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Romana and her three (3) sisters were born on Monday, 06 July 1998
(1998 is the Chinese year of the 'Tiger'; and, 22 June - 23 July is the Star Sign 'Cancer')
The litter consisted of 2 sable & white and 2 black & white long-haired Chihuahua puppies
Romana is one of the sable & white puppies in the images below
Each puppy was approximately 4oz (that is, ~115g) at birth
The registered name of the breeder's kennel is "Chiberovaes" and is located in Queanbeyan, NSW
Romana's registered name and number are "Chiberovaes Two Hearts" and "9100001171", respectively
Note: Timelords (see below) have 'two hearts'. However, I understand that Romana's registered name,
and those of her 3 sisters, come from the titles of songs by Sir Cliff Richard
So, was Romana's registered name a sign that she was meant for me?
See the Chihuahua web site links below for more information on this breed of dog
[I have also included links to the homepages for these web sites and some K9 records]
Images are in date taken order and, where possible, also in exposure order
The name, Romana, is derived from the name of a companion in the BBC-TV Sci-Fi series 'Dr Who'
Her full name is Romanadvoratrelundar and she was also a Timelord (well, Timelady)
[ Romana Pictures of her namesakes, Romana I was played by Mary Tamm and Romana II was played by Lalla Ward. Tom Baker was 'The Doctor']
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I took the rye grass option and obtained a 1Kg bag of rye (for around $5) from a rural supplier in Bungendore NSW ("Cleanseeds Pty Ltd").
I deviated from the growing method suggested in the "Why Pets Eat Grass" article deciding instead to use a discarded, in this case black plastic, supermarket tray which I lined with cotton wool, covered with a single layer of seeds and then watered on a regular basis using a spray bottle purchased from the local hardware store and filled with plain tap water. The seeds took about 4-5 days (in summer - will take longer in winter) to germinate and another few days to reach a harvestable height. After a week or so a layer of potting mix was added and the rye allowed to grow up through it.
The second crop used the remnants of the first crop as "green fertiliser" with some potting mix put on top of this "green" layer and a new thin layer of seeds laid over this new surface which was kept moist in a small green house made by putting the tray into a plastic supermarket bag to maintain a moist controlled atmosphere environment until the new crop had established itself at which time the bag was removed. The crop was still "misted" daily to maintain the moisture and humidity level in the "green house" and after removing the bag to keep the soil moist. I used a small clean 15mL measure, as used with washing powder in the laundry, to measure and sprinkle the seeds onto the soil surface and this worked very well.
I harvested the green tips of the stalkes using a pair of sissors to essentially give the rye a haircut, so to speak, obtaining just enough for a single meal, once a day, cutting it directly into my dog's bowl before putting her meal in and mixing it together to coat the rye with the flavour of the meat and vegies. I try to keep to the 1 tablespoon per 50lbs (1 tablespoon per 23Kgs approx or 1 teaspoon per 5.67Kg) mentioned in the article but always find myself exceeding this. As Romama's weight averages around 2.7Kg she only requires about 0.5 of a teaspoon but she usually gets more than this in both her midday and evening meals.
You can use this formula to calculate the amount of rye grass using the following abbreviations: Teaspoons Rye Grass (TRG); Dog's Weight in Kg (DW); and the Weight Factor (WF) of 5.669905 (or 5.67)
TRG = DW / WF[1 tablespoon (20mL) = 4 teaspoons (5mL each)]
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Finally, have you ever watched the children's TV program, "Mister Maker"? Well, in one of his shows he did a "Grasshead". As well as being attractive and probably an interesting project for a kid to do, it would also make harvesting the leaves easier as the "head" can be held almost upside down and trimmed directly into the dog's bowl. All you require to make a "grasshead" is a foot from a pair of stockings or tights, some rye grass seeds, a reasonable amount of cotton wool to stuff into the stocking to hold the seeds in place and some imagination as to how to decorate the "face". The second of the above links (ie "the Grasshead" link) shows photos that the "Mister Maker" team have received from viewers for this "project". The detailed instructions to make this "Grasshead" are available at "Grasshead" and following the sequence of links. As such, this may be a nice project for any young children who may have a pet dog or dogs. Making more than one "grasshead" would allow for some "crop rotation" and this would then allow each head to regenerate a bit between haircuts.
