Our Andalusian Adventure

Our Andalusian Adventure is me trying to let you into our journey from the UK to a small village in the mountains, myself Danni, Paul, our two daughters Olivia and Chloe and our pets Ted the staffie and Duke and Duchess our cats.

Alot of information from the Vet....
Thursday, June 7, 2018 @ 1:06 PM

I had to take Ted our dog to the Vet's this morning for his annual booster, and it just so happens that the Vet was Spanish, so when i asked him about the passport and our plans he filled me in on the dangers in Spain. I am now panicking slightly about this but i suppose i will have to do some more research on good old Google! He was telling me of the dangers from Mosquito's and the ghastly Processionary Caterpillar! I understand the Mosquito but the caterpillar who nests in Pine trees and then drops on the floor and can land on your head or get picked up by a dog. Consequently they then have to have their tongues removed!!!! This was far too much information and then to show me photos of these poor dogs, i mean i hadn't long had breakfast! He did say to me that you would be unlucky if this happended but it's best to know about it. There i was worrying about Snakes or Wild Boar oh no the insects are the one's to watch out for. I need to seriously swat up on this so i can sleep at night. I have no idea if our cats are in for the same problems or maybe even more, i will find out soon enough as it is their turn for the Vets next Thursday. Oh the joys of owning pets.

On a different note as if by magic our girls have really got into learning the language due to Duolingo, they both have the app and are doing really well. I must say it is very child friendly and both of them voluntarily decided to give it a go. I am very proud of them but they do seem to pick it up very easily.

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9 Comments

MarilynVA said:
Saturday, June 9, 2018 @ 7:38 AM

The processionary caterpillars are only about from December (in some areas and dependent on weather) to about end of April. If you keep you dog on a lead at all times and away from pine trees they should be fine. If you live on an urbanisation as we do, the trees get sprayed so we don’t see many. Out in the campo it’s obviously a different story. It’s the hairs on the caterpillar that are the problem and not just to our pets, they’re not to good for humans either apparently. Please dont panic, just be vigilant when out with your dog. I’ve had my dog here for 11 years and he’s fine. Maz

auntysheila said:
Saturday, June 9, 2018 @ 8:12 AM

Hi ... don't worry we take our Ted every year to Spain and Italy like the comment from Marilyn said be vigilant.. take your Ted and enjoy .. as for the mozi bites we use a product called Naff Off it's a spray for horses but not dangerous for dogs and make sure he's well frontlined for ticks.. then you'll be just fine

auntysheila said:
Saturday, June 9, 2018 @ 8:13 AM

just a P.S ... Ours is on his second passport now

anthomo16 said:
Saturday, June 9, 2018 @ 9:16 AM

agree with all of above we live on an urbanisation and the trees are sprayed every November and this prevents any of these little buggers around - and they are harmful not only to animals but children too. They look just like the hairy caterpilars we used to play with as kids but so much more dangerous. You're in a hot country and will get all that goes with it, including scorpians (I have only see 2) snakes yes they like curling up on steps, cockroaches (again only a couple) and my least favourite Tarantulars they seem to love the banana trees on the Urbanisation. As for mossies and ants there are plenty of products in local supermarkets for these although i do have an electronic plug in which is supposed to keep all creepy crawlies out of my apartment. I love Spain warts and all.

MarilynVA said:
Saturday, June 9, 2018 @ 10:08 AM

Me too, I wouldn’t go back to UK for a kings random.

DANNI1 said:
Saturday, June 9, 2018 @ 3:38 PM

Thanks everyone for your helpful and positive comments, we are certainly not on an urbanisation but in a village. I will look into all the options thoroughly.
OMG! anthomo16 - tarantulas?!!! my worst nightmare... where do you live??

moonbeam said:
Saturday, June 9, 2018 @ 9:26 PM

The mossie plug-ins work a treat! Wouldn´t worry too much about the processionary caterpillars, after many, many years here have only heard of a few dogs being unlucky - just need to be vigilant when out walking during the season.

Your new place sounds super - good luck!

Just an extra point that might be helpful - if your staffie means a Staffordshire bull terrier you need to be aware that Spain has very different laws to England regarding what they call potentially dangerous dogs. Each autonomous region has slightly different lists of dogs classed as potentially dangerous, so you will need to check for Andalucia. Being a village probably not a big problem - but if anything ever did happen you could have serious legal problems if there was non-compliance with the law. And another weird thing is that if you are driving through Spain and stopping you need to check the law for the regions you are passing through too!

jane27 said:
Sunday, June 10, 2018 @ 11:30 AM

Love your blog DANNI1 but how did you upload your photos? I can't find any way of doing it on mine.

Tarantulas!!!! Haven't seen a single spider here, inside anyway, in 12 years

DANNI1 said:
Sunday, June 10, 2018 @ 2:43 PM

Thanks again for the insightful comments, it's so good to hear from so many!
To upload photos Jane there's a little icon with a picture click on there and then upload your photo's to it. if you don't understand there is a blog tutorial on eos. I'm touched you love my blog.... means a lot xxx

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Wild at heart
I am a 38 year old girl who is keen to share her story of relocating her family to Spain in the aim to help others do the same, and maybe put some humour and alternative subjects into the blog and make it a interesting read.