The thing about creatures is that it's all very well when they're healthy and happy, and not so much when there's something wrong. The law of averages (or perhaps some other law) states that the more creatures you have, the more likely something is wrong with one or more of them at any one time. T has been lame for a couple of weeks now, footy if anything. Robin the farrier popped in with his hoof testers and found nothing to indicate anything like laminitis, which is good, but general reactivity in his soles. This weekend though he seems much better so I'll try him again tomorrow and see how he is after a little light work today. Tessa is coming next week to check him over. So a tentative relief there.
The other thing that's been worrying me silly is that Slim Jim started walking very strangely and lying down a lot. No obvious signs of pain but it became increasingly clear that something wasn't quite right and he was almost plaiting his back legs as he walked. Note to self: looking symptoms online is not a good idea. I took him to the vet on Wednesday evening, who diagnosed some sort of spinal trauma affecting his nervous system. This was most likely to be either Willow being rough with him or a recent incident in which one of the dining chairs in the meehoo room crashed to the floor and Jim galloping into the kitchen looking very perturbed. The good thing was that he still had sensation in his feet and reasonable proprioception, though not much at all in his tail.
The treatment is rest and an anti-inflammatory, so I brought back home a big crate for him to stay in, and he had an NSAID injection. Took him back next day but I could already see an improvement, so was quietly hopeful. The vet concurred so it was decided not to proceed with x-rays and continue the treatment. I think my prayers to the universe have been acknowledged as he has continued to improve since then and is being a model patient as far as the crate is concerned. Fingers continue to be crossed, nevertheless.
Meanwhile, today was a better day. For one thing, it was a nice mild and sunny day. Knickers and I went to our local chicken emporium to acquire some more birds, only to find that they didn't have any. However, all is not lost as a new batch are due in next week and we have our names down for some of them. Excellent.
As mentioned, T seemed to be quite level so that cheered me up no end, and it was a nice afternoon to work Mr Q afterwards. It was one of those days when the sun is shining and everyone is on good form, and we had a blast. Q really is one of the foremost stallions of our time when in that sort of mood and we had an excellent ride, the sort which is accompanied by a massive grin and frequent whoops of delight. Bless him - just what the doctor might have ordered, had I made an appointment and explained about my creature-related concerns throughout the working week.
Also, we did our first goat maintenance session, featuring Angie as victim. Definitely a two person job at this stage but really pleased - we trimmed her feet and made some progress with her allowing us to get near her udder - not before she reared up and broke a lead rope though :O. The importance of finishing on a good note foremost in our minds, we left it with her allowing us to touch her belly without her reacting and finished there, as the last thing that's needed is for her to think that general bucking and plunging results in us backing off. I don't think she's accustomed to having her feet done but was very good, all told. We'll tackle Gwen and Gerry tomorrow.
Meanwhile work is in progress to accustom the mares to allowing us to touch their under-bellies in preparation for parturition-related udder cleaning. Oh God - it's drawing closer :wibble:. Knickers has been making good progress with Alfama and they are much more amenable as we go along. Good stuff.
Finally, we took the dogs for a walk and Willow is turning out to be something of a crowd pleaser. She met Other Dogs today and charmed the pants off everyone who came across her, which was nice.
No comments:
Post a Comment