Kenobi's been quarantined!

Monday afternoon while I was out doing my weekly shopping Don called to tell me Kenobi's lump had ruptured. This upset me terribly as I was hoping to get her to the vet and have it lanced before that happened. She's now quarantined in the dog kennel by the house and not very happy about it. I know she misses Obi and Juan, but it's best they be separated for a few days while we care for her wound.

When Don found her he tried to clean up the ruptured abscess as best he could. From what he told me, Kenobi put up a good fight (he chased her around for 30 minutes...usually she's underfoot) and was quite vocal in her protests. This did not sit well with Obi and Juan who began butting Don in the, well, butt. This made any kind of doctoring quite difficult. I have to admit, I wish I'd been home to see it as Don's description gave me the giggles.

Don took Kenobi to the vet where they lanced the abscess and cleaned it out. The vet hasn't done any tests, but says it looks like CL (Caseous Lymphadenitis) a horrid bacterium that has no cure. It affects the lymph system and is highly contagious, hence the necessary quarantine. You can read more about it here: http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/U/UNP-0085/ if you'd like.

I am hoping that it isn't CL and is just an abscess due to a small wound or insect bite. Goats are notorious for such abscesses. If it is CL the other goats have already been exposed due to it rupturing in the goat pen. Makes me sick, but there's no sense in beating myself up over it. The vet told me not to bring Kenobi in until the lump softened so I waited...waited until it was to late.

Fortunately, other than the abscess Kenobi got a good bill of health. She's a nice 57 pounds, is clear eyed, eating well, etc. Vet says she'll be fine. I won't be able to breed her or use her as a milk goat, but that's okay. Obi, Juan and Kenobi will just be pets...like dogs with hooves that "baaaaaa" instead of bark!

Poor little girls!

As I mentioned yesterday, we've been having a lot of health issues. I was found to have a dangerously low Vitamin D level and am currently on a once a week mega dose for 10 weeks. I was quite surprised to learn that low levels of Vitamin D will not only cause softening of bone tissue, but also causes depression and anxiety disorders.

On top of dealing with that, I went out on the front porch a couple weeks ago to discover my cat, Siobhan, had lost all the flesh and hair from most of her tail! The vet called it "degloving" and poor Siobhan had to have all but a couple inches of her tail amputated. When she came home the day after surgery she looked like she had a breakfast sausage stuck to her rear end!

The stitches came out on Wednesday and now that the hair is starting to grow back she has less of a sausage tail and more of a bob tail (thank goodness).

We also took our two youngest pets, Aislainn and Possum, to be spayed. We are very strong supporters of spaying/neutering as we know firsthand the problem our country has with excess pets and the issues that go along with that - abandoned/dumped pets and the diseases they carry and spread, etc. So off they went on Tuesday afternoon to get fixed. Poor things had to spend the night at the vet's since he was not able to get to them until Wednesday morning, but both were able to come home that afternoon, albeit a little woozy still.

Little Miss Aislainn (right) put up quite a fuss at the vet's office. We were told that she was even nipping at them (which didn't really surprise us...she likes to get her way) and being quite uncooperative. Aislainn has been a sad little lamb since coming home. She spent Wednesday evening napping on our bed and has been very uncomfortable. I've never seen a dog behave the way she does and think it must be her stitches. She'll get comfy and suddenly jump up like a bee stung her. My guess is that a stitch pokes her or she has a pain. I feel very bad for Aislainn and will be happy when she is back to being perky.

Possum has been quite another story. She was a meek little lamb at the vet's which surprised us because she is the Devil's spawn at home and reverted right back to her evil ways once the drugs wore off. They must have done her surgery after Aislainn's because Possum was still pretty out of it when she got home. In fact, she's still sleeping more than normal (and that's saying a lot for a cat). I don't think she's been off Don's computer chair in two days unless he's home and moves her elsewhere. Poor Possum, we will really miss her antics when she was in heat, which seemed to be every other week!

At least the other critters have been sympathetic, as well they should considering they've all been through the same thing! Last night Possum snuggled with Darcy. I've never seen Possum snuggled up with anyone! Darcy, however, is a different story. She loves to snuggle!

Aislainn decided to snuggle with her big sister Maggie who is an excellent snuggler, by the way. Even I like to snuggle with Maggie!

