Rainy Weekend and Injured Animals

It has been too rainy this weekend to do any riding, and that is such a shame because the temperatures are finally a bit warmer. So the animals are just into eating, as you can see in these photos. Friday would have been perfect, but of course it being a work day we could not ride. So we decided this weekend would be good for getting the barn clean again, and taking care of the website John is building for the saddle club we joined. If you have a chance, check out http://www.midwesternsaddleclub.com/ -- he worked really hard on it. The club has never had a website, and let's face it, these days you really need one. All of the younger people are on-line for everything. So our contribution to the club as corporate sponsors was to design, launch, and maintain the website. So as well as working on computer stuff, my weekend has also consisted of being the animal nurse once again.

Thursday evening we heard a cat fight outside, and sure enough it was our boy cat, Simo. He came in with two injured paws -- right front and back. I soaked them in Epsom salts with Betadine, and have the scratches on my shoulder to prove it. Friday morning the back paw was really tender. He could not walk very well. By Saturday morning it looked like a balloon. The front paw seems to be OK, but the back one abscessed. I have been doing the soaking 2-3 times a day. If anyone out there knows another way to treat an abscess on a cat, I would be grateful for the info. I feel so bad for him. Hopefully it will burst in a day or two.

Then this morning when we went out to feed everyone, I saw a big clump of white goat hair in Divna's stall. We have been thru this before and I knew what it was -- sure enough, it was the tip of Misho's tail!!! It is really strange, but the last time Simo had a paw abscess from a fight, Marco lost the tip of his tail. So here we go again!! I know what happened -- Misho was laying down, one of the horses walked in the stall, stepped on the tip of the tail, he jumped up and the tip tore off. So now he has bone exposed, and mangled tissue at the site of the tear. Just like Marco!! We put the antibacterial ointment in a large gob on the wound, and will get the injectible Banamine from the vet. Marco came through it very well, so I am sure Misho will too. But I just feel so sorry for these animals when they are injured like this!! But I am going to do my best to take care of them......