Caro's notes. June 2004.

Decisions about Cats and Dogs...

...and while we are going through the motions of setting up life in France there are two furry creatures that pre-occupy us more and more since we left Holland early March. They are two fat cats called Jake and Elwood Blues.

Since we had no clue as to what our housing situation would be once we arrived down here, we made the decision to leave them in Holland. So, just like I had to find a temporary home for my two dogs 5 years ago when I left Australia, we found someone in Amsterdam who is taking care of them since the end of February.

In hindsight, we could have taken them with us when we left. Because after almost 4 months, we are still staying in the same house and it looks like we will not be going anywhere yet in the near future. After Jake’s recent fit (epileptic?) and taking into consideration that the Blues Brothers are 16 years of age, and Jake being a diabetes patient for half of his life, we are now seriously considering a round trip of 2600 kilometers to bring them here.

But, at this time of year this would mean dodging loads of Dutch, English and Belgium families and their caravans, all going to Southern France for their summer holidays. This would also mean most probably getting horribly stuck around the Antwerp ring which is undergoing a major reconstruction during the next couple of months. It will definitely mean at least 13 hours of driving there and 13 hours back. And I haven’t even mentioned the summer temperatures which will make the cat litter in the back unbearable, even with the airco. So we will not make it back in13 hours , think shit clearing stops, feeding and injection stops.

But more importantly, what happens if a house comes for sale and we are not there. And most importantly we don’t really have the funds to do this extra trip. Perhaps we can possibly justify it by being able to go and write ourselves out of the Dutch register (yes, we have to do that personally and not by mail) and hand in our Dutch number plates. But that all depends on how fast we can get the paperwork sorted out at this end. Maybe it is better to pick them up in September...

The two old boys and Caroline and Elwood.

Apart from that, another hairy creature presents itself in the form of a scruffy mongrel that looks like a Pyrenees Shepherd x Border Collie. At the moment he lives as a guest with friends of ours who live 15 kilomters away. The dog really belongs to the farmer next door, but it obviously hasn’t been treated too kindly and so takes refuge with the neighbours who also have a dog of their own. At the end of August, they will be moving house and know that the farmer will then want to get rid of the dog, to the SPCA (Asiel for the Dutchies amongst you) or someone who will adopt it. Whooooaaaa, what to do?!?

It is a real sweet dog, needs lots of love, but above all needs to get his self confidence back again. I think he has taken some good beatings in his short life. He was also neglected and nearly died of the horrible tick disease called Babesia canis, that takes numerous victims here in southern France. It’s still alive, thanks to the quick thinking of our friends.

Triple turbo purr

It is a sure thing that some time we will want to enrich our household with a doggie. But when is a good moment? And why not get a pure bred pup like a Hovawart or a Weimaraner, our favorite breeds. But I know from experience that any dog, no matter what breed, can become your best friend. Having already rescued Banjo and Flash (my dogs in Hong Kong) from being turned into an extra dish on a Chinese dinner table, it makes it even more worth looking after a creature in need, who might otherwise wither away somewhere in a SPCA or on a leash around a tree on a local farm.

So there, decisions, decisions... watch this space.

Caro's notes archive 2004

April | Birthday special | May

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