Charity is again inundated with cats and dogs over festive period, in particular Staffordshire bull terriers

Three pets are being abandoned every hour during the Christmas period, according to figures released by the RSPCA yesterday.

The animal charity has investigated 329 complaints of abandonment between 23 and 27 December, and has dealt with 1,676 complaints since the beginning of December. Branches of the charity have been inundated with cats and dogs, in particular Staffordshire bull terriers and Staffie crosses.

No one seems to sell diverters for metal downpipes, to direct water to our butt. Plus how to deal with slugs that get indoors

Short of stripping and replastering, is there any way to minimise the effects of 'pebbledash' wallpaper? Plus how to put the shine back into knives and forks

My walls are covered in Anaglypta paper (the pebbledash kind). If I try to remove it, the whole house will need replastering, and I am 72 and can't face much upheaval. Do I just carry on applying fresh emulsion?  "Stripping and replastering is the best option, but there would be a lot of upheaval," says DIY expert Julian Cassell. "Your next best option is to improve what you have, which will be quicker and less expensive. There are no products that smooth the textured surface of wallpaper, but a good decorator should be able to deal with it sympathetically. Lifted seams, dried-out overlaps and bubbling areas can all be stuck back with overlap adhesive, holes filled and sanded, and stains given an oil-based undercoat or stain blocker before the topcoat goes on. To give walls a fresh lease of life, try new colours: the World of Colour range from Focus DIY mixes old favourites with newer ones (about £12.99 for 2.5L)."

Is reasoning your way to a decision, or being convinced by others' arguments, any better than trusting your gut?

Whenever I'm worried I might be turning into a total eccentric – due to over-exposure to self-help books, maybe, or just as a natural progression from being a partial eccentric – I check in with Seth Roberts, an American psychology professor based in China. After rigorous self-experimentation, he recently concluded that eating a 60g half-stick of butter every day made him 5% faster at mental arithmetic. Previously, he'd improved his sleep by eating quantities of pork belly each night. But if Roberts's single-mindedness is a little scary, it's surely also admirable: he approaches his body like a scientist, pushing aside personal biases, adjusting inputs and measuring outputs to see what influences his happiness and health.