dog needs help

In 2014 I took in a Spanish rescue dog. I learned about him from a facebook page dedicated to a Spanish animal rescue. Since I was then without a large dog, and had been actively looking for some time in the UK and not finding anything (I cannot risk taking on an adult large breed with unknown history due to the fact that I have tiny dogs, plus cats and livestock), except staffies, staffy crosses and the like, I was looking at adopting from Europe. There were many many dogs which had been in dire straits. Then I came across a photo of a pup, who had been a street dog. He was, I was told, a 'mastin' cross. A Spanish mastiff cross.
As the weeks went on, I communicated with the rescue centre and was approved as his adopter. I was told that he had a slight limp and had been Xrayed and the xrays showed "a bit of cartilage wear".What I was not told was that his knee had been Xrayed, and not his hip. Now I don't know how they do things in Spain, but last time I had a large dog with a limp, and had got Xrays done, they Xrayed his hips, knees, elbows etc while he was under anaesthetic, in order to be sure that everything was as it should be. But apparently, in Spain, with a giant breed, prone to hip displaysia, they only Xray the knees.

As time went on, he limped more and more. One day, as I was brushing him, and was doing over his hips, he moved slightly, and under my hand, I felt a sickening 'clunk'. I looked closer and could see that hip pelvis didn't look right at all. It was clearly deformed.

He was at this time, still fairly young. I had him on supplements based on the info I had been given about "slight cartilage wear on hi knee". I took him to the vet right away and the vet felt all over and told me that he had no hip joint at all on the right side, and that his leg was permanently dislocated. Had the Spanish vet Xrayed his hip, this would have been visible! Further communication this morning, lead to me being told that he only limped on his knee and that's why only the knee was Xrayed and that at the time, although he was old enough to have his knee Xrayed, he was too young to have his hip Xrayed....................

 I was told by the vet to never let him run and to keep him very lean so as not to put any strain in his other hip, which was also not great, but was bearing all his weight. He was given a prescription for Tramadol, to help his pain.

Well here we are in 2016, Grippa is now fully grown and the Tramadol is wearing off. Oh he's happy enough in himself, but he cries when he stands up from a prone position. The time has come for him to be fixed up.
 After discussing the options with my vet, I discarded the idea of excising the head of the femur. He already doesn't use the leg, to the extent that it is withered and has no muscle. He needs at least one  good hip to bear his weight (currently at 38KG)

So it has been decided that he needs a hip replacement.

The problem being that it will cost £6000 which is beyond my finances. I have nothing worth selling as I live so very frugally.The insurance won't cover it, as it was an existing condition. There are not charity pet hospitals near me. I have managed to save £500 but it's taken nearly a year. He needs the operation fast.

Or he has to be put to sleep.

Obviously I don't want this to happen!

He has come on in leaps and bounds. He's so intelligent and friendly. He learned to give a paw for a treat by watching the other dogs do it. I have taught him to 'speak' on command.
I live very rural and if someone comes to the door, I need a dog who will bark or growl to warn anyone who might be up to no good. Previously, he'd wag his tail and look every inch the friendly dog he is. Now, a hand signal behind my bark, starts him barking and growling. People tend to notice that more than the wildly wagging tail lol.
I have started a fund raising page in the hopes that people might donate even a quid towards getting my big Spanish boy fixed up. He has his own facebook page with more pictures and updates.

and his donation site is:Grippa's fundraiser

His current vet is his uncle Colin at Terrington veterinary surgery, but he'll need referring to a specialist to have the operation done.

Here is his latest X-ray, taken beginning February 2016.

Note the odd way he holds his right hind leg. It looks concave but in reality, that's because he has no muscle tone at all on that side.

In fairness, the rescue centre in Spain have just said that if I want, I can send him back and their vet will operate on him, but,since the vet over there seems unable to do what is needed with an Xray, I don't trust them to operate. Plus, what sort of owner would I be, to send my boy, back to the country where people were bad to him, to go through a scary operation surrounded by strangers. A 3 days journey in a van, then pain and fear. He'd think I had abandoned him.

So no, he will be operated on by people *I* trust, and examined while I am there to reassure him. At least he will, if I can get people to help me.

At some point in the future, BBC radio Cambridgeshire may be doing a feature about him. I regularly offer advice about animals with them and when I got a call this afternoon about doing another feature, I asked for this in return, previously always having just been happy to help at no cost to them.
The local papers may also be doing an article.
I am happy to invite anyone to meet my boy. You'll discover that he is worth helping.

please donate to Grippa's fund

In the last 2 photos, you can see how withered and misshapen his leg is. The foot also turns out at right angles.
He is going for a proper assessment and more X-rays, next Tuesday at Terrington Vets which is our vet.
If I cannot raise the funds to get him fixed, he will have to be put to sleep.
He is permanently on Tramadol to control the pain. I had to chuckle at the box though as it contains a warning not to drive or operate machinery, while the label also states "for animal use" and then his name on the label.

Home, home with a range.............................

 For those wanting to live a self sufficient lifestyle, one of the things I advise them to get is a range. A range is a marvellous thing indeed. You can win the lottery and get the city persons country style Aga (pronounced Aaaaarguh), or the original cottager's Rayburn, or a large functional German Wamsler, or the modern pressed steel ones which seem to come from Europe.
And while I am on the subject of Europe, most very rural homes, will still have some kind of wood fired stove, cooker, range.
I started life with Rayburns. I learned to cook on a solid fuel Rayburn number 1. A very basic machine with no hob lids and a single oven.
Can I just quickly clarify here that when I refer to a range, I mean a proper one with real live burny fire inside a fire box, and not a gas/oil/electric one, which to me, is simply crazy. If you are on mains gas, or want to use oil, or can afford to use enough electricity to run a modest home every time you want to grill some bacon, then I'm surprised you are reading my blog. When I say "range" I mean a beast which sits in the room, needing feeding occasionally, with a fire in it's belly dispensing a feeling of wellbeing and warmth.
Anyway, back to the subject. You need to learn and understand how a range functions, to be able to use it properly. Basically the principle is this: Vents underneath fire box, allow air to be sucked up through the grate, causing the fire to burn hot. The flue pipe on the top of the stove, which goes up the chimney, needs also to be open, thus, fire + flow of air = woosh, hot hot. By opening and closing the vent and the flue you are controlling air flow. More air flow, hotter oven, less air flow, cooler. Those are the basics. Once you start to use it, you very quickly learn. It's obviously not like a normal cooker where a turn of a knob brings instant heat and turning it down brings an instant result. So how do you control your pan heat? Simple. There's a hot end of the hob, and a cool end. Instead of turning the knob to turn the gas or electric down and stop a pan from boiling over, you simply, slide the pan off the hot end, to the cool end :)
The hot end will be the end over the fire box, and the cool end is over the oven.

The Rayburn makes a great beginner's range. It's not complicated, the older ones can be got cheaply and it isn't huge, taking up half the room (like my big old Wamsler). They started life way back in 1946 and almost every year, the basic model was improved, with more features.  You can identify the age of an original Rayburn by looking at the features and I have found a great page with all the info on it here:Identifying your Rayburn.
There are a few things you need to consider before buying your secondhand Rayburn. Firstly, buy in Summer. Sounds daft right? But in Summer, people aren't generally buying heaters. They are buying air conditioners, coolers, fans and fridges. So if someone is disposing of an unwanted Rayburn because they are doing up a property in Summer, it will not go for a lot of money. Ebay is a good place to look.
Secondly, if someone is selling something like a Rayburn Royale, and tells you that it'll run your central heating, they are fibbing. Check the link I provided above, to tell you which model will do what. A Royale does indeed have a boiler and you will get lots of hot water and maybe one very small single radiator, or a towel rail from it, but not central heating.

If it's close enough, ask to go and look at it. The top should not have any cracks in. Believe me, hot cast iron with a crack in it, is bloody dangerous as it can literally explode. Chipped enamel is nothing. It isn't pretty, but, if pretty is important to you, you can always have it sand blasted and re enamelled or painted with stove paint.

Then check inside the fire box. It should be lined with fire bricks. Make a note of any which are missing or cracked as you'll have to factor in the cost of getting those replaced. They aren't expensive, and, if you get the range in the Summer and are strapped for cash, you have a few months to get the money together. And being strapped for cash is a good reason to get a range, as I'll go into later.

Then, if the model is one with a boiler (basically a metal box filled with water, behind or wrapped around the fire box, with pipes coming out of the side, leading to your hot water cylinder) ask if it is connected up to their boiler. If not, then the boiler will be useless and need replacing if you want to use it for hot water, and boilers are expensive to buy.

If in doubt, either buy from a dealer, or someone who refurbishes them and offers a guarantee. Of course, like car dealers, this means you will get peace of mind, but you'll be paying for it.
Ideally, you will also have it installed by a professional too. You really don't want to be trying to do so yourself unless you are very experienced.

