AEROSOL
CHAPTER 1
It was in late May of 2004, Lulu, an Egyptian Goose which I had rescued in November of 2003 had grown up and left us on her own in March of 2004 so the dogs, Shorty (a cross Border Collie/Maltese Poodle) and Sjimbra (a cross Malamute/German Shepherd) and myself were really missing the presence and love she had brought into our lives, albeit for such a short period.
Then, in late May of 2004, I remember it was a Friday, just before lunch time, I was helping a couple of guys from a firm in town fit a valve into one of our irrigation lines. As usual, I had the dogs with me, Shorty with me and Sjimbra (or so I thought) as well. Now, there was a flock of sheep grazing in the camp next to where we were working but this did not worry me too unduly because I had taught the dogs (or so I had thought) not to chase anything. Now Sjimbra, having the mix in him that he has I have needed to keep an eye on on occasions but he has never attacked a sheep before. There have been sheep in camps right near my house on the farm on numerous occasions and he has never bothered them. Well, this day his mind must have been in “reverse gear” because I got a call from the staff member who was watching the sheep that Sjimbra had attacked a lamb.
CHAPTER 2
I went to the spot where the staff member showed me where a lamb lying. At first I thought it was dead because there was a huge tear in its neck, which was covered with blood. Sjimbra was nowhere to be seen. (when he knows he has done something wrong he disappears until he thinks I have calmed down.)
I asked the staff member to help me put the little body into the back of the truck so that I could take it to the vet in town. Sjimbra then came to the truck when he saw that we were going. After a couple of swipes at him I gave up and let him onto the truck. It is quite useless trying to whack him when he knows he has done something wrong because I am 51 and he is only 2!!!!!!! I asked the staff member to please make sure that he did not get too close to the lamb.
I took the little lamb to the vet and as it turned out, he was not available so I asked the guys who work behind the counter to please ask the vet to have a look at it when he got in and to please charge the fees to my account (I have one for the dogs). I also told them to please put the lamb down if he did not think it would survive. I told them that I would be back later in the afternoon to see how the “baby” was.
I put it into a small outside cage, in the corner of a box, which was in there and took the staff member home.
I had to put on a clean shirt because the one I was wearing was full of blood from the poor body.
At about 3 pm I returned to the vet to see what he had to say. His recommendation was that if it could not lift its head or would not drink, to put it down. Apparently there was extensive damage to the muscles in the little babys neck. He said that he did not give it much chance but that miracles do happen.
The little lamb was still asleep (the vet had sedated it) and there was a bandage which he had put through where the skin was torn to hold it together. There was exposed muscle and tissue, which really did not make me feel very good. (I have yet to be able to put an animal down. I would much rather try to save its life. Even when I have had to have the vet put down dogs of mine I cannot be there to see them go) I am a real coward when it comes to that and am a “blabbering idiot” when it comes to “final farewells.”
I took the lamb home and made a bed in an old dog basket I have, in an outside room, which is attached to the house I stay in. Now I know that shock is as big a killer as
CHAPTER 3
And so welcome Aerosol into our lives. The vet had told me NOT to use wound aerosol on the lamb because it would eat the flesh and that I should rather use salt water (sea salt mixed in water) on the wound to keep it clean. Hence the name “Aerosol.” He put some cleansing medicine in a little syringe for me and told me to mix it with the salt water.
I tried a little “hands on” healing with the little body and asked the Angels to please help. I left he little corpse in the basket overnight, not expecting it to be alive the next morning.
It was the weekend and because I assist in the dairy I have access to milk, which I brought down in a little babies bottle which I had bought the day before.
I have raised numerous hans lammetjies before, whose mothers had either rejected or died, with great success but had also had to bury a lamb in my garden which a previous dog (a German Shepherd!) had bitten which did not survive. Now that lambs wounds were nowhere nearly as bad as this poor Aerosol so I was not really expecting the poor thing to survive.(The other baby died from shock I think.)
I had to lift “his” head to see whether he would drink at all but he was not very interested. Nevertheless he drank a couple of drops so I left the milk so that I could give him some more during the course of the day. I did not like this because I thought he would have been rather thirsty after his ordeal. Still, he survived the night and that was a start.
“Miracles do happen.” As the vet had said and I was hoping that this little lamb was one of them.
CHAPTER 4
I took his bed, fridge and stove, as well as his TV games and condiments, to his new “digs” and left him to check them out. (I was going to take his TV and extras away when he was “out of bed” though.) Chuckle.
Now, I was under the impression that Aerosol was a “lady” and was telling everybody so. Imagine my surprise when I saw him pee and found that he was not “leaking” in the spot where “she” should have been.
Oh well, I had to swallow my pride and tell everybody that the little lamb had had a quick “sex change.” It shows how well I had looked at his “undercarriage!!!”
