Aug 18, 2022 | Homefuryou
We’ve updated this story! Flo is now 20!!
We thought this would be a great time to introduce our new princess to you all. Flo is 19 years old and used to be one of our customers, alongside her darling brother Dylan who sadly passed away recently. When Flo’s owners decided to retire earlier this year and move permanently to their property in Greece, they had the painful dilemma of finding Flo’s forever home. Not wanting to leave her behind, but knowing that she wouldn’t be fit for such a long jouney they turned to HomeFurYou for advice.
How could we resist!? Although we knew that we would have to very carefully manage the integration of Flo and Posh, we didn’t want to upset our own princess and decided we would give it two weeks before we made a final decision to keep the new minor royal.
Well, it wasn’t easy and I wouldn’t for a moment say that Posh is ever going to be best buddies with the new interloper. But they have found a way of co-existing in the same house, whilst very much having their own space and safe areas in which to feel at home.
I think Flo would love to cuddle up to Posh, but that just isn’t going to happen!
Flo is such a personality. Her health is not great but she is in to everything. We never get a breakfast or mealtime to ourselves as she wants to join in and try to eat everything and she jumps all over us at night, with her favourite trick being hair eating. She is fascinated by Jules’s long locks!
She is simply a delight to have around and even if she is only with us for a short time, she is going to leave some precious memories.
May 26, 2022 | Homefuryou
As most of you will know that follow us on social media, Jules and I recently came back from the Poland/Ukraine border where we worked in an animal supplies warehouse, helped the refugees arriving in the reception centre and looked after sick animals being brought in over the border.
We were able to personally unload and get your incredibly generous donations to the people that desperately needed them, which was so important to us. It was truly the trip of a lifetime and left us emotional and very moved by the plight of these brave people.
So much so, that we have decided to launch a second campaign, now we have a much better idea of what is needed on the ground.
Here are the details of the campaign and if you need further advice or information then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
We urgently need the following please by 23 June:
1. Pet supplies – Cat litter, pooper scoopers, poo bags, puppy food, kitten food, dog leads, cat harnesses/leads, flea treatment (cats and dogs), wormer treatment (cats and dogs), sachets of cat food (adult), sachets of dog food (adult), blankets, soft baskets/bedding (dog and cat), brushes (dog and cat), cat carriers (canvas preferred).
2. Suitcases on wheels and rucksacks – refugees are carrying their lifelong possessions in carrier bags. These are urgently needed to help with their onward journey.
3. Laptops and tablets for an orphanage in Poland which is looking after over 130 children from Ukraine (the youngest is 2 months old). These devices are needed to help with online schooling from their teachers in Ukraine. All laptops will be professionally wiped and returned to factory settings
Please help us to send thousands of items to the the border. To arrange to drop off your items, please PM us. If you would rather donate for products we can buy on the ground, then please contribute to our just giving page – https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfun…/julesmartinukraine…
Thank you so much again for all of your support!
Martin and Jules x
Apr 7, 2022 | Homefuryou
Who knew that just a few weeks ago at the end of February, the world would change forever. Ever since then, our screens have been full of harrowing images and the news bulletins have been depressing to say the least.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has taken a terrible toll on the people living in that country, but we have all taken the people of this beautiful land to our hearts. Their passion and patriotism, their will to survive and their sense of togetherness is just awe inspiring.
Here at HomeFurYou, we wanted to play a small part (as have so many people, businesses and charities). We started by collecting clothes and food items from our customers and that of our sister company FitBizNow (run by Jules). The response was incredible. But then we felt we needed to address the suffering that was being caused to the animals of Ukraine. There were so many images of refugees escaping into Poland with their beloved cats and dogs. These, it turned out were the lucky ones. A lot of people had to run so quickly that they had to leave their pets behind. It was then that we heard of many charities on the Polish/Ukraine border that were rescuing these animals and taking them to shelters in Poland, Romania and Moldova.
HomeFurYou had to do something and so we sent out a message to all of our customers, families and friends on social media to give us their unwanted pet food, carriers, harnesses, leads, toys and cages. We expected a few boxes and maybe a small supply of food to send out to the needy. Instead, we quickly became inundated with so many items, either dropped off on our doorstep or collected by us around the Bedfordshire region.
