I HATE proud flesh........!!!

 I hope you don't expect this narrative to be very technical, because I don't do technical, I do much better breaking it down to what I understand, which is as simple as possible.......!!

This is what Jenny's foot looked like this morning after I worked a little with scissors & a rag.  I hope the 3 bones in her foot stay inside until the hoof wall has time to grow down.  They are suppose to be sitting one on top of the other, with the triangle shaped coffin bone on the bottom.  Because of chronic laminitis the velcro that is suppose to suspend the bones inside the foot no longer attaches to the hoof or if it does I'm sure it is hit & miss.  Perhaps in a few areas, but nothing like it's suppose to be.  

When they did the hoof resection in April, they removed about half or a little more of the coffin bone to get rid of the massive infection, & did a  regional perfusion of antibiotics.  Since late this summer we have been fighting an abscess & whatever accompanies it.

She goes out with the other donkeys & although she walks pretty "easy" on that foot, as in almost 3 legged lame,  she goes over to Burroland & seems to do wherever she wants.  The vet doesn't want to take off the proud flesh because she afraid the hoof might collapse.  My theory is, with the proud flesh taking up so much room, how can the hoof wall grow in?   It is drier than it was, & there is actually some good looking hoof wall growing in from the coronary band.

But I've wondered for quite awhile, what happens if behind the proud flesh the bones are jumbled & no longer in line because there is nothing to hold them?  From the info I get, no one really knows...........!!!  Or if they do they aren't sharing with me..........!!!! Sigh!  Maybe I'll find out something when the vet is here Friday.

This is Boaz's knee with it's usual covering of dirt.  I think of dirt as another type of scab, because if you put anything on it that is wet and/or sticky, this is what it ends up looking like.  We have managed to eradicate the proud flesh, BUT, the area is large enough that getting it to completely heal is a challenge.  There is no good tissue only scar tissue, which hopefully will eventually fill in.

Boaz didn't think much of me looking at his knee, & the camera making "funny" noises.  He is such a neat donkey & would make someone a wonderful companion.  I hope if I can get his knee to where it doesn't take daily care, someone will look past his scars & see what a rough diamond he is.

Ruthie was even more suspicious than Boaz, at the camera sounds.  She wouldn't stand still at all to let me take time to try to get a picture of her growing belly.  It's suppose to get colder here in the next few days, & I've been telling her to not have that baby now, to wait until it warms up a little.  John is still "groping" her every morning & there have been some changes in the last few days.  Her "floppies" aren't as floppy as they were, although they aren't full.  She's had about as much experience at having a baby as I have, so I will rely on her to do what she needs to do.  I just hope the little guy doesn't come into a world of 15 degrees, like we've had a couple of mornings this week. 

 When we went out to feed Friday night Boaz didn't show up.............hmmmm..........!!!  Boaz has a "nose for news", when it comes to finding a weak spot in the perimeter fence, so we figured he was on a walk about as the Aussies say.

John headed for the wash, which is the usual place if someone gets out, because it's impossible to actually "fence" across the wash effectively.  No tracks & no Boaz.  I went back in the feed room to mix feed & John ranged out further.  It was getting dark,  & since we didn't know how long he'd been out, no telling where he was.

I got the feed mixed, John hadn't come back, so I jumped in the golf cart to go out & see if I could see him from the road.  As I got out to open the gate, here Boaz came trotting down the road.  I opened the gate, he came in & started running & braying, guess he figured out he was missing dinner, ran in his pen, turned around & brayed at me like, "where's my treat"?

John finally showed up & said he never did see Boaz, so we have no idea where he was, & John hasn't been able to find where he got out.

Something killed our last guinea Friday night, just ate the head, which I think is the M.O. of a skunk.  She was "mature" & slept on the ground rather than roosting up high.  We always shut her & the 2 remaining old hens up every night, but whatever it was, pulled the chicken wire & staples loose to get in.  John redid the wire & staples, so I hope it doesn't get in again.  Unfortunately if there is a weak spot in the wire, skunks or raccoons will find it.  One of the hens sleeps in the nesting box, the other one goes up real high on a ledge.  The one on the ledge is probably pretty safe, but the other one, is pretty vulnerable.

Still doctoring Jenny's foot, I think sometimes we go 1 step forward & 2 steps backwards, but she's still interested in going out & doing her thing.  Yesterday I cut off as much of the proud flesh as I was comfortable doing.  John asked if he could help, but he has a weak stomach, when it comes to blood, & with proud flesh there is a massive amount of blood for the amount of cutting you do.

When Dr. Nancy cut the proud flesh off Boaz's knee, she of course cut every little bit she could find off.........but.........she also used a dehorning iron to cauterize it.  That goes way beyond my "pay" grade......!!!   I'm not going there.......!!!   (G)

So I took off what I was comfortable doing, finally had to put a pressure bandage on it to stop the bleeding & left it on.  I'm suppose to soak her this morning, so I'll see what it looks like when I unwrap it.  Dr. Megan says she can deal with the proud flesh later, but we need to get the internal oozing under control.

 I agree, but in the meantime, I REALLY dislike proud flesh.

Poor Jenny, she might think this is what her "health" care is coming to.  I've been watching a "glob" on her hoof where the abscess blew a few weeks ago.  When the vet was here she didn't say much about it, just that it needs to grow out.  

A few days ago it looked to me like it might be getting bigger & of course every few days it would bleed like crazy.  A couple of days ago, I poked it with a knife & Jenny didn't react..................Hmmmmmm..........possible proud flesh? 

Never give someone with a little bit of knowledge, tools with which to do something.  First I pulled & pushed on it.  No reaction, then I cut at the base with scissors, just a little bit.  No reaction to that.............so, it's time to either press on or back off.  I've had a scalpel for years, have no idea why I bought it, but it's been up in the cabinet, still sealed, just waiting for an opportunity to do it's thing, I guess.  

I've watched vet's remove proud flesh, so I know what happens, as soon as you start cutting, blood gushes.   Couldn't ask John  to help, blood makes him queasy, so it was just Jenny & I.  She was eating her hay, & since there are no nerves in proud flesh, it doesn't hurt when you cut into it.  Just took a second or two to cut off whatever was outside the hoof wall, took a lot longer to slow down the bleeding.  I finally covered it with Wonder Dust a caustic product I hate, but it does a good job of taking care of proud flesh & she didn't even act like anything had happened.  I'll watch it closely, hopefully it will go away, without a bunch of drama.  

Heard from Boaz & BlackJack's weed control boss today.  She said about another week & they should have most of the weeds eaten down, so we'll go get them the 22nd.