Running a range on solid fuel means you need to not only learn how to use the thing, but how to use it safely. This means watching what fuel you burn. Unseasoned wood for instance, will soon clog your chimney or flue and this is dangerous. Conifers produce a lot or resin and, if the chimney gets coated with resin, which is highly flammable, you could have a chimney fire. So use only seasoned wood (more on fuels later), hardwood is best.

You also need to maintain your range and flue or chimney. This means at least twice yearly cleaning. Get the chimney swept and remove the hot plate (obviously the range needs to be cold), sweep out all the soot which has collected under the hob plate and around the flue control and inside the flue pipe.

You wouldn't drive your car if it had the exhaust leaking into the interior and a blocked chimney or flue is the same principle. Safety first.....always !

If you haven't been put off by this, then I'd say, read up. There is loads of info online. Join forums, speak to people (like myself) who have spent decades living with a solid fuel range, then start looking at different makes and models. But for dipping your toe into the water so to speak, a small old Rayburn costing no more than £100 max' (you can sometimes get them for nothing) is the way to start.
 When you've got the hang of it , there's nothing nicer than coming downstairs on an icy Winter's morning, to a snug cosy kitchen.

A range will save you money too. I made myself a drying rack which hangs above my current range. Some lengths of wooden skirting board (donated by my neighbour who was refurbishing his home, some lengths of dowel that I bought, some nylon rope which was left over from a roll I'd used to make washing lines outside, and some heavy duty screw in hooks and a couple of pulleys was what I used. If you are rich, you can buy a rack with cast iron ends. It'll cost you around £70 for a little 4 foot one. They are called 'Sheila maid', or 'laundry maid'. Mine is Pammy made and is 7 feet long with a total of 42 feet of drying space!

 I built a box frame by screwing the skirting board together. It's 7 feet long and 18 inches deep. You'll need a centre brace to make it strong. Drill holes through the centre brace and the end bits, to allow you to place your dowelling to make the bars which your laundry will hang over. Make sure they line up. Screw an eye into each corner of the frame and on each end, tie a length of your strong nylon rope from one eye to the other to form an arc or loop.
I took some photos this morning to explain it all and I hope this will give you more of an insight than the written word.

 note cord (green) from the right hand end of the rack, does not go through the pulley, but over the heavy duty hook in the ceiling.

 Now, your Aga (Aaaaarguh) was the range they had up at the manor house. Cook used it. It was fueled by anthracite. It didn't run radiators. The cottager (peasants like myself) had a Rayburn. It was the right size (small) to fit in our humble hovels. The Rayburn was designed to burn just about anything, logs, coal, anthracite, peat. Much more versatile. On my range I burn, old shoes, junk mail, cardboard from packages I get, all the wrappings if I buy anything in packages, plus old cat litter including the turds. I use wood based cat litter and have lots of cats. The litter gets used by them first, the litter trays get cleaned twice a day, sifting the turds from the dry pellets and scooping any wet litter too. It goes into a bucket then tipped into the range. In India they burn cow poo, in Africa, elephant and Rhino poo, in Norway reindeer poo so it seems that poo = fuel. I have to pay for the wood based cat litter so I may as well get full use out of it, plus it saves on disposal. It doesn't up in land fill.I also smash up broken pallets and burn those. I get them free by going to builders merchants and industrial places and asking nicely. I always leave the areas tidy when I'm collecting and am always polite.
 It helps the companies as they don't have to hire a skip and pay for the removal.For this though you really need to have access to either a van, or a car and trailer such as I have.
I also use old damaged furniture even if it's chipboard or MDF. There is controversy about whether these should be used because of how they are made, but frankly if the glue is nasty stuff when burned, it'll still be nasty stuff in landfill when it leaches out into the soil and groundwater, so I burn it. If you hoose to burn just ordinary untreated wood, this then is still not useless once it's been burned. You add the ash to your compost heap or raised beds. Never waste anything!

If you have properly installed your range, and your flues and chimneys are clean and clear, you won't smell the burning poo or cat litter or anything else. It all goes out of the chimney.
 I once went through one of the coldest winters we have had, cooking, using the oven, boiling the kettle, heating the whole of the downstairs and drying my laundry........................for free, by using scavenged scrap wood!

BRRRRR but I was toasty warm indoors.

 So, this is why I advise people to install a range if they can, and if they want to save money. After all, the money I save on boiling kettles, drying laundry, cooking and heating, can be put to better use elsewhere.


