Thanks Liz & Carol
She really was a special girl. Even Kylie sensed she wasn't strong and never tried it on with her. Even with Laz she sometimes hides behind a door to ambush, but Alice gave her a couple of firm hisses at the beginning and was always shown respect
We had sort of made up with the vet next door gradually. This time last year Laz was blocked with poo and I was in the middle of trying to unblock him with olive oil when the practice manager knocked with a bottle of wine for xmas. I told her the situation and she said to bring him in straight away. They sorted him out and wouldn't take any payment. We had a similar situation last month and I bit the bullet and asked them. They said to bring him straight in. The unblocked him again and only charged me £11. I had read that the vet that saw him did acupuncture for cats. I asked about trying it with Alice and he said he was happy to give it a go and also another treatment similar to TENS. Sadly, we never got the chance to try. The head vet said that he was dreading telling me as after years of not speaking to each other, the first time he treated a cat for me, he was going to have to pts. Anyway, I have been impressed with the time they give and their knowledge. One of the vets even told me about a new CRD treatment called Semintra that I had already looked into myself. He wants to get Laz on it ASAP as he thinks it 'stops CRD (CRF) in its tracks'. Having now lost 3 to the same thing in just under 3 years, I am keen to try.