Getting stronger

Well little un-named is getting stronger. We had a minor setback Saturday when we noticed him straining to, um, shall we say, "use the bathroom." After making several phone calls back and forth with my vet, we determined it was serious enough that he needed to be seen at the clinic in Springville. So we loaded the Mare & foal up (not too easy as he's gained in size and weight in the past 10 days) and took off for the 45 minute drive. I was scared he might lay down and the mare would step on him, or that the strain of the trip would be too much for his legs.

But we arrived safely, until we walked him into the clinic and both the mare and foal slipped on the wet concrete. seriously, I know it's been there a while and the ridges that were once there have smoothed out, but you'd think they do something about that- rubber mats maybe??? Anyway, it was a good thing we took him in- he was starting to show signs of colic- the vet gave him an enema (we had already done that at home with no success), and also gave him some mineral oil through a tube in his nose into his stomach., as well as a shot of banamine- a pain med. While we were there, and since I did not want to make another trip back in a week, we went ahead and had an xray done of the colt's knees.

We were crossing our fingers that they would be mineralized already. (The cartilage hardened) Yah! They were! so the crookedness we're dealing with is strictly weak ligaments due to the premature birth and the fact he's growing so fast.

Two loooong nights, but...

It's foaling season- mine began last Thursday with a bit of a surprise. I was expecting Shikira to foal soon- but not THAT soon! We arrived at the Center- where I was keeping her so I could keep an eye on her during the day- to find a half frozen foal still attached to the placenta. It was a terribly cold morning and the colt had probably been born around 5 AM. We got there at 6:45 AM- but he was so cold his temperature didn't register on a thermometer for nearly 4 hours. I yelled for Tom to grab some towels- he came and started rubbing him while I ran to the office to phone a vet. I thought he was mostly dead at this point. It's so hard to find a good vet out here- the ones I used to use won't travel clear down here- but I was inspired that morning. The night before I had found a little ad in the local newspaper for a new vet in the area and I had ripped it out of the paper and put it in my pocket. I called and she was on her way. Meanwhile, I grabbed sciccors to cut the cord- Tom carried the limp baby into the office where we could put heaters around him and finish drying him off.

When the vet arrived her first comment was he was premature and didn't know if we'd beable to save him.

I ran back outside to milk the mare-the colostrum is critical in the first few hours to ensure survival. The vet put a tube in the colt's nose and into his stomach- we put about 250 CC of colustrum in him and then while I held his head, she put an IV into him and Tom warmed up an IV bag and he got 200 CC of warm glucose fluid.

The colt was not responding favorably at this time (2 hours later) the vet gave him some pen G and we kept rubbing him. Tom went through 2 rolls of paper towel drying him off! Finally, he started to shiver- which meant he was actually coming around and he started to open his eyes and lift his head.

We had one day of sunshine before a huge cold front that night. So at this point, the vet, Tom, and I put him on a blanket and carried out to his Mom. Tom then ran home to fashion a stall in the barn for them. I kept monitoring the colt- milking the mare, etc. A dear friend, Liza, willingly came to help- she stopped at the house to get some lamb nipples from Tom and bring them to me so we could try feeding him.

He started really perking up. With our help he finally stood up and we gave him the bottle. When Tom returned he had even taken a few steps. But we weren't out of the woods yet.- The vet said they do just good enough to build up hope and then tank the next day- the next 24 hours were critical and we had to be vigilant.

We trailered them home and as the cold night approached, we took turns all night milking Shikira and feeding the colt. After the second feeding with the bottle (and it wasn't working too great) Tom found an article of a better way to feed the colt. I just used my fingers and put them in the bottom of the pan and he wold suck on them and draw up the milk. Finally he would just suck up the milk without my fingers.

It was VERY cold and we would basically feed him, he would then lay down and we would cover him up with a baby blanket we had. All night, every hour and a half we'd have to wake him up and feed him. By friday he would stand on his own, but was still too weak to nurse on his own. While I was up during the night- I gort some of my fleece and made a little foal blanket for him to wear. Tom thought it was much better for him to have something that wasn't pink ;-) on him.