 Here's my trusty old Wamsler. I did bedding yesterday and even folded over, the double duvet covers were dry in half an hour. On the table (lower right) is the double duvet I had washed and dried on the rack, with the door mat (home made by myself by knitting a huge ball of twine I'd been given) laying on top. You can see the tea pot sitting on the hob ensuring lots of hot tea.

The reason I now have a Wamsler instead of a Rayburn is because I like to cook. The whole of the top of the Wamsler, is the cooking area, as opposed to a small hob on a Rayburn. The Wamsler also has several useful functions, like the ability to raise and lower the grate inside the fire box. This means that in winter, you can put really big long bits of wood, or, if you are to be away from home for some hours, load it up with the appropriate anthracite, and close all the vents once it's glowing, meaning that it will burn slowly all day long. That's what I did here. You can't see the temperature gauge on the oven door but it is showing only 90C. That's barely warm.(just perfect to put a rice pudding in overnight)

The other function it has is that by moving a lever on the front, I can open a vent inside, allowing heat to either travel around the oven if I need to roast or bake. Or close off the oven and heat the hot plate, if I need to fry or boil the kettle, and of course, by making all the vents shut, plus closing the flue, it just burns slowly with little heat. I would not hang my laundry so close to a Rayburn as they simply aren't as controllable.

I paid £60 for my Wamsler on ebay. It was sited down in the west country and I live in north Cambridgeshire. I used a pallet company to transport it. The seller had it on a pallet in his barn so it was easily shifted onto the lorry and brought right to my house at a cost of £35.

Bitten by a dragon..........................

I keep various animals and have a soft spot for bearded dragon lizards. I have 3, all rescues. My oldest is 'Moriarty', bought from a student in digs 8 years ago. He was in a vivarium which was way too small and had not been handled. He's now an affectionate handleable dragon. He lives in a vivarium I made out of an used lockable shop display unit. I made a 3D rock background out of expanding foam, with nooks and crannies, little caves, for his live food to hide in and so that he can hunt as he'd do in the wild.

Above his living space is another vivarium, housing a large male Yemen chameleon, which was another rescue. He's called 'Marlon' and is a grumpy old git and, like most chameleons, dislikes being handled.

Then there are Stumpy and Ember the 2 youngest bearded dragons. Stumpy was bred by someone who owned a reptile shop. He'd been left in with other bearded dragons and had had his tail and one back foot bitten off. He was about to be fed to a large python when I begged for him and was given him. Since I've had him, he has grown into a large healthy dragon. I say 'he', but in reality, I don't know his gender. His tail was bitten off right at the base and he therefore has no hemipene lumps to see. He was in effect castrated at the same time.

Then there is little Ember. Sold by the same shop and returned, emaciated a few weeks later. I was spun a tale about idiot owners, not feeding her properly, her only being fed salads and veggies etc. All lies as I now discover that the reason she never ate her live food (crickets, mealworms etc) was because she is blind. She simply cannot see them. I watched her as she could hear them, and ran about in their general direction, with her mouth open, much as a big whale holds its mouth open as it trawls for krill. If I place mealworms in a small dish with a little salad, she can simply aim for the salad and scoop up mealworms by luck.

Ember and Stumpy live in the same large vivarium, very happily, although it's not really recommended to keep bearded dragons together. However, these two like each other and spend their days sat beside each other or cuddled up close.
Because of Ember's blindness, if I throw a load of live food in. Stumpy hunts and scoffs everything while poor Ember, runs about with her mouth open, desperately hoping that something might jump in. Of course it doesn't!
So, every morning, Stumpy gets removed and placed into a temporary enclosure with some food, while I hand feed Ember. I couldn't find my tongs this morning and so fed her by hand. I hold a locust, and touch her nose and she opens her mouth and I pop it in. She must have been really peckish this morning as she grabbed fast, got the locust and the tip of my finger. Wow that was painful.
Now, the tongs are hanging on a hook next to their vivarium.

In the summer, if the weather is warm and sunny, my bearded dragons have secure outside cages where they get a chance to absorb real UV rays from the sun. I heard once that one day in the sunshine, gives them as much UV  as a week's worth of UV bulb, and of course, with them being outside, it means I get to turn off the UV and the heat bulb in the vivariums, saving me money on the electricity costs, and prolonging the life of the UV bulbs, which have to be replaced every 9 months.

Last year I didn't have Ember and it was Stumpy's first summer with me. Moriarty likes to be handled and understands that when I open his door and get him onto my arm, he is going outside, which he enjoys. He can bathe in his bowl of water, bask in the sunshine and hunt the insects which fly or crawl into his cage. Stumpy hated to be handled so it took a little training for him to realise that handling and being carried, meat a nice day outside in the sunshine. This year, it'll be Ember's turn to learn about the outside.
I have no idea why most people never provide some sort of outside cage for sunny days and I feel sorry for bearded dragons which spend their whole lives in a vivarium.

