May. 03, 2002 ~ Bucky
is doing better; he doesn't seem quite as upset. He doesn't neigh wildly and run around the pen when the other horses are turned out into the pasture. He does neigh occasionally, but at least it's not a constant thing. So things are looking up.
Someone asked me about foundering, what it meant. There is a disease called laminitis, which is an inflammation of the hoof. Laminitis can lead to founder, which causes permanent damage to the supporting structures of the foot. It's a very serious, sometimes fatal disease. Laminitis can be caused by many things, one of which is overeating on lush pastures. You can turn ten horses out into the same pasture, and nine of those ten will be fine, but one may develop laminitis. In Bucky's case, the cause of his original illness was a mystery, but he is now very susceptible to developing laminitis again, so he can't graze on lush spring or summer pastures. He is allowed out in the fall and winter, because the grass doesn't have as much protein at those times. In the winter, there's hardly any grass at all -- the horses just go into the pastures for exercise. Our vet advised us to sell Bucky, saying that he wouldn't be much use to us after he foundered, but I can't bear the thought of parting with him. He was born here, and I expect him to grow old and die here. When he was first born I carried him around, and even sat on a bench with Bucky on my lap. It helped him to "imprint" on me, to think of me as his surrogate mom. He'll be eight years old on Monday, but I still think of him as my baby horse. Silly, I know.
It's raining this morning. I should be out taking care of the animals, but maybe it will stop raining soon, and I won't have to get wet. Even with all the dorky rain gear, I still manage to get wet. It is DARK out there, too. Hmmmm. Another excuse to stay inside. No electricity in the barn, you see.
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One of our cats is missing. Lucky's luck may have run out. Poor girl. So named because she survived an awful incident when she was a kitten, she would have been five years old last week. Husband mentioned that he hadn't seen her in a while, and when I thought about it, I realized that I hadn't seen her in a few days, either. Lucky was a doghouse cat. When we had a dog, Lucky and her sister, Star, buddied up with the chow and moved into her doghouse. So we had to get another doghouse for the dog! After the dog died, Lucky and Star still lived in the doghouse, in the dog pen -- a large, fenced yard formerly used for grazing calves. Somehow Lucky and Star had a falling out, though. Star took up residence in the front yard, and now she eats her food on the front porch. Lucky continued to sleep in the doghouse, and she ate her food there, too. Yes, inside the doghouse, so the birds wouldn't get her food.
If Lucky wasn't in the doghouse in the morning, she nearly always came running when she saw me bringing her breakfast. But when was the last time I saw her? I couldn't say. That seems to be the way with barn cats, unfortunately. We get so used to them going on walkabouts that we don't always notice, right away, when something is wrong. I've continued to put food in the doghouse every morning, and someone is eating it, but it may just be the possums or raccoons. So I think I'll check one last time, this morning, and if Lucky isn't there, I'll stop putting food in the doghouse. Wow. If she is in fact gone, this means that Star will be the only surving kitten of that litter. No siblings. I hope we're wrong about that. Lucky was a sweet kitty.
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The rain is steadily falling. I guess I'll tend to some paperwork, give it a little more time, and maybe the rain will stop. Hope so.
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Rememer the birds we tried to give away? You will be pleased to hear that we did in fact give them to our neighbors, and we did it the "right" way. In broad daylight, with the approval of both husband and wife. So they're now the proud owners of a rooster and a male duck. This is good news for our flock. The bad news is that one of our female ducks died the other day. Don't know if it had anything to do with the male ducks -- we hope not. One female duck is now sitting on some eggs, both duck and chicken eggs, and we're debating whether we should let them hatch. Baby chicks and ducklings are just about the cutest things in the world. But we sure don't need any more male birds (they either fight amongst themselves or torment the females, injuring them). So it would probably be best if we got rid of those eggs.
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