My furry and feathered children

First off, the OSPCA has posted Lenny's story on their blog! Take a look here.

Here is my dear old boy Julius...

One fang, two blind eyes, two failing kidneys, still hanging in there. I give him subcutaneous fluids every second day and it seems to help him a lot. He is not ready to go yet! Still love his food, still wants to explore (especially outside, where we supervise him!) loves to be brushed, and tries to steal supper off my plate. He is over 15 now and we love him very much. Day by day...

Meanwhile, his female doppelgänger Mootie is also doing great!

Hard to believe this cat was once labelled 'unadoptable" at the shelter. Plus she's not really a barn cat now, although she still likes to bunk in the barn sometimes. Last night she went to sleep on Gordon's chest, and he didn't want to disturb her, so he slept on top of the duvet instead of under it! Mootie is very sweet and affectionate. Just a little darling.

And then there's this geriatric...

Tristan also continues to tick along! We are going to Ireland next week for a two-week holiday and I am just hoping nobody has any kind of "episode" while we're away!!!

And look at this cutie!

Jersey is a very adorable pig! We have now had her just over a year.

And lucky Ophelia...

...got a good scritching from our friend Sarah last week!

And in goatie-land...

...Kevin and Geoff are in rut. Kevin actually peed on my friend's foot the other day... through the electric fence. At least, I hope it was pee! :0

The boys can't be neutered until we get back from our trip (they needed tetanus shots and boosters first) so we threw in the towel and let them bunk with the girls as it's hard to keep them separated. So there may be kids this spring. And the jury is still out on whether or not Bambi is really preggars. My goat friend doesn't think she is! If she is, I guarantee she'll give birth when I'm away, or ten minutes before we leave for the airport.

Finney...

...is mischievious, as always.

Louise...

...just had her second "gotcha day" with us. Time sure flies.

This past weekend was perfect for hanging out laundry...

 And my sunflowers are still going! No killer frost yet. I love this "double" ones, Can't remember what they're called, though.

We have some huge ones down there.

And poor Esme...

We've really been struggling with her laminitis issues. Right now she's on two drugs, plus we talked to a nutritionist and have sorted out her diet (mainly hay cubes and pellets.) We are having some hay tested for her too. She has been pretty stiff all week, although the farrier thought her hooves weren't too bad. We will have the vet take another look at her before we go away.

Unfortunately recurring laminitis can be such a problem that you have to euthanize the horse to spare them suffering. The vet doesn't think we're there yet. Gordon gave Esme a good brushing on the weekend (she loves that!) She is one of our rescue ponies and has already been through an awful lot in life: blind in one eye due to chronic uveitis, foundered (laminitis) several times before we got her, previous owner was shot dead and Esme was left in a cold barn in February for a few days with a bunch of other animals (including our pig Ophelia!) and no food. She's a tough little girl and we love her to bits.

Hope you are having a nice week!

Oh, please keep voting for me and my friend Miss Edie the Pug in the Pets Plus Us Champions Awards (we are in separate categories.) We could each win $1500 to donate to our favourite animal charity, which in my case would be the Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry OSPCA shelter in Cornwall (from where we have adopted 33 animals!) Thank you! Your votes have already pushed me up to first place in my category!