I'm still keeping an eye on one ailing critter. My goat Kenobi has a golf ball size lump in her throat just below her jaw. Now, I know she didn't swallow a golf ball because Don and I don't play golf. I wanted to take her to the vet when the others went, but decided to call first as I didn't know if the livestock vet would prefer to come out to the house. Kenobi is a great rider, so transporting her wouldn't have been a problem. However, the vet told me to just keep an eye on it and as soon as the golf ball softened up to bring her in and they'll lance it. He said it's a common thing in goats and to not worry.

HA...easier said than done!

When it rains, it pours!

I can't help wondering why we made it almost the whole summer without any critters getting sick, snake bitten or injured in some other way, only to have a snowball effect start this week. Molly, fortunately, got to come home this morning and is doing very well after her bout of heat exhaustion. In fact, she's been lazing on our bed all day enjoying the air conditioning. Unfortunately, Eoghan (pictured above) will be heading to the vet's in the morning.

Last night Eoghan had what we believe was a mild seizure. He hopped down off the love seat to eat his dinner and collapsed on the floor halfway to the kitchen. Eoghan's legs drew up and stiffened, his feet curled up and his eyes were wide and blank. He was trembling all over and unresponsive to us. Don sat in the floor talking to him in a calm, soothing voice while stroking his trembling body. The seizure only lasted a minute or so, but it seemed like forever to me. When it was over Eoghan walked around on stiff legs for a few minutes and then seemed fine. He even ate all of his dinner and finished off some of the other dogs' dinners!

Of course, I spent the rest of the evening researching and reading. I've come to the conclusion that Eoghan is suffering from hypothyroidism. He has almost all the symptoms...dry itchy skin, thin brittle hair and weight gain. He's also half blood hound, which is a breed prone to thyroid problems. Needless to say, Eoghan will be going to the vet's in the morning to have blood drawn for testing.

Sigh...when it rains, it pours. I only wish it were the actual wet kind of stuff falling from the sky, not a metaphor for one sick doggie after another!

Fergus and his fantasy...

Yesterday evening, while feeding the ducks and chickens, my attention was drawn to my cats, Fergus and Kearie, playing. Fergus escaped from Kearie's clutches and went up a fence post. I was delighted to see this as Fergus is often spotted sitting on top of fence posts, but never seen actually climbing up one. He had an odd way of going up the post, more a form of hitching himself up than actually doing a graceful feline climb. This didn't really surprise me since Don and I are convinced that Fergus believes himself to be a dog.

When Fergus was five weeks old a cruel person threw him out of a moving car onto a concrete driveway. The man who found him brought Fergus to the vet's office where Don and I just so happened to be...guess I was in the right place at the right time! When the man came in with something wrapped up in a brown paper bag I was instantly curious...and very concerned. Don says I was hopping from foot to foot, but I don't believe him.

When the man handed the paper bag to a vet tech he asked her what they were going to do and she said they would have to put it down. I immediately blurted, "What is it and can it be saved?" and was relieved when she said that it was a kitten and it might possibly survive. I replied that I would take full responsibility for the tiny kitten. The man thanked me (as did everyone else in the vet's office) and told me what had happened.

Poor little Fergus...his nose had been ripped off when he hit the pavement and he was in very bad shape. So the vet's office kept him overnight and I returned the next day to bring him home. We put the large dog crate in the family room so that the dogs and other cats could become accustomed to Fergus.

For two weeks it was touch and go. Fergus was in so much pain he would just lie in his bed with his head hanging. I had to feed him with a syringe because he couldn't breathe and suck a bottle at the same time. Eventually he healed as best he could and became a happy little guy.

Today Fergus is a big beautiful cat and we don't notice the horrid disfigurement where his nose used to be. He spends most of his days lying in the yard with the dogs, which is why we think Fergus believes he IS a dog...after all, he grew up in a dog crate surrounded by other dogs! He never purrs and seldom meows. I told Don this is because Fergus thinks he should bark and it doesn't come out right so he stays quiet...probably embarrassed by the girly meows.

Yesterday, after climbing the fence post, Fergus hopped down into the back yard with the two dogs that live back there. He's the only cat that ever gets in the back yard...probably because Fergus thinks he's one of the dogs. When I came in the house Fergus was sitting next to the doghouse like he belonged there.

I guess, in his mind, he does!