Before I get into today's topic, I just wanted to thank everyone who posted or emailed such wonderful and kind comments about Lonesome George's death yesterday. We were really touched by the heartfelt thoughts that were sent our -- and George's -- way. Thank you so much.
Our equine vet, Dr. Bill Brown, was scheduled to spend the day here doing spring vaccinations and health exams on all the horses. (I guess we can say "horses" now since George as a mule was the only non-horse equine at the ranch. And George never wanted to be confused with a horse, who he thought were all confused anyway, except for his sweetheart Lena.) So Bill and his vet tech, Vicky C., arrived this morning to begin a long 'herd health' day.
In the photo Bill is working on Patches, a Paint mare who came to us a few years ago from an animal cruelty court case in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana. A judge had turned Patches over to us for safekeeping until the defendant came to trial. When the case finally ended in a conviction a year later, the judge granted us custody of Patches. Kathryn is holding Patches, while Vicky was behind me keeping the syringes and other supplies prepped for Bill.
That's Domino in the background, holding up the corner of the shed with his head. Domino is mostly blind but can still see a bit out of his left eye.
Bill saved the strangles vaccine for last. Strangles is a highly contagious and nasty disease in horses affecting the lymph nodes of the upper respiratory tract. The vaccine is administered by squirting the fluid into the nostril so the horse absorbs it through the nasal membranes. Getting the vaccine into a horse's nose successfully is quite an art, and no one is better at doing it than Bill. In this video I shot a few minutes after the photo of Patches, Bill is giving the strangles vaccine to our giant Belgian draft horse Rooster. (The wind was blowing and unfortunately the microphone picked it up on the audio track.) At the end you'll see Rooster was showing me exactly what he thought about getting this stuff squirted up his nose.
Rooster's expression (after getting the Strangles up his nose) reminds me of how I feel when I have to use my Stadol nasal spray for my migraines. YUCH! Nasty stuff! But it works, so it's worth it Rooster. Great shot, Steve, especially when Rooster came right up to you with the camera! That was great!
Big hugs to all,
P.S. I brush Tobias almost every day, & he's shedding quite a bit, which my former greyhound only seemed to at the moment we stepped into the vet's office. (no other times, only then-she didn't like him & I soon changed vets. And her shedding stopped as well).
Posted by: ginger & Tobias (the greythound) | April 28, 2006 at 03:13 AM