Sad news about Cookie

Poor old Cookie. Missing presumed dead.

A few weeks ago I wrote that we suspected Cookie had been in a fight with a snake and probably had venom sprayed in his eyes. At first he was sick and off his food as well as having swollen eyes and a loss of balance. The vet, who happens to be a family friend, gave him medication and for a few days there was an improvement. But just over a week ago he disappeared and has not been seen since. Cookie has either gone walkabout driven delirious with the pain, or simply sat down somewhere quiet and died.

I have often said it is tough being a mutt in Thamuang. There is no such thing as eating Pedigree Chum and going for walkies in the morning and early evening. There is no tender loving care from the owners and training to sit when told. Life as a Thamuang mutt is brutal. The dogs soon learn to eat the leftovers whether it is fish or rice or spicy hot or fried or steamed. The rule is simple; you don't eat you starve. There is the freedom to come and go and they are fiercely territorial and it is common to have four or five dogs in a pack. They protect their patch and are the best early warning system of visitors in the day and night. They have the freedom of the rice fields and amazingly have an understanding of each other's likes and dislikes which leads to an occasional gnashing of teeth, but nothing more serious.

Churlon eats what his given

Life could be worse but it is very much better being a western dog than a Thamuang one. It appears that Cookie must have disturbed a snake, possibly a cobra, and licked the venom that was spat at him.

I grew very fond of Cookie who loved being stroked and often sat next to me on the porch enjoying the evening sun. I wish he could have let us know where he was going so we could say goodbye, but life goes on.

We still have Churlon, Lucky, Pepsi and Jackie. We had ten chickens until we ate one of them for dinner last Sunday, but the good news is one of the others hatched nine chicks on Monday. We also have eighteen ducks. There is pond that is minus about sixty fish that were caught last Friday. We also have a gecko, several lizards, a toad, a snake, frogs, bats and more insects than I care to think about.

Gecko in the kitchen Thai

Snake on the drive

Toad in the garden

Ducks in the shed