For the last month or so Penny has not been eating very good. Unlike most donkeys, she is not what we call a "food whore", she eats just what she needs to survive. She's always looked like a survivor of a concentration camp, bony hips scrawny little legs, and she won't eat just anything and not even one extra mouthful.
But lately she wasn't eating hardly anything, even senior feed and alfalfa, both are usually not even on the property. Last night I tried her on a handful of everything we had and she jerked her head away like we were trying to poison her.
This morning, I decided to try her on senior feed soaked in hot water with pieces of animal crackers on top. She's always ready to eat animal crackers and usually will run you down if she thinks you haven't been generous enough.
She took most of the morning to eat about 2 1/2 cups of soaked senior feed and we let her out of her pen for the day. I had messaged Dr. Jeremy to see if he had any ideas. She had her teeth worked on in October and Dr. Debra said there wasn't anything else to do, her teeth are smooth and for the most part at gum level, except for areas where she has teeth with no opposing teeth above or below.
Dr. Jeremy said from what I described he thought it might be teeth problems even though she had been done just a few months ago. He stays busy, but agreed to come out as soon as he could, maybe tomorrow.
John went out later to help with roundup and came in to say she was down and had been struggling for quite sometime judging the torn up ground. I went out to see what was going on and made the decision to call Dr. Jeremy to come and euthanize her because she was so weak. He said he was with a patient, but would be here as soon as possible.
In the meantime we decided to put a bale of hay behind her to keep her sitting up rather than laying on the ground flat and paddling her feet. Got the hay, Lynn and John were sliding her around to get her on flat ground and in the process she struggled to her feet. She was just barely able to stay up, but was still on her feet when Dr. Jeremy got here. He checked her over and she showed enough energy to fight him and try to get away. She's never liked him and I'm sure after today she won't change her mind. He checked her teeth and she has one that has no opposing tooth that has ulcerated a deep gouge in the gum below.
So into the stock she went for a dental appointment of course she had to be sedated, got a shot of bute and was still in a mood to kick if she wanted to.
Put her back in the pen and she immediately started pulling hay out of the bale John brought to hold her up. Got my fingers crossed that was the problem and she will be OK in a few days. Dr. Jeremy said he'll be back in a few days to check on her.
I'm so glad she's got a 2nd chance, we're not ready to give up on her. I would have let her go, so I'm very glad Dr. Jeremy was willing to work with her. Don't know what John would do without his "girlfriend" as he calls her. He can do more with her than any of the rest of us. And he always makes sure he has a pocketful of animal crackers when he's letting them out of the pens for the night. I think she probably gets most of the crackers, because she pushes on him with her nose. I've told him all he is, is a PEZ dispenser as far as she is concerned. She pushes on him and he gives her a cracker.......!!! LOL
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