The vet came the next day and was shocked that he had made it! While it snowed and hailed outside, we did our best to keep him warm. Finally ( and I'm not sure why we didn't do this sooner) but a comment the vet made stuck (that preemies have a hard time regulating their body temp) and we Tom fashioned a couple of heat lamps over the stall for him to lay under.

The second night was much the same, but by 5 AM he surprised us all by nursing on his own! He didn't want any milk in the pan- so we knew he had gotten enough.

He still has a few problems from being a preemie- inverted eye lids on one eye- which we have to watch closely and keep medicated.

Several dear friends stopped by to see how he was doing (and some brought us dinner the night before-thanks Jim & Liza) and one special friend who LOVES horses wanted to touch his velvet soft coat- so we let Jamie give him a pat.

Clutzy me

Well, I missed the bottom step on our stairs (thinking it was the floor-it was dark and the new carpet color blends in...) Anyway, my ankle gave way and there was a popping sound (I thought I broke it). I screamed in pain- Tom came running- it hurt so much I got all tingly and naseaus. My luck, with summer around the corner and I'm now hobbling around. I haven't been to a doctor- if it's a sprain no real point- I'll give it a few more days and if there isn't more improvement I may go get an x-ray just to be sure- but Tom's fairly certain it's just a bad sprain. we got a brace for it and I used crutches for a couple of days until I got completely annoyed with them. None the less- yesterday was a great day for yard work, and we have a TON! Luckily I can hobble to the Tractor and then sit and let it do the work! So I was able to get corrals cleaned, arena leveled, and some rocks hauled out of the field! We turned out Kaydee and Gretchen across the road to the land- there isn't much grass yet, but for those two, enough. Shakira is bagging up and should foal on or before her due date! Sage is so smart- she learned to fetch a ball in about 5 minutes! Everytime I praised her for picking up the ball she would get so excited she would drop the ball- so I stopped praising her until she was all the way back to me with it. Now she's got it down what the job is I can throw the ball farther- well as far as my girl throw will let me... My Sis spent the night Friday while her daughter was at Snow college for an overnighter/intro thing. She is going there next fall- so we'll get to see her a lot! This week was busy as I also taught an afterschool acting class on Tues, Wed, Thurs- it was so fun! The kids we're a blast and really enjoyed the improv part! I think we'll have some great actors for the play coming up!

Visitors From Idaho

Just in time for some visitors our house was (mostly) finished! Good thing because we had one of those rare times when the Center was rented out for something other than a family reunion. Of course with the Center to get ready for renters, the house to clean (top to bottom dust!), I would come down with a cold! But we pretty much got it done- I noticed after Alex & Marie left that the fridge handle had gotten skipped- we had done the inside, but forgotten the outside! Yuk! It was thick with smeared dust. Anyway, we had a fun day with Alex and Marie and gang. Grandpa Tom enhancing the museum experience. Getting Muffin and her babies to come up closer- but they were too worried about Sage- the grain helped alot to overcome the fear of sage. "What is that?" Lincoln seems to be saying. He was so curious about everything and so dang cute! Kalia LOVED Sage our brand new Border Collie puppy. And Sage LOVED having so much attention! I gave Kalia a few instructions on making the puppy sit before petting and how to teach her walk quietly on the leash "heeling." Kalia was a natural dog trainer! Even Ethan liked Sage. We also ran up to North Salt Lake to have lunch with Aaron & Caroll and their gang. We FINALLY got to meet our newest granddaughter, Siena! I feel bad that we forgot the camera- she was a doll! The boys were all as cute as ever. We had Cari's three oldest with us as she was very sick from a horrible tooth infection- her face was swollen up something awful. Luckily it was one of the few sunny days we had that week and the kids all had fun playing together at the park!

