered painted walls - and all over the walls GREEN THINGS have started growing. Then slugs and snails have wandered over the GREEN THINGS and made weird little tracks all over the walls. Last time the house went green, we had it painted. If I remember rightly, the painter cleaned it all beforehand with soapy water with a sponge and a bucket. but then he was a man who thought nothing of whizzing up and down perilously balancing on ladders. The paint still seems in good condition, so I'm kind of thinking rather than painting again, it would be nice to just give it a bit of a wash. But how do you wash a two story house? I can wash the bottom of it, but how do you get at the top half? Any cunning ideas or ingenious tips?

I am fostering the adorable Bob, so any questions please feel free to PM me or ask below! Bob is a very friendly 9 year old collie cross greyhound lurcher, who loves people and other dogs. Bob likes nothing more than a gentle cuddle and someone to rub his ears! He came into the care of the Oldies Club as a stray from a council pound. It has taken a while to get Bob fit enough to be rehomed, but he's now doing really well and should be ready to go home very soon. Bob has poor eyesight and is sometimes a little clumsy but it doesn't affect his enjoyment of life. Bob enjoys a gentle walk two or three times a day, and enjoys a walk of up to an hour or so. He's generally more of a sniffer and a trotter than a dog that needs a lot of energetic walking, but he will sometimes have a little run and then his ears fly about! Bob really loves affection and he was rather needy and demanding to start with, with a tendency to use his paws to demand attention! As he has settled in, this has improved, and he will now 'settle down' when asked, and is happy to snooze most of the day away. Good offlead when supervised, and onlead Bob is very good off the lead: he comes when called and stays with his people. However, because of his poor eyesight, it is quite easy for him to accidentally lose you behind a bush, and because he loves meeting new people and dogs so much, he will sometimes be tempted to go bumbling off to say hello. He also loves to wriggle under gates to find out what is on the other side, so needs to be carefully supervised when off the lead. Bob generally walks very well on the lead and doesnt' pull. However, he will occasionally will find a fascinating smell and decide to use the lead to tow you over to have a really good sniff! Can live with other dogs or as an only dog Bob is living in his foster home with two other dogs, and obviously enjoys meeting other dogs, large and small. He seems to particularly like playful labradors and dalmatians. Bob is more focussed on people than dogs, and we think he would be fine as an only dog as long as he got a chance to socialise out and about. He does have a bit of a tendency to push to the front wanting all the cuddles for himself, but this is improving as he learns that there will always be cuddles for him too! Bob meets two Westie friends - including one 18 year old! Good with cats and other animals Bob is currently living in a foster home with six cats and has shown no desire to chase at all. He occasionally gets a bit too interested in sniffing at them, but doesn't show the least aggression if one of the cats decides to tell him off. He can't do stairs and doesn't get on furniture, so it's easy for cats to get out of his way. Bob has also met some horses and shows no particular interest in them. Good with older children Although we don't know anything about Bob's past, he has met a number of children and seems to like them just as much as adults. However, he can be quite clumsy and pushy about asking for his cuddles sometimes, so he's not suitable for a home with very little ones. Bob's perfect home Bob tells us that he would like his new home to give him a beanbag and lots and lots of cuddles! Bob is very afraid of stairs, and will not walk up them. Given his poor eyesight and clumsiness, this is not entirely a bad thing: he could easily fall down if he was upstairs in the dark. For this reason, Bob's ideal home would be either in a bungalow, or a house where the people don't spend too much time upstairs. He is quite happy to sleep downstairs when people go up to bed, but will sometimes cry if he can hear people moving about and talking upstairs where he can't join in. Will need a wet food diet Although Bob was quite underweight, he soon made it clear that he really doesn't like dry dog food at all. If he isn't allowed anything else, he will eat just enough of it to keep him going, but not enough to really keep him at a healthy weight, even if it's mixed with tastier things. Bob is currently eating a wet food with some extra mashed potato, and is doing very well on that : he also likes dried tripe and very much enjoys chewing a nice raw bone : his teeth are in excellent condition. Fine when left Bob is happy to snooze when you go out for a few hours, and doesn't seem worried by that (though he is always very pleased to see you when you come back!) Health notes Poor Bob came into Oldies Club care in rather a state, and at first he was thought to be around 12 or 13 years old. He had cloudy eyes, was thin, and was crawling with fleas and also had worms. More seriously, he had a strange problem with his shoulder and neck area which made it difficult for him to stand up and seemed to cause him pain if he lay still for any length of time. He reacted to this by crawling rather than walking, and at first was not up to much exercise. Bob has had X rays and has seen an orthopedic specialist vet, but there was no evidence what was causing him this shoulder / neck problem. We were quite surprised to discover from Bob's ear tattoos that he is only 9 years old. Thankfully, after pain relief and a few weeks in the warm with plenty to eat, Bob seemed years younger, and his shoulder problem disappeared. We have kept Bob in foster for some extra time to make sure that this wasn't just a temporary rally, but he is still doing really well so we feel that he is now ready to go home. Bob may need ongoing pain relief. At the moment he is taking Previcox : he will be having some time without this to check if he still needs it. We will update this information once we have more details. Bob still has poor eyesight and will sometimes bump into things in poor light, but can generally get about with no problems. He will need regular gentle exercise to keep him mobile and fit. ------------- If you can offer Bob a loving home, please refer to our Adoption Procedures for information about the adoption process. You can then contact an Oldies Club rehoming co-ordinator as follows: Email: [email protected] Telephone: 0844 586 8656 He can be rehomed anywhere in the UK, subject to a satisfactory home visit, but note that you will be required to travel to the foster home in Cornwall to meet him. —————-