ANOTHER SAD DAY..........!!

Eeyore AKA Chief, didn't get to come home yesterday.  Well actually he came home, John is burying him today.  He had a very high white blood count, was dehydrated, & was in renal failure.  The dehydration probably had something to do with that, but we don't know for sure. 

The vet said he would need IV's for at least 2 or 3 days, & antibiotics for however long it would take to bring the white count down.  And we might still not know what was causing him not to eat.  His mouth smelled bad, but she only found one tooth loose, nothing else.  He had liquid backing up in his mouth, so he might have had a blockage of some kind. 

He was 32 years old, almost totally blind.  He went thru periods of not eating on a regular basis, & would sometimes fall without a reason.  

I was in Tucson getting Mother a MRI, & John called with the news.  He & the vet had already decided what would be best for Chief, but wanted my input too.  Quality of life has always been our priority for these guys, & no matter how much we'd like to "fix" them, sometimes the best decision is to let them go.  

In his day I bet he was quite something. I would image a tri-colored mule was pretty unusual 32 years ago.  His good eye was a golden color, very striking.  From his behavior he had worked with Mexicans at some time in his life.  Couldn't walk up to him & catch him, had to rope him.  Once he was roped or the rope was just thrown across his neck, you could do anything with him.  

Courtney is suppose to come today to trim those that need it, especially Gus & Jenny.  The hole in the bottom of Jenny's sole has grown out to the edge.  But I don't think Courtney will be able to get rid of the hole completely this time, maybe next time.   I'm hoping once that hole is gone, wrapping her foot won't be quite so big a project. 

Looks like Tucker & Mocha might have a forever home in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  We are in the early stages of adoption, but it sound like this might be a good home for them.  Next step will be for us to do a home study, so we'll do a day trip over, have lunch & should make it home before time to feed. 

Eeyore will be going to the vet tomorrow morning, he's still not interested in eating anything.  We even tried syringing soaked hay soup into him last night & he just wasn't interested.  John discovered a lump underneath his throatlatch area, probably thyroid, at least that's my "don't know what I'm talking about" guess.  Enlarged thyroid isn't unusual for older equine, I doubt that is his problem. 

Everyone else right now seem to be doing great.  In fact I'm having to put Pepper on a diet.  The old buzzard is getting almost chubby.........!!!  Hasn't been down, not able to get up for quite awhile, but he doesn't need to be carrying anymore weight on his poor old legs than necessary.  About 3 years ago, I wouldn't have bet he'd make it thru the winter.  Every morning when I went out I was surprised he was still breathing.  That year he had to stay in at night, he was so thin & frail, he was blanketed & wore boots every night.  But somewhere along the way, he's done a turn around, still perky & still chasing the girls, BUT getting less to eat these days.  John is getting tired of him using his hard old head to try to get you out of the way so he can get to his mush though.  Also digging a hole at the gate as he waits impatiently for you to bring his mush.  I've told him if I fall in the hole he's dug & break a leg, he'll be sorry.  Unfortunately I don't think he cares.........!!! LOL  John put a stall mat at the gate, so now he's digging at the edge of the mat...........grrrrrr....!!! 

We changed Jenny's foot bandage this morning.  It's looking good, but I don't see a whole lot of hoof growth above the open area.  I've never dealt with a hoof resection before, so don't really know how it heals.  The only problem she has is one of her heel bulbs just won't heal.  They were icky when she came home from bandage pressure.  I managed to get one side to heal, but the other one is really being difficult. 

Courtney is going to try to get out this week to trim Jenny & Gus & whoever else needs it.  I noticed this morning Jenny has a false sole on her other rear hoof, at least that's what it looked like, didn't have much of a chance to look at it.  I don't know if she can stand on her "bad" foot long enough for Courtney to work on that sole, but guess we'll find out. 

John's BACK........YIPPEE....!!!

Boy things really go a lot smoother when John is here.  Two sets of hands are much better than one & the donkeys don't get quite so "antsy".  This morning John commented on how nicely they came in & rounded-up.......!!!!  It will only take them a time or two to figure out "easy going" John is back & they can come in when they feel like it........!!!! LOL  

When he gets caught up he'll go look for Boaz's 2 missing fly masks.  Boaz actually was missing 3, but this morning one of them showed up in the wash.  Haven't had time to look for the others yet.  This morning was the 1st time Boaz came in, in the last couple of days with a fly mask on, & he's the one that really needs a mask on 24/7.  He's one of those fly magnets.  So far this year, Cisco who has been my #1 fly magnet for years has been doing good.  I haven't had to do anything special for him, I'm not even giving him benedryl yet. 

