Jenny is doing good this morning the vet said, when I talked to him. They had to take quite a bit of the coffin bone, but he said the joint wasn't involved, so that's good. Said she's eating & drinking, & seems to be doing just fine. He also said they had to remove quite a bit of the hoof wall. When we were up there Dr. Voss had talked about what they would do if they have to take off so much hoof that it would be in danger of collapsing. They can either put an egg bar shoe across the bottom, or run a piece of metal strap across the open part of the hoof & attach it to the hoof with screws, or both. He didn't say anything about either one of those & I forgot to ask. Hopefully I'll remember it for tomorrow's call.
I don't know for sure but am guessing that since it is a back foot the lack of coffin bone will be less of a problem than if it was a front foot. Unfortunately her front feet are already lacking coffin bone, but she has adapted well & doesn't seem to be too uncomfortable on them.
I've always thought that equine carry most of their weight on the front feet, something like 60/40%, which would mean the back feet carry less weight. But recently I read that donkeys are more balanced than horses & actually carry closer to 50/50%.
John's already started getting the hay barn ready for her to stay in for awhile. She stayed in the hay barn when she came here almost 5 years ago, & as I recall wasn't real happy about the situation. She really likes to be out with the "jenny" herd. John plans on fortifying the corral panels with T-posts, otherwise I'm sure she would rearrange them at will.
Yesterday was a fun time. Boaz, Ruthie & Ruger's family came out to visit for the first time. They seemed to approve of how the donkeys are getting along & said how much they appreciated us taking care of them. I'm just glad we could do it, right now there is such a need & all rescues & sanctuaries are full, with more needing to come into sanctuary.
I really hope the new hay season will lower prices, so that people that want to keep their animals will be able to do so. We'll have to buy hay this summer, I'm sure not at the price we paid last time....!!! I would imagine those prices are gone forever. Right now people in this area will be thrilled when the price goes down to $15 a bale. So there won't be a lot of incentive for farmer's to charge less, unless there is a glut of hay.
Yesterday was a fun time. Boaz, Ruthie & Ruger's family came out to visit for the first time. They seemed to approve of how the donkeys are getting along & said how much they appreciated us taking care of them. I'm just glad we could do it, right now there is such a need & all rescues & sanctuaries are full, with more needing to come into sanctuary.
I really hope the new hay season will lower prices, so that people that want to keep their animals will be able to do so. We'll have to buy hay this summer, I'm sure not at the price we paid last time....!!! I would imagine those prices are gone forever. Right now people in this area will be thrilled when the price goes down to $15 a bale. So there won't be a lot of incentive for farmer's to charge less, unless there is a glut of hay.
2 comments:
You might want to check with your vet about using Equisocks or Equicasts on Jenny. It is a casting material that wraps around the hoof and becomes hard. A shoe can even be nailed to the bottom of it to provide support. It will keep junk out of the foot and allow her to walk on it. They generally hold up for 4-6 weeks. I have seen it used on hoof resections and was extremely impressed. It is relatively cheap as well. http://www.naturalfarrier.com/page13.html
Thanks I'll ask them about it. They are talking about keeping diapers on her foot, which I can do. But this sounds like it might be better for her, more stable.
Post a Comment