A funny story about my bearded dragons. At the time, Moriarty was my only one. I had visitors with 2 small children and was showing the oldest one, a boy, of around 4 years old, some of my pets. He pointed to Moriarty and asked what he was and I said "he's a bearded dragon". The little lad's eyes widened and he said, with awe in his voice "a real dragon?" I replied that of course he was. "Does he make fire?" he asked, and I replied that indeed he did. So could I get him to make fire and show him, he asked. To which I shook my head and said that fire is dangerous, and besides, he only did it in winter. I pointed to the woodburning stove behind the boy and said, "do you see that? It's a fire for winter. I have no radiators, so in winter, when it's cold, I put paper and wood into that, then get Moriarty, hold his face to the paper and give a little squeeze..............not a big squeeze, just a very little one. Then the dragon burps out some fire, which lights the paper, and burns and makes the room warm. He then asked why I didn't just use matches and I explained that matches could be dangerous, and people mustn't ever play with matches as they could burn themselves (might as well try to get a lesson in there) .Well, his eyes were like saucers and he looked with awe at my little dragon.
Yes of course it was a fib but oh the look on that little boy's face as he realised that he was in the presence, and had even stroked, a real live fire breathing dragon that an old lady used to light her fire in winter. I hope he remembers, as he must now be a big boy, since this was around 6 years ago.Kids sometimes need some magic in their lives.

The top photo shows poor mutilated Stumpy. The second is a very thin Ember shortly after I got her and before I realised she was blind. She seems to get comfort from having Stumpy in with her. Lastly, old Moriarty in his summer cage.

Of course Marlon the grumpy old chameleon will have to tolerate being handled this year as he too has a large secure cage ( very large tall budgie cage) which will be hung up in the apple tree to emulate being in the wild and catching some real proper sunshine.
Of course the cages always have an area of shade, and have clean water for drinking and sitting in. These are the dragon cages, set in the tortoise garden (yes I have a large 60 year old tortoise too). The grass on top provides a shaded area. Bother have wired bases so to allow dandelions (rich in calcium) to grow through. They are the tops of these large indoor rabbit or guinea pig cages that I have picked up at car boot sales.
Keeping any kind of pets means more than simply providing food and water and a space to live. It should mean that you think about how they would live in the wild and trying to replicate this. The posh term for this is 'enrichment' but to my way of thinking, being rich, means having something more that you need, whereas providing this should be a basic thing.

Bearded dragons are fabulous, affectionate, intelligent lizards and perfect for any novice who wants to own a reptile. But I beg you not to think "what's the minimum I can get away with to keep it alive" and instead, think of what you can provide to keep the animal happy. A bearded dragon in a vivarium will soon be a boring pet. You'll get fed up with the cost of the electricity costs and the cost of replacing the UV bulbs (which aren't cheap) every 9 months, and the cost of live food. That's why so many are advertised for sale. "kids lost interest". You get out of any pet, only what you are prepared to put into it.
And please, if you get one, don't be tempted to breed them to keep your interest. They are the most commonly bred lizard and if you can sell them at all, you might get a fiver each if you aren't fussy who you sell them to. These funny charismatic little animals deserve better than a life in a boring 3 foot vivarium getting the minimum attention.
Did I mention that I have a huge soft spot for them?

the aging smallholder

I shall be 61 in March. I forget sometimes that I am getting old. In my mind, I'm still 40. In reality, I am getting old, things hurt, I'm not as strong as I was and I have bad lungs. The bad lungs means that in winter, I try to stay indoors, out of the cold and damp which affect them. It's impossible to be active in any way if you cannot get enough oxygen into you.

I am planning the straw bale garden that I intend to try out this year. I'm no longer able to dig you see, nor bend, and as I get older, if I wish to continue to live the way I do, I need to find ways to carry on, but in a way that I can do so, even with my health issues.
So I have been reading seed catalogues, planning what to grow and dreaming. The only trouble is that I dream big. I want to swap things about on my land. Currently, my chickens have more space than they need, and where I am growing things in containers and have sat the little polytunnel, is on the concrete base of the old aviary block which is now mostly demolished. That would be perfect for the chickens, it being dry underfoot, and rats or foxes not being able to dig under. All I need to do is move the big Heras fence panels to surround the concrete, then site a new shed for them, then shift the polytunnel and containers over to the area currently used as the hen run. It's on the sunnier side of the land and would be perfect for the new garden.
Great plans. Except that I am physically not capable of doing it all.

