Life sucks ...

Thanks for the offer Kri - can you post it? :lol:

Hate to admit defeat, but cat got the better of us. My knees and thighs are like pin cushions and Issy still has long claws. She managed to squirm so much that even with 2 of us doing it we could not get them done. Looks like a trip to the vet is on the cards. Our cats are all demure when there.

Poor Tilly! I never understand it when people have children or dogs who have not been taught manners and how to behave with society. Some people think they are doing their children/dogs a favour not using discipline but all that happens is that they are not welcome anywhere and thus have far less interesting lives.

Well done Moe, hopefully your grandchild will now begin to see how much animals can brighten our lives. It is so sad when people are scared of dogs, or cats. I have a friend who is even scared of birds.
 
My son had a friend who was scared of everything, even flies, so I couldn't believe it when my grandson seemed to be the same. It's probably because my daughter has a cat that can lash out unexpectedly; he'll be sitting on your lap purring away and then just turn.....so I guess Sam just picked up on the nervousness we feel when the cat's around. It's a strange thing, being nervous of animals. Years ago, before we had a couple of family ponies, I can still remember being with my friend's horse and feeling so uptight. Years later I was so comfortable being around them [apart from Sipsey who used to creep up on me and bite me on the head when I was muck picking] but now I'm back to being nervous around them again. I do miss being part of their world, though, and watching their friendships and pecking orders. Feel rather upset about all those Redwing blackbirds that died in America last week. We used to have redwings in the garden at this time of year, but haven't seen any for a long time now.
 
Always sad to me when people become scared of nature, whatever happens to us in childhood can play a big part.

I was alarmed by all the dead birds in the US too, very weird. They do keep crop spraying though, and also spray starling flocks to keep away from cities. They make a massive mess and of course some people prefer nature santitized for our pleasure!
 
Not sure if this belongs here but so far this week life sucks!

Tuesday - card declined by Council for new permit immediately followed by bank calling to say due to fraudulent activity on account that is now suspended and all cards frozen.

Wednesday - go into bank to write cheque to w/d money to be told due to the scam money being taken out there was nothing left in account and it would be at least another 5 working days before I got a letter from the fraud dept asking me to confirm I didnt buy a computer on the Monday night (and then to be told the same company have tried three more times to take more money out of account!). Cards due to arrive early Feb.....

Saturday - 15mins from home just before joining A40 car dies. After a 2hr wait for a patrolman (AA grr) takes two mins to be told cant be repaired roadside so he calls for a truck to lift home. 90mins later said truck arrives with driver advising he has to take his break for another 45 mins. Finally arrived home 4 1/2 hrs after setting off.

Sunday - car now consigned to scrap heap due to cost of repair outweighing worth of car....

Seriously thinking of hibernating till 2012.

PS Should I cancel my car insurance whilst I am car-less or keep it going during the month I need to find the money/replacement? Dont want to lose 9yrs NC just because I wanted to save 1month money?

*sigh*
 
Jeez, Ballydoyle - you're competing with my last couple of years, and are very well rated at present! Phone your insurer re the car - they may cancel it anyway as the car is now officially dead (you will need to get a form saying it's been scrapped from whoever undertook its funeral), and re-open with no penalties when you get new one. Best to check - don't assume anything!

As for the fraud - I had £65 taken out of my credit card last month by McAfee, it seems - for a product I've not bought and haven't got. Bad enough I upgraded my free AVG to their 2011 model for £42, since when it's successfully slowed down every function, particularly startup! One step forwards, three steps back...

Best of luck and, if it's any consolation - my sincere commiserations!
 
Sorry to hear you're having such rotten luck, Ballydoyle. Personally I'd get back onto the bank about hurrying things up with regards to issuing you with new cards etc. After all, you're the victim here! Also as Kri said definitely ring the insurance company. If you've been with them for a while they should be quite willing to help you out whilst you look for a new vehicle.
 
Bloody hell, that's a bad week you're having Ballydoyle. It certainly belongs on this thread, despite the fact that the fluffy creatures appear to have taken over (as they tend to do).

Hope it all gets sorted out quickly to avoid you any more worries.
 
I would love to call the bank again but why get worked up trying to explain what I am saying to Bob in Bangalore?!
 
I had a car that broke down on me a few years ago, and I must say being towed to a garage was one of the most horrible experiences in my life; I felt totally helpless. Last week my insurance brokers [I've used them for over 30 years] said they would no longer insure my house for contents as I live by a river. We went through all this last year and in the end I got cover, but this year I said thanks but no thanks, I'll find someone else. I then received in the post a letter saying that the home emergency protection cover that they sold me last year with my house contents cover [I didn't have to pay for it, it was refunded after two months] is about to expire. I can't believe they've had the cheek to send me this reminder. I've not claimed a penny off them in over 35 years. They're going to get a stinker of a letter from me in the next few days. I love doing 'Mrs Angry' letters....
 
My bad luck must have rubbed off on you Ballydoyle.
You won't lose your no claims though. IIRC, you have 6 months to re-insure before you have to start afresh. Just make sure you get the proof of no claims from your insurer now as this will save hassle in the future.
 
How awful for you, and not the season to be without a car either.

Seems a long and difficult situation to get out of, and over, but really hoping the new improves for you!
 
Just spent the last half hour on the phone to my dad, he took his dog to the vets this morning as she has been limping for the last few days, they xrayed her to find she has bone cancer which has more or less eaten away her hip, dad has used the dog as an emotional crutch since mum died a couple of years ago,

Why is life so shite to people at times!
 
