Well, well, well, this morning everyone except for BlackJack came over from Burroland & were waiting "patiently" for us to come out of the house & fix their breakfast. We'll see if it is a fluke, even Miss Tula was standing around waiting like everyone else.
Last night when John went out to let everyone out of their pens, Jack the mule hadn't eaten his supper, (very unusual behavior for him) & when John opened his pen he made a beeline for Rusty's pen, laid down & tried to roll. John came in to get me. My "WAG" was sand colic. He wasn't in a lot of pain, but seemed uncomfortable. John cleaned his pen, so we would know if he pooed or peed, we filled his water bucket & hoped this morning would result in a poo pile or two. He was still "off" this morning & no poo, so we spent the day at the vet's with him getting tubed with mineral oil & getting IV fluids. The vet's "SWAG" was also sand colic. Even though we put down a stall mat under his feed bucket, he throws his head around & slings food everywhere. Some of it goes off the mat, & he eats it, so I'm sure he gets sand & gravel in his system. We brought him home with the IV still in his neck, in case he isn't better tomorrow & we have to take him back for more fluids. If we don't need it I'll take it out tomorrow night. He's 26 years old, so we will watch him carefully & hopefully stay ahead of any big problems. He's a funny old guy, usually he is pretty hard to work with, uncooperative is an understatement. But we've noticed when he is sick or needs help he cooperates much better. One time he was 3 legged lame & I noticed he had a huge rock caught in one of his hind feet. John wasn't here, & I figured when he got home he would find me with my head kicked across the property. I tied Jack up, ran my hand down his leg, he lifted the foot & let me use a hoof pick to pry the rock out. And I got to keep my head.........!!!! On a normal day I would not try to pick up a rear foot on him. A trimmer tried one time & he exploded, we decided he didn't need his feet trimmed that bad.
Last night when John went out to let everyone out of their pens, Jack the mule hadn't eaten his supper, (very unusual behavior for him) & when John opened his pen he made a beeline for Rusty's pen, laid down & tried to roll. John came in to get me. My "WAG" was sand colic. He wasn't in a lot of pain, but seemed uncomfortable. John cleaned his pen, so we would know if he pooed or peed, we filled his water bucket & hoped this morning would result in a poo pile or two. He was still "off" this morning & no poo, so we spent the day at the vet's with him getting tubed with mineral oil & getting IV fluids. The vet's "SWAG" was also sand colic. Even though we put down a stall mat under his feed bucket, he throws his head around & slings food everywhere. Some of it goes off the mat, & he eats it, so I'm sure he gets sand & gravel in his system. We brought him home with the IV still in his neck, in case he isn't better tomorrow & we have to take him back for more fluids. If we don't need it I'll take it out tomorrow night. He's 26 years old, so we will watch him carefully & hopefully stay ahead of any big problems. He's a funny old guy, usually he is pretty hard to work with, uncooperative is an understatement. But we've noticed when he is sick or needs help he cooperates much better. One time he was 3 legged lame & I noticed he had a huge rock caught in one of his hind feet. John wasn't here, & I figured when he got home he would find me with my head kicked across the property. I tied Jack up, ran my hand down his leg, he lifted the foot & let me use a hoof pick to pry the rock out. And I got to keep my head.........!!!! On a normal day I would not try to pick up a rear foot on him. A trimmer tried one time & he exploded, we decided he didn't need his feet trimmed that bad.
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