I called some local gardening companies and it's not the sort of thing they do. I placed advert's for someone to come and work with me, offering above minimum wage, a couple of hours a week, with unlimited tea or coffee. I figured a young person who wanted to make a bit of pocket money, or a fit pensioner, might be interested. It seems not.

I called the probation people to see if I could get someone doing community service (I call it community cop out), because they once got me someone to help put plasterboard up. Oh no, I was told that it's too dangerous for them. It's cold outside, they might hurt themselves.

I have found a source for some cheap straw bales and this is just the right time to get them put into position, and I need to start thinking about planting up some seeds in plug trays in the heated growing place I have, but I can't do anything by myself.

Is it really  time for me to stop living and be an old lady, eating biscuits all day and knitting and marking time until I can step into my shroud? I bloody well hope not. There's a bit more life in this old dear yet.

 The current hen run is on the far right. You can just see a tiny corner of it. This photo of the concrete base was taken as the aviary block was under construction. The front flights have all been demolished. What remains is the corrugated plastic roof to the left of this photo. I was thinking about leaving it there as shelter.
The hen run is approximately 20 feet by around 55 feet and I have a dozen hens, so it seems like swapping things about would be sensible.

Did I mention that growing old sucks, big time?

Spring is in the air and so are fleas and rats

The weather this Winter has been very mild indeed. My roses never stopped blooming.
On the one hand, this means that I haven't had to buy fuel for the old Wamsler range, but on the other hand, it means that pests which would normally be killed off or reduced in icy conditions, have not been.

 For the cats and dogs, this means of course, fleas. They, and I, hate the pesky little blighter's. Normally, in a proper cold winter, one final treatment for all the animals and then a spray of the house and bedding eat the first frost, means that any residual larvae and eggs, either die off, or at least stay dormant in my home, which has no central heating (out of choice) The upstairs has no heating at all, especially as, every morning, during my cleaning routine with the dogs turfed outside for their morning toilet, my bedroom window is opened, and the spare bedroom window is opened, and icy cold fresh clean air, blows from front to back.

But no, this year, there's no icy cold air and so I have had to continue buying flea treatments .
I have to say that killing fleas on house pets is a 2 pronged assault.

You have to treat the pets, but at the same time, treat the home, because fleas only jump onto the pet for a feed, and for the rest of the time, they live, breed, lay eggs and have flea festivals in your carpets, cracks in floorboards, upholstery, the pet's bed, your bed if they sleep with you. So treating just the pet but not addressing the 95% which are not actually on your pet, is a waste of time and money, and I dislike wasting either.

Pet shop flea treatments really don't work, especially the spot on stuff containing 'Fipronil' which is the active ingredient in Frontline. Manufacturers are clever though. They manufactur the same product, but under different names. So if for example, you bought Frontline spot on, and discover that your pet still has fleas, so you go back to the pet shop and buy some Fiprotec spot on instead, and again, the pet has fleas, so you go again and buy some Effipro, and again, the pet still has fleas and you are £30 worse off than if you'd just gone to the vet for a flea check (most vets do this free of charge), then asked for a prescription for stronghold (does fleas, ticks, lice, mange and earmites) for around £10 a month, which is way cheaper than buying an ineffective pet shop flea treatments and separate wormer. Do your research into what treatments are avialable, read all the labels and check prices, make a decision then tell the vet which one you want. You don't have to go with whatever one he decides on any more than you have to buy whatever food the pet shop tells you to. It's your money and you make the decision. The vet can recommend a particular product, but it's up to you to decide whether you want to follow his recommendation or not.The prescription will cost you no more than a human private prescription costs. My vet charges me £7.50 for it and he is very good that he'll put a 6 month supply on it.Legally the vet has to see the animal at least every 6 months.(£3.75 for a repeat prescription)

Now the reason I said to ask the vet for a prescription is that vets make a profit on the medicines they sell. Basically you and I can buy at the same prices they pay (according to my last vet who always insisted that he couldn't get it for what I was paying online, which is an obvious lie, because nobody forces a retailer to use an expensive wholesaler when he could buy from the same places as I do).
So then you come home, and go online and compare prices from any of the very many online vet medicine places which exist. Some will let you scan the 'script and email them a copy.Some want you to sent it to them. I avoid those ones as I feel it needs to be sent registered mail (in case it gets lost in the post) and my nearest post office is 4 miles away. So basically a load of hassle.
What you will save is loads of money. For example. My large Spanish dog has some issues meaning he needs pain medication. He takes Tramadol. I get the prescription and take that to my local chemist since that is used by humans too. The vet's price for 20 Tramadol was £20. Getting the private prescription and buying from the chemist meant that I paid only £4 for the Tramadol. I saved £16 on them. Of course I paid £7.50 for the initial prescription, but even then, I saved £9.50. I went back for a repeat prescription , paid the £3.75 and asked for 100 to be put on the prescription. This is 50 days supply for the dog. At the chemist it cost me £20 instead of the £100 it would have cost had I bought them at the vets.