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Romana, Her Sisters and Mum, #A3
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At her annual checkup, in November 2011, Romana was diagnosed with a heart murmur. On 22 Mar 2012, on arriving home from a Conference, I had to take her to the local "Animal Emergency Centre" where she was diagnosed with "Congestive Heart Failure". In Feburary 2012 her local veterinarian commenced her on a daily dose of Prilium 150, the daily dose based on the included syringe (used to measure the dose onto her evening meal) being 0.5mL/10Kg or, in Romana's case, ~0.13mL with her evening meal. In addition to the Prilium, in April 2012 she commenced taking ˝ a 20mg Frusemide (GenRx) tablet two days a week 12 hours apart on the days given - originally of a Saturday & Sunday, but as from Sat, 2012-06-16, she was getting the two halves of one tablet 12 hours apart on either the Saturday or Sunday of a weekend and the other tablet 12 hours apart on the Wednesday. The Sat/Sun dose may be given as ˝ at around 11am & the other ˝ at around 11pm on either the Saturday or Sunday, or ˝ at 11pm on the Saturday and ˝ at 11am on the Sunday, depending on need.
As I was going to Sydney for my regular July/August visit I made an appointment for Romana to see the cardiologist at SASH (the "Small Animal Specialist Hospital") in North Ryde. As a result of her cardiac, blood and urine tests all of her previous medication was stopped and she was transferred to Internal Medicines and placed on a drip. She had chronic renal failure. She was in SASH from Mon 23 Jul 2012 to Fri 27 Jul 2012 when I was able to take her home for the weekend with a follow-up appointment with her medicines vet on Tue, 31 Jul where it was decided that it was in Romana's best interests to have her put to sleep. Without going into to much details, Romana was cremated by Petrest who also supplied the box shown in the photo above. Petrest have many different "containers" on their "Products|Vessels" webpage in which your beloved pet's cremains can be returned.
Prilium is an ACE (angiotenson converting enzyme) Inhibitor which is converted from the inactive form, imidapril, into the active form, imidaprilat, primarily in the liver but also in the kidneys.
Frusemide/Furosemide tablets are a diuretic tablet. The same tablet (avaialble in various forms - 10mg/mL mixture and 20mg, 40mg & 500mg tablets) is used in human and animal medicine for the same reason.
Powerpoint summary from 1998-07-06 to 2012-07-31
Romana's Family Tree
Registered (kennel) names of puppies are from song titles by Sir Cliff Richard
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As played by actress Mary Tamm |
As played by actress Lalla Ward |
Click here to return to the top of this page
| Full Name | Romanadvoratrelundar I |
| Nickname | Romana |
| Race | Gallifreyan |
| Apparent Age | Late twenties |
| Actress | Mary Tamm [22 March 1950 – 26 July 2012; Age: 62Y 4M 0W 4D] |
Click here to return to the top of this page or here to return to the Two Romanas. However, there is more information on Romana I below.
Travelled with the following:
Romana I graduated from the Academy with a "triple-first".
Appeared in these stories:
| Full Name | Romanadvoratrelundar II |
| Nickname | Romana |
| Race | Gallifreyan |
| Apparent Age | Early twenties |
| Actress | Lalla Ward [Born: 28 June 1951] |
Click here to return to the top of this page or here to return to the Two Romanas. However, there is more information on Romana II below.
Travelled with the following:
Romana II knows martial arts.
Adric enters the story in "Full Circle", during Season 18, and becomes a stowaway aboard the TARDIS at the end of this story. Meanwhile, Romana II departs at the end of "Warrior's Gate" which also marked the end of Season 18.
Appeared in these stories: