We have had him for nearly thirteen years, wow, we can hardly believe, and for those of you who didn't know his story, here is a brief synopsis!
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| Alfie and his best friend... Rob. |
I found him in the middle of the traffic one January morning in 2007 in our town of Vredenburg. He was lost, he was confused, he was filthy and matted and covered in fleas and he was in danger of being run over any moment. So, we stopped to pick him up (my sister was visiting at the time) and took him to our wonderful vet who said that she would keep him for a few days to see if he was claimed.
When I got home and told Rob the story, he looked amused.
'What do you want to do?'..... were the words he uttered and by that time I was phoning the vet to say 'Give him his innoculations, I shall come to fetch him' and the rest is history!
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| More friends, Morris and of course, the ginger boy Basil. |
And for the last thirteen years our evening routine has never varied....
We watch television until about 10 o' clock. We tidy up, collect water for bed, and I go up to shower. Rob takes Alfie out for his last 'emptying' then he checks his emails and then Alfie hops on the bed while Rob uses the bathroom. Then it's lights out and we all settle down to sleep, Alfie tucked between us.
And until the beginning of October this year, that is how it was, night after night, year after year......
But, that suddenly changed. Alfie came to bed as usual, but started shivering, unable to settle and then started panting. The shivering became so bad that the whole bed was shaking. He sounded as though he had run a mile and he was obviously deeply distressed. We were worried that he would have a stroke, or worse, a heart attack.
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| Alfie the Watch Dog! |
We took him to the vet as we thought maybe he was in pain. But he was fine, apart from being slightly deaf and having a cataract in one eye that we knew about and that the vet had seen previously.
We took him home. And the nights continued in that way. Shivers, panting, and then Alfie would leave us and go downstairs where we could hear him panting in the lounge. Then in the very early hours of the morning he would come back to bed and finally sleep.
We tried everything. Rob slept downstairs with him, I was telling him stories and singing lullabys to him, and I also decided to teach him some Spanish! Nothing helped and we were desperate. He looked haunted, unhappy and we were helpless to do anything.
Then..... ding! Brainwave!
Once before I had contacted a lady in Cape Town who is an Animal Whisperer and she had helped us when our cat Dilly went missing. (I think I may have written a post about it.) So I contacted Carol, explained the problem and sent a photo of Alfie showing his poor sad eyes.
Carol contacted Alfie and the first night he sent her a picture of a wall with a blanket over it and a purple bag on top. It meant nothing to us... but for the first time since it started, he settled down after an hour or so and slept.
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| He loves cows! And camping! |
The second night he more or less told her to leave him as he was sleeping!! But he did send a picture of a dirty hovel, a man and a little girl walking across a bridge and then another picture of a man sitting on the grass with Alfie close by. Carol believes, as we do, that these were from his 'previous life', the life he left before we found him. Memories from his past, memories like we have as we get older. I find myself thinking back more and more as I get older, so why not a soul as intelligent as Alfie?
And on that second night, he slept quite well.
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| His favourite place to spend the day! |
The third night he settled more or less straight away, and Carol said that she kept the communication open in case he needed to send her anything.
And since then?
He has become the 'old' Alfie, up the stairs, onto the bed, settle and sleep.
No shakes, no shivers, no panting and no bad memories to disturb him.
A coincidence?
You decide!
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