Eeyore AKA Chief still isn't eating.  I have been giving him Vitamin B-12 shots which usually gives them a boost, but he still hasn't showed any interest in eating.  Earlier this afternoon John went out & found Rusty the white mule in Chief's pen eating his feed.  Rusty was more interested in the timothy pellets than the beautiful alfalfa hay I got specifically for Chief Tuesday.  Maybe that hay isn't as good as it looks.  Chief has an appointment at the Vet Monday to see if we can find out what's wrong with him.  I hope it isn't anything serious, although at 32, it could be just about anything.  Mules can be funny about changes in their lives, but this seems to be more than that.  

We had a group of kids come out this morning to visit with the donkeys & do some grooming.  I think they were all city kids, although one boy said his family had horses.  The donkeys really appreciated the brushing, some of them really needed it.  They are so funny, if they want to be groomed, they stand absolutely still, don't even move a muscle.  BlackJack even turned around, I guess he was afraid the girl grooming him wasn't going to do both sides. 

Got a call this morning about a very PG jenny that needs a quiet place to have her baby.  She is in a rescue right now that is over crowded.  The only place we could put her would be in Jenny's pen in the hay barn.  Unfortunately we are going to have to get hay in the next couple of weeks or so.  A double semi load fills the barn up, side to side, front to back.  John said something about us getting a car trailer load of 48 bales as a short term answer.  But what if she didn't have her baby by the time we used up the 48 bales?  That is, if John & I survived unloading & stacking 48 bales, I remember those days.........!!!  Or even if she did have the baby, we have no pens we could put her & the baby in.  The woman that called was talking about cleaning out an old goat pen she has.  It's terrible to have to say no, but we have to be realistic on what we can & can't do.  

I do have some good news, I got my wrist cast off yesterday.  The doctor said it was healed & I'm good to go.  On the way home I went ahead & got a splint to use when I'm doing something I shouldn't, like racing............!!!

I know I said the racing was over for the year.  They've changed their minds again, I'm starting to get whip lash.......!!! LOL  They are not racing tonight, but "SAY" they are going to have a "Grand Reopening" next week-end the 26th........!!  I guess there was some negotiations, between the owners & FedEx to buy the property for a distribution center.  Sometime between Tuesday & Thursday the deal fell thru, so the racers win at least for a little while..........!!! 

I doubt that I'm going to be very "talkative" the next few days.  John left for Indiana yesterday afternoon, so it's just me until Friday afternoon.  Explaining this lack of personnel to the donkeys hasn't gone well so far.  John just lets them wander in at feeding time.  I think they should show up, get in their pens & wait for me to show up with the piece of carrot.  It usually takes me 2 or 3 days to get my point across, since John is coming home Friday, it won't be worth it for me to have a tantrum over going in pens..............SIGH.......!!!!  I started at 4:30 last night got in the house at 8:15............!!  This morning went about the same but Lysa was here to help & pick up poo, so it only took about 3 hours........!!! LOL  Usually tomorrow wouldn't be a regular day for Lysa, but she's going to come in the morning anyway, bless her heart.  

What really gets me going, for instance, this morning when I got up there were donkeys & mules everywhere around the house.  I went out to feed the birds & got brayed at, & once they saw movement at the house, they started moving closer.  LIFE IS GOOD.....!!!  Went out to the feed room, had to work my way thru the gaggle of equine, went in to cut up carrots, came out & there wasn't a donkey or mule in sight.  WHERE DID THEY GO..........????  I didn't really have time to go looking for them, so I fed the chickens & mixed up the feed.  They finally started wandering in, well except for Ruger, Ruthie & Boaz, they come in like they are escaping from a fire & get right in your face, they haven't trampled me yet, but the thought has crossed my mind........!!!  Actually they are very good, about slamming on the brakes before they bowl you over..........!!! LOL

We have a new visitor, Eeyore came in Sunday.  He was a rescue last year up in Phoenix & our neighbor's offered to take him.  But they are moving to Colorado, this summer & right now are visiting family in Ohio.  It's easier to take care of him here than have to go to their place, so he "visiting".  We haven't talked about if he is going to go back home until they move or not, we'll just have to see how it goes.  