Going, going, gone...

I was driving to Provo on Monday when the Hyundai started struggling up the hills. But we made it to Hwy 6 and cruised down the mountain into Spanish fork with no problems. I stopped at Sams Culb to do some shopping, got back in the car and on the freeway. I started to accelerate and... and...nothing there. No zip, no guts, nothing. With my foot to the floor I was topping out at 25 mph. Hmmm...put on flashers and poke along until the next exit- just 2 miles that seemed like an eternity.

I called Randy and he came and looked at it and suggested we take it to his mechanic. We took all the back roads to it and the mechanic took it for a test drive and said he'd give me the (bad) news tomorrow. Well- we got the news today...$3500. to fix it up. There's just not one thing wrong (which we had guessed) but a plethora of things. It's a miracle it's kept running at all. between clogged carburetors, linking oil coils, gaskets, oh and a timing belt- all of which you have to basically dismantle the car to get to.

So tomorrow we're going to go get it and bring it home and park it, and decide what to do with it. We'll haul it on a trailer back-easier than towing- I've had my share of those adventures. So we're down to the gas hog truck- Tom wants to look for a motorcycle to just run back and forth on during the summer. I'm not overly fond of driving on the freeway and highway on one, but Milburn road or state street here locally I'm okay with.

On a happier note, Hank is doing much better- he's actually walking around and somewhat back to his ole self. But he goes around quietly bah-ing for Patches & Bitsy- wondering where they've gone.

We've been clean, clean, cleaning at the house trying to get ready to move back in there this weekend-Slowly the snow line is receding back- yah! I can see grass!

TRADEGY STRIKES

IN MEMORY...

Very sad post today. Yesterday I was driving to Provo when I got a call from Tom. He had just been contacted by the Sheriff- 2 large black labs (from over 10 miles away no less) went on a killing spree and ravaged some of our neighbor's goats and then came and got ours. Apparently the Sheriff was contacted after the first incident and was looking for the dogs when he found them at our house- but it was too late. They had already killed sweet little Patches and Bitsy! The dogs turned on the Sheriff and he shot them both. They had also gone after Hank- but he wasn't dead. Tom checked him over and thinks he'll make it if the shock of it all doesn't kill him.

We will really miss sweet Patches- the Grandkid's favorite- she was so gentle and friendly. Both does were pregnant and due to deliver next month. I'm just grateful Muffin and her babies were still at the Center.

Our house is finally finished so we will be moving in this Friday and Saturday- it will be sad to look out the kitchen window and not see Patches frolicking with her babies in the Spring :-(

I also feel bad for the dog owners. They had to come get their dogs (2 large black labs). They moved to the area last year- I don't know if they realized how important it is to acclimate city animals to livestock.

This, (along with the skunk problem) has convinced us to invest in another good dog. I have missed not having one. I wish we still had Jack- he was the best, but I'm going to start looking for another really good Border Collie. They are so smart, loyal, and yet gentle for the kids.

Muffin and Hank make "little cookies"

About a month ago, I noticed Muffin "bagging up" and pulled her out of the pasture and set up the "birthing room" (the horse trailer) for her, complete with heat lamp and pine shavings. It was still very cold here at the time and I did not want to do a birth watch in 2 feet of snow and 10 degree weather. Hank was sneaky and must have jumped the fence- because I wasn't expecting babies until April....

Anyway- because this was here first time, I wanted to be sure and catch the delivery in case there were any problems. So 2 weeks ago we had Stake conference and Muffin was kind enough to wait until that afternoon and I was there to help. Good thing because the first one had a shoulder hung up on her way out and I had to bring it forward so she could get born.

Muffin did a really good job from there on out. We ended up with 2 does (worth a lot more than bucks) so I was happy- and they are adorable. One is Oreo and the other Chocolate Chip.

They are really friendly (even after disbudding) I think because Muffin is such a sweetie. She thinks she's a dog and even comes when you call her!