CHAPTER 5
I was still a little worried that Aerosol (who was a boy now) was not drinking enough milk but he was doing OK for somebody in his condition so I just kept persevering with him.
Then I had an idea. We plant oats for the sheep in winter and one of our lands was looking rather “palatable” so I decided to cut some and try feeding it to him. Wow, that did the trick. From the first time he tasted it, it was love at first bite.
This is when he really started on the road to recovery but it also meant that I would have to cut him oats every day until the land had either been grazed or he was outside on his own, foraging for himself.
CHAPTER 6
It was a week or two now and I felt it was time for Aerosol (who was STILL a boy) to be allowed outdoors, if he wanted to.
The first time I left the door to his room open he was not too keen on coming out even though Sjimbra was nowhere to be seen. He did eventually come out of the door but quickly returned to his “comforts.” (I had taken his TV, video, Hi Fi and DVD players away by now because I think he was becoming rather bored with them.) Another chuckle.
It was a Saturday when I first let him have some freedom and on the Sunday I tried again. This time he came out and stayed out for a while but Sjimbra came around for a visit, which sent Aerosol back into his room where he felt safe.
I now knew, that if he did not get a secondary infection in his wound he would survive but that he was still not out of the woods. BUT, he could hold his head up, even if it was not as straight as it was before, but it would take time for the muscles in his neck to repair and this I was aware of. And he was now drinking water so I had taken his milk away. He did not even miss it. Still, I am sure that it helped him on the road to recovery right from the beginning.
CHAPTER 7
The bandage in his neck was still there and I was not sure what the vets intention was with it. Even though Aerosol was well on the recovery road, you could still see muscles sand exposed flesh on his neck. I was still spraying his wound with the salt water mixture every day but his wound did not smell right/healthy.
I decided to take him back to the vet to show him that the little lamb had survived
and to ask him what I must do about the bandage. He said that it should have been taken out a long time ago and took it out then. He also called one of the girls from reception to show her the lamb which she thought should have been put down, just to show her that
A couple of days later I had to go to the vet again to get medicine for the dairy and decided to take Aerosol to show him off to the staff there. This time he trotted in behind me as if he owned the place. I had to hold the door to the surgery open for him so that he could get inside.
I had now also given Aerosol the freedom of the garden during the day over the weekends but was putting him into his room at night because I was still not sure how Sjimbra would be with him if I left them together for too long.
CHAPTER 8
A couple of times over the weekend I had noticed that slowly Sjimbra and Aerosol were becoming accustomed to each other. Once Aerosol went up to Sjimbra and sniffed him. I wondered whether this was his way of telling Sjimbra that he had been forgiven.
I do my weeks shopping on a Sunday morning so, as I have a “vintage” kombi, I decided to try something a little more challenging for the two of them. I put Aerosol in the back of the truck with the dogs!! At first I was amazed at how quickly he found his balance in the truck because as you might know, a “hoof” does not give wonderful traction on a metal surface and animals with them slip and slide all over the place. Well, not Aerosol, he stood there like a real pro.
I had to stop at a teller machine to withdraw money as well as the garage to put petrol in the van. Aerosols BAAAAING did bring a little attention, especially at the teller machine when a black guy came and looked in the van to see this lamb with the German Shepherd and the little Shorty dog in the back. I explained to him that Sjimbra had almost killed him and that now I was trying to teach them that even though they were different they did not need to fight. I only realized how much that meant when I was driving away. I wish humans could be like animals and be forgiving the way animals are towards each other.
The thing that worried me most about having the dogs in the truck together with Aerosol was how they would behave when I was doing my shopping and was not there. Would Sjimbra want to “play” with him or would Aerosol be safe?
As it turned out, he was safe with nothing untoward happening to him.
Now, I was slowly becoming a little more confident with him and Sjimbra being left alone together and was leaving them alone for longer and longer periods. I was still putting Aerosol to bed at night though.
CHAPTER 9
In mid June I had to go on a short course which meant having to be away from the farm for a couple of days. I could take the dogs with me because my intention was to stay with my Dad for two nights and take the dogs with me. It was also the first time I would have to leave Aerosol outside on his own.
Oh, by now Aerosol had had a taste of dairy meal which was to his liking and because the oats was now almost finished and I was feeding calves dairy meal I was leaving some out for him to eat when he was hungry. So I cut him a lot of oats, left him some dairy meal, told him to look out for strangers and strange dogs and to take care of himself.
I left all of the gates to the garden closed so that he had at least a little privacy and left him to do his own thing.
When we got back three days later, Aerosol had left his pellet “messages” in quite a big way on the veranda near the kitchen but was none the worse for wear. I did get the impression that he had missed us though.
I now decided that it was time for the biggest test so far. That was to leave him alone with Sjimbra outdoors overnight. By now his neck was almost healed and most of the blood that had remained in his wool had gone and I knew I would have to take the chance eventually so now was as good a time as any.