The dog also needed 'Canaural' for a bit of an ear infection he had. Again at the vets in was nearly £30 for a bottle. Since this is an animal only medicine, the local chemist can't do it, so I went online, scanned and emailed the 'script, and it was sent to me within days, and cost me £9.

Anyway, since I have 6 dogs indoors , which sit on my chair and sleep on my bed, plus at least 9 cats indoors, including the neighbours, and some half ferals who come in through the window for a feed occasionally, fleas are something I prefer not to have, or at least, keep on top of.
So while I have been saving money on coal (actually some eco anthracite) I have been spending it on flea products.
If you prefer not to get a flea prescription at the vet, and don't know which spot on treatment to get, I recommend a product called 'Clearspot' which is exactly the same as 'Advantage'. It's still effective on fleas, unlike Frontline (and the offshoots named Fiprotec, Effipro and anything else with 'fip' in the name). I have done the research and found the cheapest place to buy online is here.

The other problem pest has been rats. I have a year round baiting regime on my land. Any sensible smallholder, especially if they keep livestock, must have some method of controlling the rats and mice, since they will not only eat grain and feed, but they are incontinent so basically pee as they go. If they get into a feed bucket or bin, for the tea spoon of grain they eat, they have spoiled the rest, because you cannot feed what they have peed and poo'd on as it carries some nasty diseases which you or your livestock can get sick from.

After having tried various methods of rat control over the years, some useless, some I discarded as inhumane, some just not effective on an ongoing basis, I now use rat bait inside a proper bait box.
For those who are novices, here are some of the methods you could use.

Sticky traps:  In theory, you place on a rat run, and the rat gets stuck on the very strong glue.
The downside is that you have to be experienced enough to recognise a rat run. Secondly, not only rats will get caught. The neighbour's cat, the friendly robin which comes to feed on the bird table, the hedgehog you feed at night, will all get stuck. And they struggle and get more distressed and more stuck. When you find them, it is impossible to get them off. Their skin, fur, feathers and even little bird legs will get torn off as you pull. Frankly they should be made illegal. Even if you get a rat. One single rat, you are now left to kill it. Please do not drown it.Besides, drowning it is illegal.No animal should have a drawn out, terror filled death.
 I nearly drowned as a child and believe me, they will fight to breath and struggle to get loose from the trap. So that means a swift and violent death with a spade.
Please don't use sticky traps!

Humane traps: Basically, you place bait inside, and the rat goes in and cannot get out. Again you are then left with what to do with it. Either, somehow kill it, but how one can kill a wild rat, running about fast and afraid in the trap, is beyond my experience. As I said before, drowning is not an option. Or, you can take it far from your home and release it. Only, you have just release the rat into enemy rat territory. He will be attacked and possible killed by the rats onto whose territory you have just released him. It's a bit like inner city gangs; and if he doesn't get attacked and killed, he'll find his way home again.

Rat zapper. Like an electric chair for rats. You put batteries in it, add bait to it, place where rats are, and the rat goes in to feed, touches the live bits, and flash bang wallop, it's dead. The downside is, once again, that you are only killing one rat at a time. Believe me, rats breed faster than you could ever hope to keep up with them if you use any of the single catch methods.The rat zapper can also only be used indoors.

Ferreting: If you keep ferrets you might like to go ferreting. I used to own a tiny little jill named Lizbiff, she was no bigger than a stoat, but boy was she fierce. Put her nose to a hole and if there was no smell of rat, she'd wander off uninterested. But if she caught a sniff, her tail would thrash wildly and she'd struggle to be loose. Down the hole in a flash she would go, and, from deep underground, a series of thumps and squeaks would be heard, before, Lizbiff would eventually come out, backwards, dragging a dead rat, 3 times her size, out of the hole. Then she'd run up my leg and into my jacket pocket for payment, which was a small piece of cheese. Ratting with Lizbiff was fun for her and interesting for me, but again, one or two rats at a time, still isn't getting on top of a rat problem. Plus it's time consuming.You also risk a large rat injuring your ferret if it isn't experienced, or has only ever been a pet, and you risk losing your ferret down a hole, which, if it was mine, would mean hiring diggers to excavate the maze of tunnels, to find her. Plenty of gamekeepers and rabbiters would simply not bother because ferrets are easy to get and cheap to buy.All of my past ferrets and my current 3, are all rescue ones which had been found straying.