A great friend of the business Karen Matthews, then spread the word on some of the Bedford and Milton Keynes social communities and shortly, our own houses were full up. We couldn’t get through our hallway and dining room for supplies! Other businesses got involved, from local vets to Dominos in Milton Keynes and in the end we packed up eight massive pallets of items and loaded them onto a container (supplied by a wonderful local farmer – Thomas Beazley). As we write, these pallets are being loaded onto a Polish lorry for onward distribution this weekend.
We’ve now made the decision to travel out to Poland and work at one of the animal reception centres later this month. I’ll be blogging on the ground to give you a flavour of where all of these items have ended up and how they’re being used to save lives.
HomeFurYou and FitBizNow have the best customers and the most amazing friends and family who have made all of this happen in such as short space time. We are truly humbled by the response from all of you.
Thank you!
Jan 27, 2022 | Homefuryou
With January nearly behind us and the lighter mornings and evenings giving us a sense of Spring, it’s now time to be thinking about booking your holidays.
Here at HomeFurYou we’re available all day and every day. We’re very happy to take last minute bookings if you decide to get some time out at short notice. That’s the reason we set the business up in the first place. If the weekend looked good, Martin and I would talk about going away to the coast, only to be told by cat sitters that they needed a few week’s notice – not very helpful.
We’ve done a bit of research on holiday bookings and found that the typical Brit books their next holiday just 37 days after arriving home from the previous one. Almost a tenth said they felt guilty for treating themselves to a trip away and seven per cent said deciding who to go away with stops them from booking a holiday (interesting!).
So how do you know if you’re in need of a holiday?
- Feeling tired all the time
- Finding daily life a grind
- Getting stressed at trivial things.
- Getting tired of the view from your home or workplace
- Finding yourself talking about past holidays
So don’t delay, treat yourself and get that holiday or weekend away booked. Then step two, contact HomeFurYou so that we can book you in.
Look forward to hearing from you.
Jules & Martin x
Nov 24, 2021 | Homefuryou
If you’ve read these blogs down the years, you’ll know that this time of year meant a lot to Becks our much missed darling. And the Christmas tree in particular was Beck’s favourite place to live, sleep and eat for six weeks. Well, sadly our beautiful baby is no longer with us, but her place beneath the Christmas tree is in safe hands.
Flo joined us this summer and despite being an elderly lady and having a few health issues, the tree has given her such a lift. Is it the smell of pine, is it the lights or is just her sheer incredulity that the humans have brought in a tree from outside?! Either way, she can’t leave it alone, either playing with the baubels or gazing up at the lights.
For us, this is bittersweet of course. It makes us very happy that we have Flo in our lives and enjoying Christmas, but it also reminds us that Becks has moved on to the Rainbow Bridge. (She even has her own Christmas tree out in the garden all year long).
Either way, we know that somehow Flo is acting in tribute to our Becks and that animals are always in our hearts forever. Whether it’s Christmas or anytime of the year.
Jun 22, 2021 | Homefuryou
We’ve recently had some hot weather and I imagine we’ll see another burst of it before summer is out. So it seemed like a good time to think about how to keep your cats cool.
We’ve always kept cats and found that the following might just help:
• Keep the water bowls topped up – put some ice in the water or keep a bottle in the fridge.
• Make sure there’s plenty of shade in the garden, or put a parasol up.
• For long-haired cats, try and groom daily as matted hair traps heat.
• Encourage your cat to relax, rather than running around all day – easier said than done.
• If you can, create a retreat in a quiet area of the house. Perhaps put a cardboard box on its side and place a cotton towel inside.
• Most importantly, heat stroke. This only happens on really hot days and the vet needs to be contacted immediately. The signs are rapid breathing, extreme distress, skin hot to the touch, glazed eyes, vomiting and drooling.
Martin and I are well aware of the symptoms and if any of the cats we look after show any signs of distress, then we will contact your vet immediately and keep you informed.
So enjoy your well-earned holiday and leave us to take care of the family back home.
Have a great summer.
Martin and Jules x
