Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Hank and George and Alan and Denise's Big Adventure

At least the weather was cooperative for our big trip to the vet...because George and Alan sure weren't. Bad burros. They forgot how to load themselves into the horse trailer. We ended up having to chase them in. I hated having to do that but they left me no option. Thank goodness Cowgirl Denise was available to assist – I truly don't know how I would have gotten through the day without her.

Alan and George decided to ride backwards in the trailer, facing Hank. I'm not sure what they talked about on the way there, but I'm quite certain their conversation on the way home included many bad words and lots of complaining about the horrible things I put them through.

Our favorite vet took new x-rays of Hank's knee and was pleasantly surprised to see it had improved since March. The bone fragments that had been floating around the bad corner in the joint organized themselves and settled into a better spot. Even though his knee is knobbier and he has less range of motion now, it's a little more stable, which is a very good thing.

While Hank was sedated for his teeth floating (see this post for an explanation of that procedure), I had the vet check out a cut/sore on Hank's tongue I had noticed awhile back - it was a cactus thorn. Good grief. The vet tweezed that out, floated Hank's teeth, cleaned his sheath, gave him his fall shots, and then it was Alan's turn.

We sedated him first to get a good look into those itchy ears. Ticks. Lots of them. Yuck. The vet and his tech treated them, and I took detailed notes for future reference, since I will have to do this myself next spring and summer. Basically, it involves squirting medicine in one ear, holding it closed and massaging it in for a minute, then doing the same to the other ear while still holding the first ear closed - definitely a two-person job. Once both ears are treated, both people let go and stand back, because the patient then shakes the medicine out. It was a hot day and the shower felt pretty good...and I'll be tick free for at least a few months. The rest of Alan's check-up went just fine. I learned that burros' sheaths don't get dirty and gross as do horses, but they do develop a bean which should be removed. (That last tidbit was for the benefit of the donkey owners who read this blog...the rest of you don't want to know what it all means.)

Next up, George. His drippy eyes are an allergic reaction to flies. All I can do is make him wear his fly fringe and wait for fly season to end. While floating George's teeth, the vet found a wolf tooth that was loose and needed to be removed. He pulled it, I saved it, and George is waiting to see what the tooth fairy will bring. We checked George's ears and he had only one tick in one ear, but we still treated him.

I was a little concerned that both burros were getting a little chunky, but the vet said their weights were good. Their diets are officially over.

Given the tick-tick-tick going on in the burros' ears, we went back to Hank and checked his. He had them, too, and got treated accordingly.

It was finally time to go home and George and Alan were being uncooperative, so the tech and I had to chase them into the trailer. Cowgirl Denise somehow ended up in the trailer with them, and I was planning to leave her in there to keep them company on the way home...


...but she took exception to that.

26 comments:

  1. Wow, sure sounds like you had quite a day, but GREAT news about Hank and glad everyone was taken care of and is healthy and well.

    As for Denise, is she ready to become a full time cowgirl?

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  2. I remember those ticks from when we lived in AZ - YUCK! Thank goofness for Cowgirl Denise!

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  3. I hope your critters understand just how good they have it with you. Most horse owners that I know don't ever take their animals to the vet.

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  4. What an excellent adventure!

    I never would have thought about ticks. Good heavens. Those must have been terribly uncomfortable crawling around and tickling those great big ears. Glad you got to the bottom of that mystery.

    I see burro trailer loading groundwork in your future. ;)

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  5. What a beautiful sun rise to see when waking up and glad all are well after the treatments they all got.

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  6. Lol, poor Denise!

    Sounds like you kept the vet busy. I have to occasionally treat my dog's ears in a similar process, but I'm sure I'd be amazed at the sheer quantity of medicine it takes to treat a donkey. I can't imagine how much fun you'll have doing it for yourself, without the helpful sedation.

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  7. I look forward to checking in on the ranch every day, thanks so much for your great posts!

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  8. What a fun interesting post. I loved reading it. Sounds like you had a good partner in this adventure. You might need to bring the whip next trip to keep her in the trailer. She might need more ground work to load better.

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  9. Alan does look pretty annoyed in that picture...

    Hooray! I'm glad to hear that all went well and the boys are all fine.

    It's easy to see that you and Denise are having a GREAT time together. :D

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  10. Poor boys! Ticks in their ears and no fingers to extract them. Hooves just won't do.
    I'm glad it all went well, and Denise is still your friend. :)

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  11. That last picture cracked me up! Glad to hear the boyz are all okay.

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  12. Wow, poor guys. I'm so glad to hear they got a thorough going over and are now all shiny & new and tick free. In the end, it's all really good news. I'm sure Alan especially was glad to hear that the diet has been shelved.

    Hugs all 'round,
    Carolynn

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  13. A very full day for all of you! Glad the tick tick tick is gone.

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  14. Ah, I bet they are glad to get those ticks out! Have you seen the fly fringe with 'ear socks' combined - maybe you can kill two birds with one stone when bug season starts? :)

    I'm glad it all went well for you and the boys x

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  15. sounds like a long eventful day, good to have a friend along to help.

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  16. Ah, the bean. You aren't saving those, too, like you did Hank's tooth, right? lol
    Did the vet teach you how to extract the bean on your own? Since you'll be doing your own tick removal next year, I have a detailed set of instructions on just how to do your own sheath cleaning and bean extraction, if you're interested....
    :-)

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  17. maybe just walking them into and out of the trailer a few times a year just for the practice? ....

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  18. Do you read Forever Home Donkey Rescue blog? It has a lot of info about the donkeys. I think you would enjoy it.

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  19. Now, now Denise...you DID say you wanted to help around the ranch right? That didn't mean you got to pick and choose want KIND of help. Sometimes being a newbie cowgirl requires a ride IN the trailer, not just in front of it in the truck cab! (That's why you wear cowgirl boots.)

    Good for you!

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  20. What a relief to have all that done, and the equines all winterized, huh?

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  21. Glad to hear about Hank's knee! Sorry about the ticks and all the ear area you need to treat... Waiting to hear what the tooth fairy will bring! I rode in the back of a stock trailer for a short distance when we rescued 2 puppies along the side of a county road. It was a rough ride sitting down with puppies all over me:O Aren't you relieved all of this is over with?!?

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  22. Ewwwwwww! It sounds like every crook and cranny was explored and cleaned. And I do think that you got the worst end of the deal, Linda or maybe you did Denise!

    The friend I keep my horse with, used to clean her horse sheath's and not pay the vet. But as life went on and she had 4 boys (of the 2-legged kind) she decided she had enough of all that and it was worth paying someone.......

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  23. Eh...c.l.e.a.n.e.d. his s.h.e.a.t.h?

    I doan' lighe the soun' ob thad! I doan led nobardy neear my sheath!!!

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  24. I just found this fly mask with ear protection for Donkeys - they come in Miniature or regular.

    http://www.web-donkeys.com/products.php?cat=13

    A tip for ticks = coating them with a q-tip soaked in surgical spirit is an effective way to treat without upsetting the boys. Takes a day or two for them to shrivel and drop off (the ticks, that is not the burros! haha).

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  25. This is an excellent tidbit of donkey trivia that I needed to know!

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  26. This tick medicine information means so much more to me now. :-)
    Do you think we massaged the ears appropriately for at least a minute? lol
    (gosh, george was mad at me. it was funny how quickly alan got over it, though, despite his great upset.)

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