Pets and Vets

Life at Casa Noce has been relatively calm over the past few weeks. My days consist of going to work, cleaning out the hen house, cooking and missing my sons. On Mondays it's Italian class, on Thursdays it's Choir, on Fridays Italian caffe and Dante Alighieri society once a month. I've been feeling decidedly middle class for some weeks now. There was a brief bit of excitement when the election provided us with a hung parliament, and now we have all settled into the new politics, with Dave and Nick at the helm.

It all seemed so cut and dried, it couldn't last. On an international level, panic has been induced by the on-going violence in Thailand. Advice from the Foreign Office to keep out of Bangkok unless absolutely essential is not welcomed when I know the Talented Younger Son is due to fly there in the next week; my oldest, oldest friend is there at present, and spouse and I have booked two weeks in Thailand this coming August. The shocking protests have been quelled by the army and there is again a sense of calm, apparently. Oldest, oldest friend says all is well, especially out of Bangkok where a heavy military presence is much in evidence. TYS will be heading for Singapore and then we'll just have to wait and see which bit of Asia he travels to next.

On a local level, things are just as dramatic, at least as far as I am concerned. Gabbana, my adorable senior hen, has been looking a little off colour for a few days now. She appears to be listless and lethargic. We decided to give her a soothing warm bath last night, something which is very relaxing for chickens, and which would help to clean her grubby looking bum. It was whilst bathing her that we discovered a nasty growth, of infection, or parasite, we know not what, in and around her vent area. Poor little thing must be in such discomfort.

And so this morning it was off to the vet. The first visit I've paid to a vet since Pernod, my gorgeous doggy, had her ear bitten by another dog at our obedience classes. That was in South Africa, a long time ago. The local vet was very kind and patient, and Gabbana behaved beautifully as he examined her. He discovered lice under her feathers, which apparently can cause the listlessness we've noticed. He was less concerned about the growths, which we will continue to try to remove in warm baths.

The next job was to get the medication required for Gabbana, all the chicks and their house. We have to treat everything. This afternoon, spouse and I, wearing old clothes and dust masks, carried out the first dusting. I held the chickens firmly while he lifted their feathers and dusted them liberally. It must have looked quite a sight. The girls are docile and don't mind being handled, but Cockie is skittish. We had to wait until he took himself off to bed. I reached into the hen house and took the sleepy cockerel from his perch, and then in the fading light, wearing our elegant masks we dusted the trembling little bird. I do hope this treatment works, and quickly too. It's a horrible job.