IT'S HOT, HOT, HOT..........!!!

And now they are saying we actually have  a chance of some rain............!!!  So far 2016 has been a rather strange year, weather wise.........!!! 

Not much going on, everyone is hunkered down in the heat of the day, waiting for cooler weather.  We've been doing quite a bit of doctoring, the stable flies, which are the ones that eat the hair off donkey legs below the knee and make a bloody mess are out and about in great numbers.  They only bother certain donkeys and most of those legs are covered with socks, or polo wraps or a combination of both.  Actually the combo works out pretty good, polo wrap below the knee and sock above the knee.  Trying to cover the actual knee in conjunction with either above or below does not work well.  

We're also doctoring Rosie's belly.  She has some type of open sores on her belly every summer.  I call it ventral dermatitis, just because it has to be called something.  It has been scraped and tested, came up inconclusive.  She has had "THE SHOT", which is a steroid called Dexamethasone and if it made any difference it was minimal.  Dex is scary, it can cause foundering in a healthy equine, and had been used for a long time as the only method to test for Cushings disease.  In recent years a simple blood draw for ACTH results has started to replace the 2 blood draws, hours apart using Dex.  Unfortunately older vets and equine people that have "always done it that way", are slow to change sometimes.  When I asked Dr. Lindsey to test Coquette for Cushings, she hesitantly asked if I was familiar with the ACTH test.  I told her I wouldn't do the Dex, and her eyes lite up.  She said so many people still insist on the Dex. 

This is Julius, our "wild" outdoor cat.  In this heat wave he has decided that he likes to be in the house during the heat of the day.  Up until a few weeks ago, he would come in the house in the morning, wrestle with the cats, eat a little dry food and want out.  Since it's been hot, his MO has changed to coming in, going thru the usual routine and then disappearing in the house, usually on our bed.  Sometime in the evening, he'll go to the door and want out to go do cat stuff while it's cool.  He's actually a full brother to Snooky and and half brother to Sunny, but has never wanted to be a house cat.  He was with their mother Hobo for years, until she didn't show up one morning.  I would imagine he gets lonely, but doesn't want to give up his freedom.