Donkey Tummies Are No Laughing Matter

Sugar has had a rough couple of days, as have I.

Wednesday afternoon I saw some trembling.  Not a good sign when it's above 40 degrees.  Four little donkeys are growing their winter coats and that was not a temp which should bother them.  Then she went off her food.

Thursday morning -- a call to the vet.   Dr. DeWitt was out within an hour.  High heart rate, little sound of gut rumbles, bloating.  Not a good sign.  Could be severe gas, or an impaction.

I learned a lot this visit, but I won't go into all the details. (capillary reaction, gut motility, etc)  Sug got an injection of pain reliever, then the old tube-up-the-nose with a water/electrolyte solution going down.  See how she does.

Thursday afternoon she exhibited normal behavior and demeanor.  Then Thursday evening the tremors returned but she was nibbling at her food.

Friday morning -- call #2 to the vet.  Same routine, although the promising signs were a lower heart rate, some gut rumbles, and bloating had decreased.  She was hydrated again but was frisky enough to fight the tube.  Another good sign.  Dr. Sheldon recommended a little serving of soaked hay cubes with lite salt (potassium chloride) every hour and a dose of banamine (the pain reliever) in the evening. She also had to be segregated from the herd so we could see elimination patterns.  Sugar hated being cooped up, but felt better when her sister, Spice, kept her company on the other side of  the jail bars.

This morning (Saturday) I put in a call to the on-call vet.  We're not out of the woods yet, but her behavior shows improvement.

Gut problems in equines can be fatal, so it's nothing to ignore.

One note of humor in this whole thing.  I have a nickname for Sugar which I think I've mentioned.  "Sugar Booger".  Well, vet #2 thought this was her actual name and that's what appeared on my receipt.
I had to laugh, and then correct the vet's office records.

       Sugar (on the left) starts to feel a bit better

With you all rooting for her I know she'll keep improving.

Make It Five Dingbats

I almost started this little story by saying I have four dingbat donkeys.  But, alas, it is probably me who is the dingbat.  Sad, isn't it.

Here's the backstory.

About the beginning of October, I decided it was time to keep the donks off the pasture until snow falls.  This is an annual routine that helps the pasture thrive in the spring.  While the pasture is off-limits they get extra hay, and, walkabouts in the acre or so fenced around our house.  They eat grass, wander through the woods, investigate our bocce court and recently, ATE MY MUMS.

Here's why I was foolish.  They hadn't touched the marigolds or roses, or clematis, (alright, they did eat the dianthus)  so I didn't give much thought to the three mums when I opened the gate and said, "Run free you hellions".

A  (former) white mum with the bedraggled marigolds

This is what I came back to:

One of these was the white one you saw above, plus two newbies.

Eaten down, not quite to the nub.  

I debated whether to purchase substitutes and because I love seeing the color, found a reasonably priced roadside stand and bought these.

I carefully removed them from donkey lip height before letting the dingbats loose a few days ago.

Can't fool me twice!