So sorry Helen. I did a little work with a vet when I lived in Devon and the saddest cases I helped on were older animals who were the much loved companions of older people, especially those on their own.
 
That's so sad, Helen. Bad enough to lose your mum such a short time ago, but then to lose his closest companion, that is really hard.
 
I had a chance to talk to the vet yesterday & its her pelvis not her hip, its very thin & not sure how long it will last out, she is on Tramadol now which I take at times, horrible stuff!

She is home but they don't know how long she has had the cancer so it might be she has a few weeks or maybe months all down to how quickly the cancer eats away the rest of the bone
 
Had a crap week last myself. Monday was one of the worst days every. I took the day off because my lower back was playing up on me again. Lets say the last 4 weeks for me have been physical hell. I got sent off for scans and have now been diagnosed with a hereditary spinal condition which is non curable but can be managed through physiotherapy, exercise and dietary control. In a nutshell I cannot put on anymore weight, because if I do it will cause pressure on my spine, which could then result in slipped discs, bulging discs and compression of the spine. There is medication I can take, but after weighing up the side effects, which can be severe I am going to deal with the pain. Oh the joys, NOT!

To top last Monday off, we also had to have my late Mum's beloved dog, Maggie, put down. She was old, 13 and really on borrowed time. Over the weekend she just deteriorated to a point where it was cruel to keep her alive. I decided enough was enough, and rung the vet on Monday at lunch time. By 4pm she was at the vet's and we were told she had days left to live, so we made the decision to put her down.

The Wednesday, which was a public holiday, I woke up again in pain. I was meant to have gone out with friends but stayed at home and slept for half the day.
 
What medication have you ruled out? I'm not an expert [obviously] but I know people on things like methotrexate and azathioprine [sp?] that have nasty side effects on paper, but have turned their lives around.
 
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The thing with any medication is all side effects are potential, doesn't necessarily mean you'd get them. PM if you like as it is my area of expertise and I'd be happy to help if I can.
 
Sounds awful Helen, although at least the dog is able to have a few days at home. Just hope the pain is manageable.

Armee - how sad, and so young too. Each person is of course different and I have no deatils about your condition, but medicine changes all the time and there may be advances on the way to help you. Keep hope.

We've just had our little ex racehorse put down. She was bred by a friend of ours, I bought half of her when she was 2 weeks old, and we raced her together in my colours. It was one of those monetary lapses of sense which cost us far too much money and yielded just a 4th place. But she was a joy to know and we retired her with another friend who rode her and showed her. Sadly her hooves were never any good and she developed navicular and rapidly went downhill. Heartbreaking to see her in pain, she was very brave and kind and always gave her all in anything we asked her to do. We managed to take her lad from her racing days to see her in the summer and it is lovely to know that we were all together one last time in the sun before she died. We had the hunt put her down, they were brilliant, it was immediate, she had no stress or idea. Thankfully the sun was shining, we fed her and her pony companion and then she was gone. It was just devastating for us to lose our old friend but I am really glad that I was there with her.

Is there any news on my old friend Dougal?
 
Oh, what a good end, and what a good life you gave her.When I was walking past on Sunday, there was a farrier at the field where I used to keep my daughter's pony. I had to go and stand nearby to breathe in the smell [they probably thought I was mad]. It brought back such memories of sunny days having a bit of a banter with whichever farrier we were using at the time. One always gave me a Marlborough light when he'd finished doing the horse..I only smoked on high days and holidays in those days, and I so looked forward to that furtive fag [always the best kind]. I hope your mare's pony friend is ok without her.
 
Thanks Moe, I agree with you, nothing like the smells of a paddock! 'Eau de expensive whatever' does not lift the spirits or evoke such memories. :)

We think the pony will be okay, the children ride her and take her to shows so as soon as the weather improves a little bit her life will be fuller. There are other equines on the farm too so she is not alone. And of course .... there are plenty of ponies needing homes at the moment so we can get her a mate if she needs one.

But she has terrible sweet itch in summer, the worst I have EVER seen, we dress her up all the time in a total blanket and hood. I've tried all kinds of things, nothing helps her. She was bred from a long time ago by previous owner and her foal had it so badly the vets put her down. Drives me crazy and makes no sense whatsoever. Anyone have any 'old wives tale' type remedies that I may not have heard of? I think she needs some sun on her back but as soon as the flies bite she rubs herself bloody. :mad:
 
Not a river as such, but there is a really wet spot at the bottom of the field, must be an underground stream. We did use Spot On for awhile and it helped, but did not stop completely. I think the pony is so sensitised now that one bite sends her mad. Think I might try it again this year, get it early and maybe try something by mouth for allergies too to try to give her a chance to recover. It's just an allergy really but does run them down.
 
Spoke to someone who still keeps horses in our village [we're next to a canal and two rivers] and asked him if any of theirs had sweet itch. Said one of them suffers terribly and they're planning to move elsewhere because of it. They just cover the horse up and use antihistamine cream etc. The reason I asked him is that they have a friend who keeps horses in the same field, and she uses aloe vera for just about everything [she sells it so gets it cheap] and I wondered if that helped with sweet itch. Obviously doesn't, or they would have tried it. It's good for eczema and asthma so I thought it might help with sweet itch. Might relieve it if applied topically, perhaps? I'll ask her when I see her next.
 
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