Well, as things turned out, he and Sjimbra, even though they were still very wary of each other and for the most part stayed out of each others way, managed to get on well enough that they accepted each other. Now I had moved Aerosols bed close to where I was feeding a dairy calf in a pen because she and Aerosol had become friends. (don’t forget that like most animals, sheep do not like being left on their own. They prefer having friends to talk to. I don’t think there are many animals that do like being on their own! Very human!!!). Now that Aerosol did not have his “usual” family he was being attracted to anyone who would talk to him. He was slowly becoming too big for Shorty but he would go for short walks with us up to the dairy, walking with me as if he was one of the dogs.
I also realized that he was not as bright as Lulu was but that is possibly wrong because of the difference in growth rate and maturity between him and Lulu. (Don’t forget that in less than six months Lulu went from the “egg” to flying so she HAD to mature quickly whereas Aerosol was going to take MUCH longer) so of course his
“mental” capabilities would also take longer.
“mental” capabilities would also take longer.
CHAPTER 10
Aerosol was slowly starting to lose his identity as a lamb and because he was now part of my “family” he was becoming like one of the dogs. I did still have to spray his wound with salty water every so often because he had a small secondary infection, which did not “smell” too good. I eventually “flooded” the area of the wound with Tetracycline powder which did the trick.
Now, he was following us everywhere and, like Lulu was, was becoming rather “vocal” especially when hungry or alone. He would stand at the kitchen door and BAAAAAAAAAAA away until he got some attention. As with Lulu, I found this a very “human” trait. His taste in food was rather gregarious as well. I usually do my grocery shopping on a Sunday and I was sitting on the step outside sharing raisins and peanuts with Shorty (who also eats carrots) when Aerosol decided that he liked them as well. He also liked the raisins and helped us finish off the packet. A couple of days later I was eating popcorn on the same step and once again he decided he liked this. I had to almost fight him off he liked them so much.
It was also becoming apparent that he wanted to be fed with the dogs and after watching him butt Shorty away from his food realized that he liked their food as well. I feed the other family members bread and milk at suppertime and let them have access to dog biscuits adlib. I tested him with some bread, which I fed to him by hand and so his “addiction” was realized. Now, this made him even more “hungry” so I took a dogs dish and fed him with the dogs. (I feed Shorty and Sjimbra separately because Sjimbra has a tendency to finish his food and then eat what is left of Shorty’s). I was still a little wary as to how Sjimbra would be with Aerosol eating with him so I fed Aerosol with Shorty. I have never seen anybody enjoy his food as much as this. He finished his bread before any of the dogs and if Shorty did not have milk with his bread Aerosol would have pushed him out of the way and eaten his as well. (I had discovered that Aerosol did not have too much interest in milk, luckily for Shorty).
CHAPTER 11
I had now started something because with Aerosols addiction he was now officially one of the dogs. But, he expected to be fed in the morning as well but I would not do this because he also has access to dairy meal, which I use to feed the dairy calves and anyway, I do not think it would be good for him.
So far I had been able to keep him out of the kitchen even though I do keep the door ajar at night so that the dogs can go in and out as they need. He was not bright enough to realize that he could fit through the gap and that if he pushed the door like the dogs do then he could get in. I would allow him in when I was making their supper because, like a cat, he would become rather friendly and follow me until he had been fed. He had also found out where I keep the bread in a box on the floor. (I buy enough bread on Sunday to last myself and the dogs the whole week).
Unfortunately, just like Lulu (she also took a couple of days to realize that she could fit through the gap) he found out that he could fit through the door but it took him a week or two. I think that both he and Lulu copied the dogs. This was now a problem because he is not housetrained and would come in and mess. I had moved him off the verandah when the calf (Peace) was in its pen but I had moved her in a camp with bigger calves in preparation to weaning so now Aerosol was spending most of his night on the verandah again because he knew that that’s where we all were and where he could hear the TV etc. It was not unusual to be woken up two or three times a night with him shouting at the door that he was lonely (either that or that he was hungry). This was before he found out that he could open the door.
When he found out that he could open the door I had a bigger problem because I now had to evict him from where I was sleeping (two or three times a night!!). I experimented with making the string at the door tighter, which worked, but Sjimbra could not fit through the door either. I then tried heavy elastic bands, which also worked but Sjimbra did not realize that he was strong enough to open them. I realized that the only really foolproof way was to wait until Aerosol was too big to fit through the door.
CHAPTER 12
I have noticed that I did not finish this book so hopefully, even though it is now May of 2006 I will be able to do that. At the moment of writing I am attempting to do the movie of little “Airy” and that is also tough going because I have to do a lot of guessing as to what happened, especially as regards his tail docking and the snow. The snow is a little easier because he was “taken” from me not long after that. I need to see what pics I have of him and that is another problem, because even though I have them on CD somewhere I am going to have to go through quite a few to find him.
Well, it is three years later, so here goes.