Shooting: You can sit out at night, waiting to take pot shots with an air rifle. Rather you than me. I'd rather be indoors with a cup of tea by the fire. Again, you get one at a time because if you hit one, the sound of the shot and the squeal of the rat, will warn the others which will then stay safely hidden. You also have the issue of getting a clean killing shot. If you can't, then don't shoot. As I said before, no animal deserves to die in pain and terror because you aren't a good shot and you got it in the gut and left it to crawl off and die over the next few days.

So that more or less leaves poison.
I left this until last because it was the last method I used when I was so concerned that poison was cruel. It took rats getting into the bantam runs and killing several of my prize bantams, then getting into the owl aviary and attacking my sweet old barn owl, biting her face and blinding her in both eyes, before I started to use poison. It was at the vets with the owl, and talking to the vet about not using poison that did it. He told me to stop being silly, that I should research poisons and how they work. That rats didn't die screaming in agony as I'd imagined, but their blood got thinner and they crept off into their nest because they felt cold and drowsy, went to sleep and never woke up again as they went into a coma and bled internally, knowing nothing about it.
So I came home, did research and started using bait boxes and a poison that has low secondary poisoning risks. The bait boxes mean that only target species (i.e. rats and mice) gain access to the stuff, and it means that they need around 4 feeds before it is lethal. That means that if a raptor or cat or fox or stoat gets them while they are above ground, they don't contain a dose which would kill the predator. By the time they have eaten several feeds, they are feeling cold and unwell and are generally back in their nest.For accidental poisonings, say if a rat has died above ground and a pet dog has played with it, vitamin K is the antidote and easily administered.
In the 10+ years I have been using my choice of rat bait, I have not had one case of accidental secondary poisoning.
The other positive thing about using bait is that it works 24/7 and will kill as many rats as go to feed. It's like an all night diner for rats. It works if you aren't there sitting in the cold with an air rifle, and unlike the other methods which kill only one at a time, this method kills as many as you have on your land.
But don't pat yourself on the back when you do your weekly bait box checks and discover that no bait is being eaten after a few weeks. Sure, you have eradicated all the rats, but you have just created new, empty rat territory. Within weeks, a few scout rats will suss the place out, and report back that this is ideal to squat. Controlling rats is an ongoing task.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't hate rats. Indeed, I have always had pet rats. My current ones are 2 male naked dumbo rats named Ronnie and Reggie and I love them a lot. In fact I'd say that keeping rats has helped me to keep the wild population under control as I learned how they behave.

For instance. Rats are neophobic. They distrust anything new. So when you first place the bait boxes, the bait will not be taken. If you keep moving them about to find the place where the rats will take the bait, they will never take the bait. Leave them in place for 2 weeks and don't touch them. If you have sited them properly (under sheds, along walls and fences, under the hedge where you saw a rat hole), eventually they will start using them. My keeping pet rats means I have a slight advantage since I place some of my rats droppings in and around the bait box. This tells the wild rats that a rat has been there, so they are more inclined to use them.

Anyway, in the last week I have used 2KG of rat bait and as fast as I'm filling the boxes and placing underneath the chicken house, it is being eaten. So I have just ordered another 10KG online, which will arrive on Monday and I'll carry on baiting.

For anyone who tells themselves that rats have the right to live too, and killing them is cruel, let me tell you that rats will kill little songbirds in the nest, and eat the eggs the songbird laid, and if the mother bird is sitting tight on a nest full of babies, and doesn't fly away when the rat comes creeping in the hedge at night, it'll kill and eat her too. They will chew the legs off sitting hens and ducks and kill your chicks. They will destroy your sheds in order to get in if there's feed stored, and they will cost you your hard earned money in spoiled feed.

If you have pet toys or kids toys in the garden and you have rats, you are risking your dogs getting Leptospirosis and your kids getting Weil's disease.

There's no need to be sentimental about rats, they are the ultimate survivalists. I quite admire them as a species. So get a control method on your land, but bear in mind that you need to be compassionate and do not make them suffer unduly however you control them.

So yes, I am saving on fuel, but spending on flea treatments and rat control.