A One-Of-A-Kind Day, Thankfully

Yesterday is over.
I am happy to report that we all survived.
I hate to wish any day away, since we only have a finite
amount of them.
But.....

Yesterday was pig vaccination day... traumatic, most likely, only to me. 
Seriously.
And, yesterday, our sweet Chloe had surgery to remove a mass from her neck.


Dr. Becky gave her a sedative that made her a little sleepy.
We walked her out to the soft grass of the pasture and she
was given her anesthesia.
In less than a minute she wobbled her way down to the ground...
asleep.


We rolled her on her back and propped hay bales on each
side to keep her supine.


First a "cat scan"...


Then, Dr. Becky made an incision through an area that at first
looked like a sarcoid (and that first area may have been just that.)
What lay beneath the skin, however, was a plum-sized fibrous tumor.
It's been sent off to a pathology lab for identification.
We'll eventually know what it is.


The underlying tissue was sutured together and
the skin was brought together with stainless steel staples.
All of the blood was cleaned off with peroxide.

We'll have to remove the staples in about 10 days.
Because Chloe is not the most cooperative donkey,
that will have to be done under a little sedation.

Waking up from anesthesia was a unique experience.
Dr. Becky said she never had a horse or donkey sit like that before.
She wanted to be upright, but her back legs just didn't 
work right.


She'll be on oral antibiotics for the next 10 days.
Getting her to take them should be quite the feat.
As of last night, we were completely unsuccessful.

Horse vaccination was the next task.


Thankfully, that is always easy.
Peppermints are handed out and everyone lines up
happy to oblige.


Then the dogs got their vaccinations....
equally easy.

Last, but not least.... the pigs were vaccinated.
Hubbs fashioned a wooden block so that we could
essentially pin one pig in a confined space (not too tight)
so that she could not thrash, and break any human legs in the process.


With a whole lot of protesting,
(pig screaming is nothing short of a soundtrack from Hell)
the pigs were quickly vaccinated.
Hubb's block worked perfectly!

 Within minutes, they were back eating Ritz crackers again.
All was forgiven.


I checked on Chloe several times until her 
sedation finally wore off.
In the afternoon I spent a little time just sitting with her.
Again... all was forgiven!


By evening she was eating hay again.


But, the sticky feed with molasses and her antibiotic?
No way... not even with crushed up peppermints on the top!
There's no fooling this girl!


After last week's freeze most of my tomato plants 
looked absolutely fried... brown leaves which mostly fell off.
Almost miraculously, though, new leaves have started popping out
on almost all of the plants... peppers too.


Somehow, nature finds a way.
And I am so very thankful!

Comments

Louise Stopford said…
Do hope that Chloe recovers well from her ordeal (and you). Really hope the mass turns out to be nothing too serious - what a worry. What an excellent vet you have!!
colleen said…
I can see why you would want this day behind you. You were so lucky to have what I would call one of the most accurate "cat scans" out there. Hoping all turns out well for Chloe. How will you ever see to it that she gets her antibiotic??… I have no doubt that you will figure it out. What a great set up to give the pigs their shots. Dr. Becky is the best!! xoxoxo
daisy g said…
What a blessing to have a vet in the family! Glad they all made it through their shots-and you too! ;0D

That's another good reason to plant tomatoes DEEP. They have more structure to bounce back!

Enjoy your day. No doubt it'll be a breeze!
jaz@octoberfarm said…
i had a version of your day yesterday too. poor willie developed a saucer-sized hotspot and had to be rushed to the vet. it's one of the nastiest things i've ever seen. he hadn't been groomed for almost 3 months so you can imagine the hair he had when he was recently groomed. the groomer must not have rinsed all the shampoo out and bam...a hotspot which grew like wildfire. he got shaved, got a steroid injection, antibiotics, and pain meds. i have to spray it and clean it twice a day. sometimes these guys are not easy! i hope chloe will be okay!
You had quite a day yesterday. Both you and hubbs are great caretakers of all your animals. Thank you for that. Good wishes for Chloe and a quick recovery. Good luck with the antibiotics.
The JR said…
oh my goodness, I know exactly what you mean by pig screaming. We had a horse show on the same day as 4-H pig pickup day. Those kids had the pigs by the ear's loading them up.

Most of the horses in the arena stroked out. My horse remained calm and I would have bet money that she would have freaked out.

Marcia LaRue said…
It will be interesting to hear how you finally manage to get Chloe to take her antibiotics ... injection ... pureed in the blender with Lord only knows what ... how about a rectal suppository -- LOL Just kidding!
OMG ... pigs squeal at the slightest provocation! Frightening!
Just another day on the Farm for everyone ... until next time!
This N That said…
You had an unusual day yesterday..Glad all ended well..Hope Chloes pathology is OK..How about a Ritz antibiotic sandwich?? Do the equines eat Ritz?? or just peppermints? Not the greatest position for the surgeon to operate..Hope she has a good back..Great that she is nearby..Great" piggie trap"...I can just imagine the noise..unhappy pigs are loud!! I have found that frozen plants survive as long as the root system doesn't freeze..Have a super day!!
Chloe is so smart...she can't be fooled even with molasses.
Love how all the critters are so forgiving of their shots and an operation.
We always gave our horses and cows vaccines but never pigs. We had a sow that we bred and were unaware of the need ri cXXUBrw. What do you vaccinate them to prevent? . Glad this day is behind you. Patty McDonald
Sorry. Meant to say 'unaware of the need to vaccinate'. Patty
Poor Chloe! I hope she feels better soon!
cyndee said…
We've had pretty good luck dissolving the antibiotics in warm water in a 60cc flushing syringe, adding as much molasses as possible to thicken the stuff and squirted it down much like oral paste wormer - good luck!
deodar said…
I had a horse that was on daily Cushing's meds for almost 6 years, I solved the dosing issue by mixing the meds with apple sauce and spooning it into a 60cc syringe with a catheter tip and giving it to him as I would worming paste.
Whew.....what a day! Praying that your Chloe will be fine! You guys do a great job with all those scary appointments. Keep up the good work.
Katmom said…
Hugz from us to you and your gang..
>^••^<