LOUISE RIP.......!!!!!

A horrible morning........Louise hadn't been acting right for a couple of days, but we just thought it was her feet.  Because her feet were so bad, it's been hard for her to walk, but she was going out of the pen & moving around, which is a good thing.

Yesterday John saw her hanging her head over the water a couple of times, not drinking, but he didn't really think that much about it.

This morning when he went out he noticed she was breathing heavy when he put her in the pen.  Lisa that's been helping with chores said her breath was absolutely horrible & her gums were white.  She had a little temperature, & when I called the vet she said she'd be here in about an hour.  

Louise went down, Lisa & John got her back up & she started walking in small circles.  When she went down again, I sent John up to get a bale of hay to help keep her up on her chest rather than laying out flat.  By the time he got back with the hay, she was have convulsions, legs stiff.  By the time I went to the house to call the vet again, & was headed out of the door, John met me to tell me she was dead.  Called the vet to have her come out anyway, in case she had some idea of what happened.  My first thought was noxious weed of some kind, but like the vet said, these donkeys are well fed, we've had donkeys on the acreage for years, so we really don't know.  The vet noticed the horrible smell & when she reached in Louise's mouth she found rotten stuff of some kind, not from her teeth, probably from her digestive system.  The vet couldn't draw blood, it had been too long & suggested if we really wanted to hopefully find out what happened, that we could have a necropsy done at the UofA in Tucson.  I really want to know what happened, so John & Vic our neighbor are working at loading her in the stock trailer.  

When I called the University the woman I walked to said to keep her on ice..............!!!  I know it would be much better to have her on ice, but they'll just have to work with her as is.  We were going to haul her on the flat trailer covered with a tarp, but decided she wouldn't get as hot if she was in the stock trailer uncovered.  

She was Mocha's mom, only 6 years old, & we had high hopes that her feet would get straightened out & she would have a good life, hopefully in a Forever Home of her own.  I really hate to lose them & this makes 3 this year, too many. 

I didn't even get a decent picture of her, didn't know there would be any hurry.  But we won't forget her.