He's blind in one eye & about 32 years old.  He's a typical mule I guess.  If they don't know you, you have no right to touch, look or talk to them.  He won't take treats, in fact he hasn't eaten enough to keep a bird alive since he's been here.  Vic said he goes thru spells of not eating.  Usually I'd let him out on the property & he could eat wild food if he wanted to.  But until John gets back he'll stay in a pen.  Vic said the only way he can catch him if he's out is to rope him..........!!!  I'm not a roper, so for now he'll stay in a pen.  I even bought a bale of alfalfa yesterday to entice him.  He just looked at me like he knew what bribery is, & isn't going to play the game.........!!!! 

Unfortunately, the race track has more problems than just the ones we saw last Saturday I guess.  As of now, they have closed down the track for the rest of the year.  They are blaming the racers for not appreciating having a local track to race at.  I would imagine once the manager left last week, they didn't have the people to keep it operating.  We heard that a lot of the workers left when he left.  Dang......... I was in 5th place for end of the year points in the Hornet division.  My goal this year was to finish better than last year's 6th place finish.  Guess I did that, but I really expected a little longer season........!!!

Talked to our son last night & we'll be going up to ET Raceway the 26th of May, with his Super Stock.  A couple of the other local racers are going too, so it should be fun.  Just wish it was closer, it's 200 miles up there, which makes for a long night.  Rod said he could build me a Bomber if I wanted to race up there.  I told him by the time we rushed around & fed the donkeys, drove 200 miles, raced, drove 200 miles home & fed donkeys after a couple of hours sleep, I probably wouldn't be having much fun.........!!!  They don't race the Hornets, so it would either be Bombers, which basically is knock out the glass & put in a couple of pipe bars in the driver's door.  Or Dirt Dolls, which is like Powder Puff, in Bombers.  I think I'll pass, if we can keep Rod's car competitive for the season up there, that will be good. 

ANOTHER STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Jenny is "out & about" this morning.  My biggest worry is the duct tape boot might wear thru & let dirt get into her foot.  The layers are, gauze in holes, gauze over holes, brown gauze, diaper, duct tape boot, elasticon, duct tape boot, more elasticon.  So it's pretty well covered, but I know from past experience with duct tape boots, they do wear thru after a day or so of walking out here.  I've never had 2 duct tape boots on at once before, so we'll see how it goes.  I'll be able to see wear on the outside boot, so will check it often.  We'll start her out with a couple of hours a day & see how it goes.  She didn't want to come out this morning, guess she thought we were going in the garage for a bandage change...........!!!

John just informed me this morning we have about 35 days of hay left.  That means Jenny's side of the hay barn will be needed for hay pretty soon........!!!!  Been feeding cheap hay, relatively speaking for the last 18 months...........guess the party is over.......!!!!!  

We've about decided to maybe put Jenny in Boaz's pen.  It is the largest pen, largest shelter, & if we put down a lot of straw or shavings it should be pretty soft.  All of her bed sores are gone, she came home with 5 or 6.  I guess Boaz will go in her old pen.  Next month Eeyore the tri-colored mule will probably be coming to stay.  Our neighbor's gave him a home last year, but they are probably moving to Colorado.  Since I was instrumental in them giving him a home, it's the least we can do.  He's in his 30's blind in one eye, not much vision in the other, but still likes to go out & roam.  Maybe he will buddy up with Jack & Rusty.

Sunday we had a couple of tours stop by for a visit.  For the first time Tula actually took a carrot from a man.  I didn't see it, but John said the man was holding the carrot thru the corral panel, & she just walked over & took it., like no big deal  Amazing.......!!!  Over the years usually during an Open House she has taken treats from 3 different women at different times, but never a man.  It will be interesting to see what she does next time. 

I need to try to body clip Daisy.  Because she has Cushings, even though she's on Pergolide she doesn't shed very well, & I've been clipping her the last few years.  Unfortunately right now, I have a splint on one hand & a cast on the other.  Needless to say my dexterity is lacking.  John said he'd try, but I can imagine how that would go, she'd look like a tractor went thru a field without a driver........!!! LOL  It's still not real  hot, so I'll "think" about it for a little while.  Janet you need to come visit......!!!! LOL