Holiday Arrangements For Pets

(Or Round One, Saffy, Round Two, Nigel!)

It is very important to consider our pets when we go away and adequate arrangements with a sitter or a daily visitor for our pets is essential.

Having our daughter on the doorstep, so to speak, this is our arrangement.

Suzy, my daughter has eight hens,a miniature poodle called Chalky, five assorted guinea pigs, a white cockatiel called Pippin, a Conure parrot called Sapphire (normally known as Saffy) and a little budgerigar called Tilly, the three birds being a modern blended family!

My brother kindly offered to house-sit Chalky  as he could work from ‘home’ leaving the rest of the menagerie to Mum and Dad…..

Suzy ran through the ‘simple’ routine with us:

The hens needed bribing with seeds from the exotic birds, guinea pigs to have water, food and grumpy guinea pig in solitary to be transferred to an overnight enclosure. Finally the exotic bird ‘family’ to have their fresh fruit strategically placed on the branches within their aviary and then their food and water to be changed in their bowls…..all straight forward stuff……or was it?

We arrived to do our first shift and the hens were very good, following us around the garden into their huge quarters.We checked all their food, water and cleaned up droppings and put them to bed.

Likewise, the guinea pigs had their food, water and cucumber and were all text book pets.

This left us just the exotic birds…….

I had chopped up pieces of apple, bits of lettuce, found some fresh berries and gave them to my husband to put on the branches as instructed by Suzy.

Saffy would put any guard dog to shame, she is very much the matriach of this family and fixed my husband, Nigel with a steely gaze as he tried to manoeuvre himself into the aviary to attach the fruit to the branches. As soon as he got into position to fasten a berry to a twig, she nose dived onto his arm and literally drew blood. He shouted and tried to outwit her but she was having none of it…as he moved around the cage, so did she, amidst shouts and protests from Nigel. In desperation, he donned Suzy’s  pretty Wet Robe, complete with big flowers and hood, as protection…….My brother and I had to turn away as we had tears in our eyes from laughter and my husband was definitely not seeing the funny side of things.  Eventually the deed was done, fruit  on the branches, albeit briefly as because of his ungraceful movements, caused it to fall to the awaiting, happy guinea pigs below the branches.

A shaken, jittery man left the cage that day, his arm covered in peck marks and blood and he looked like the walking wounded.

However, my husband is not one to be beaten.

-2-

The next evening, Nigel had a plan.  He arrived at Suzy’s house armed with huge gauntlet style gloves and was a different, invincible man.  Fruit was duly distributed and Saffy, not happy with being outwitted, pecked furiously, but to no avail……

That night there was a feeling of accomplishment in the air, and Nigel…….he  looked like a successful matador, a conquering hero!

When we got home, we celebrated his victory with a generous portion of fish and chips and a huge glass of wine!