Yesterday morning Jenny was 3 legged lame on her bad foot, & would not eat her hay.  Not eating the hay was easy, she's been on SMZ antibiotics for weeks, & I guess they finally got to her stomach.  Need to get the good bugs back in her digestive system.  Patti had me use Florastor a few months ago when Jenny didn't like the antibiotics I was giving her, & she was eating within 24 hours, so I tried it again.

Dr. Megan called Dr. Voss in Gilbert to see if he had any brilliant ideas on her foot.  His best guess was perhaps another abscess trying to pop.  Dr. Megan had been hesitant about soaking because Jenny's hoof is not that sturdy because of the open area.  But Dr. Voss said to soak in epsom salts & betadine for 1/2 hour every other day.  After soaking he wants the open area packed with a Sugardine poultice. 

I planned on soaking her foot when she came in last night for supper.........BUT......when John went out to do round-up, she was below the house & not interested in moving or even taking a treat.  We went ahead & fed everyone else, of course by then it was dark.  So I loaded up my soaking "toys", & thrashed thru the brush to where she thought she was hid.  Mixed up some sugar & betadine to a dry paste, plastered it on & wrapped with brown gauze.  She still wasn't interested in moving or eating when we came in to go to bed. 

This morning John set the alarm (YUCK) because we were taking Gus & Quilla up to Claire's for the winter.  I dreaded John going out to do round-up, because I figured Jenny was still where we left her last night.  When I went out, she was already in her pen, & John said he looked over towards Burroland & here she came with Ruthie, & Pepper leading the parade.  She was walking pretty normal for her, slow & steady.  She was also ready for her breakfast.

It tried to rain last night, didn't do a very good job, just barely dampened the ground.  I figured it had probably ruined my gauze bandage, but it was still on.  I decided to not mess with it, Dr. Voss said to leave it on between soakings, which will be tomorrow.  I'm anxious to see what it looks like in the morning. 

We hurried with chores, the 2 boys almost hopped in the trailer, guess they figured we were going to do something fun & away we went. 

Claire & David were happy to see them, & the boys were more than happy to get out of the trailer after over a 3 hour ride.  I think they knew where they were, they sure acted like it. 

 David, Gus & John

 Quilla, Gus, Doc, & Thunder's head

The boys coming to say good-bye

Got home after 7pm to a bunch of grumpy donkeys.  They really expect to be fed on schedule & don't seem to understand being fed late at all......!!!!  Couldn't find Pepper at first & John was afraid he was down someplace & we wouldn't be able to find him in the dark.  But finally, he came waltzing in, at his own speed, thank goodness.  If my hair wasn't already grey, this old buzzard would make it so.  Between him & Jenny, I am becoming quite a worry wart.  LOL

JENNY'S DRAINING FOOT THIS MORNING

The split or whatever you want to call it is the line about halfway down her foot.  It runs from the middle of the front all the way around to the heel bulb & is open.  Last night when she came in it was completely dry for the first time in weeks.  And from what I could tell it is still dry.  The drainage is from the newest opening up at the coronet.  This morning I'm soaking her with White Lightening, doing that a couple of times a week, & epsom salts or plain water the other days.  

I'm also pushing a pencillin wash into the openings once or twice a day with a small syringe.  I've used this before on a wide open chest abscess from being kicked that healed good, so hopefully this will help Jenny.  I thought it might cause a barrier that would cause the infection to move inward rather than outward.  So I will watch it carefully.  Right now the drainage is clear or a little bloody.  Got rid of the black, nauseous smelling stuff, hopefully for good. 

She is finally starting to eat again, thank heavens.  That antibiotic really messed up her gut.  The feed store pro-biotics seemed to do the trick.  Patti said I might try Florastor which is a "people"  product that says it "maintains the balance of the intestinal flora".  Might give it to John.  Since he is gluten intolerant, & he cheats by eating wheat now & then, his system probably would appreciate the boost.

This morning we heard thundering hooves before we went out.  Boaz was chasing Frijolita with a gleam in his eye.  Daisy was trying to join in the fun but she couldn't keep up the pace, which was pretty fast.  John went to Frijolita's pen, yelled at her & in she went, much to Boaz's disgust, he'd invested a lot of time & effort into "getting" her.  I hate to tell him, but in all the time she has been here, if she ever cycled we never knew it.  She definitely wasn't buying what he was trying to sell........!!! LOL

Somewhere in the fray, his knee bandage got caught in the brush I guess.  The only thing left of the diaper was the inner lining, have no idea where the rest of it went.