We have our good days and our bad. Yesterday was awful so that this morning I woke up with a migraine.  Anywho we, as a family, are trying to keep BeAnne going forward.

She won’t eat and so has her hepatic diet syringed down twice a day. It has become a huge battle and one that stresses me out probably more than her.  She is actually quite good about it.  We are getting into a routine now.

Daily we go out for a long walk in the hopes it will help BeAnne’s digstion/appletite and our mental state.  Today Her Maj woke up bouncy and tail-waggingly happy so I took her onto the hill.  She loved it, running like a normal dog everywhere. The Boyzens came too.  The Girlzens stayed in their field.

I am a great believer that it is not the actual distance you cover on a dog walk but the fun the dog has so we all stopped and let BeAnne look for bunny rabbits and enjoy herself.

She sniffed a rabbit out – ever the hunter (just a rather hopeless one).

I sat on a peat hag and watched my wee dug doing what she loves most.  I wanted her to get the most out of her fun.

She was so happy – an enthusiasm I haven’t seen for a while.

My peat hag.

I sat for a while watching her to and fro from each rabbit hole totally oblivious to the fact that the bunny was long gone!

But she was enjoying herself and that’s all that matters.

And the view was very good too.

After a good 20 minutes, BeAnne admitted defeat and went home.  She even went for a bit of a dip – you only have to ask her if she wants to go “swimbig” (said in an adenoidal fashion) and she dives into any puddle.

We got home and Her Maj is tired now but I think a good sort of tired (and she also nipped upstairs and stole the cat food).  Not ideal, I know, but according to the vet any food is better than no food and if she gets her head back into thinking she can eat, then I will go with that.

My heart is breaking watching BeAnne. I clutch at any straw. I feel awful syringing food down her but food is calories, antibiotics are going down and she is still with us.  I look at her and wonder. We regularly have family conferences about her and at the moment we still keep going because if she is hunting and looking for bunny rabbits, she is still happy.

Lambie appeared at the door because he refused to go in the field, like a common sheep, and said he would rather be an Only Child than do what I want.

And then he was bored because there was no one to talk to.

So someone let him in (and yes, OH was away at work and that someone was Flossie who thought it would cheer me up by having a little woollie chap trit-trotting around the house with a Winning Smile.

And she was right!  I felt much happier.

So I reached for the tv remote and put on Classic FM – Lambie’s favourite music radio station.

And the woolly lumpster soon relaxed and nodded off.

He snored his way through Bizet’s L’Arlesienne and some other lovely music.  I particularly remember the Bizet.

And then we all went for our usual walk in the Shetland winter sunshine – I am refusing to call it spring yet.  This was yesterday and guess what, today Lambie trotted into the field with the common sheep because he realised I was not going to budge on this!

BeAnne update:  Nothing good.  Everything bad. This is very difficult for me and my family so if I write utter drivel it is to divert from the utter crap in our lives at the moment.

I hate weaning. I feel like the meanest person in the world.

It went fairly smoothly, though. First Floss and I went to fetch Brá, bring her home and put her in a stable with Kappi next door to keep her company.

Then we went over to Leradale to feed and distract Sóley and Lilja while we extricated Hetja without anyone realising.  Floss opened the adjoining gate, the Minions flooded in, occupied the girls and I loaded Hetja into the van and we drove away.

Back home and we put Kappi back in his field (thanking him for his help), loaded Brá into the van with Hetja and drove them over to their new field – just across from Thordale. There is not much grass but it will do for the time being.

We thought there would be a huge a reunion between Hetja and Brá – they barely lifted their heads.

So that was that and a few hours I went back to check on the Minions and the Icelandic sisters at Leradale. It was all a bit “us and them”.

This fence these three had managed to cower behind is not actually a real functional fence.

Lilja was looking out for her sister realising she was already missing her Mum.

Albie came over to introduce himself.

Albie got bitten for his efforts but took it well.

I gave him a big hug for trying.

I feel awful for Sóley but she has Lilja to get her through this.

The Minions are keeping well away until the girls settle with them.

So today I am the meanest person in the world.

Waffle was looking particularly gorgeous, though.  Interestingly, he was staying well out of the politics and that is unusual because he and Lilja were the greatest of friends last year.  Perhaps she’s realised he is not actually going to grow taller!

I remembered I have some horses and tomorrow we bite the bullet.

We are going to wean Sóley-the-Foalie.

She is a good size and it is very clear that Hetja has had enough of her.

Despite Sóley’s constant protestations, Hetja is not really wanting her daughter to nurse anymore. Usually when she tries, she just walks away.

(that has to be the longest tongue I have ever seen – is that even normal?)

When I mentioned this plan to Hetja, she brightened up at the thought.

And I can’t say I really blame her.  Most mares have their foals removed and weaned at just a few months old but I like the mare to say when she has had enough and Hetja is certainly telling me.

She has had enough.

Anyway, the plan is to collect Brá and put her in the stable with a friend (Kappi), then one person will catch Hetja and the other will open the gates to release the Minions. During the hubbub, we will drive Hetja away before anyone notices.

Sóley will have her sister, Lilja, and a whole new pile of friends while Hetja will have her freedom!

The time has come and that’s the plan.

Well, it has been a worrying day of waiting.  We dropped off BeAnne at 08.30 at a different branch of our usual vet’s (Scalloway) as they had the scanning machine plus the specialist vet there.

Afterwards, we drove over to Houlls Horses and Hounds to leave the animal transport container that the Muscovy ducks had travelled to us in.

We spent a lovely morning there being thoroughly distracted, which is exactly what we needed.

This is Esja’s home! It was good to see her.

Lunch and a few messages in town and we drove back to collect Her Maj and talk to the vet.  We were told that they had found an unidentifiable mass in her liver which they were not sure about because it was an area hard to see. It didn’t look the rupturing type (think Loki and Wu) and could well be benign or nothing but her liver enzymes remain high and her teeth are revolting.  The plan is she starts antibiotics and a specialist hepatic diet plus I have ordered Protexin Danamarin tablets (contains “natural ingredients which protect and repair liver tissues from the effects of toxins or drugs and so improve liver function”) – as recommended by the vet with a view to taking blood again in two weeks and reviewing whether her liver enzymes have lowered and she can have a dental.

As I type, BeAnne is utterly miserable, refusing anything and can’t get comfortable but she had a mild sedative and had been singing all day with her neighbour so I think she is exhausted and feeling a bit sore from the scan – the vet said she had to prod.

We will go day by day now and play the wait-and-see game. It’s all we can do. x