week 47: thankful it wasn't worse
this week on the little dream farm
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Last Sunday Chris came in from the donkey’s midday chores and said, “You need to come outside with me, something is wrong with Dominic.”
As we headed out to the corral he was explaining to me what he was seeing: he was laying down when Chris got out to the corral and when he got up he was constantly pawing at the ground with his front hooves, not eating, and acting very strange.
Immediately I had Chris look up colic in donkeys as I’d read about it in our donkey care handbook.
Sure enough he was exhibiting the signs, so I immediately dialed our equine vet’s emergency line and her husband picked up on the first ring. “Oh no,” when I told him what I was seeing and what I thought it might be. “We happen to be in the next town over and will come over after this visit. It’ll be emergency pricing, though, since it’s the weekend. I hope that’s ok.”
Not ideal, but ok.
We put a harness on Dominic and got a lead and brought him and Molly-Max into the run-in shed and closed off their pasture.
Colic is really serious in donkeys, in that, once they’re exhibiting physical signs of colic, it has to be pretty severe by that point, as donkeys are known for being incredibly stoic (so are chickens, by the way) and typically don’t show signs of distress unless something is very wrong.
It can be anything from bad feed or air stuck in the intestines or an internal blockage, but with colic, the sooner it’s treated the better…and thankfully our vet could make it over that day because I was due to leave on Monday for a weeklong trip to Florida to meet with David to finish the final touches on his book and then spend the holiday with my family while Chris stayed home and took care of the farm.
When the vet and her husband arrived she had us walk her through everything we’d noticed. She checked his gums and said he looked pretty dehydrated and also listened to his heart, checked out a bunch of the poops we left in the corral so she could see them, and asked us all kinds of questions. She ended up giving him a shot of Banamine—an equivalent to Ibuprofen, and said that if he were colicky, it wasn’t severe by any means, but one thing she did want to check was that he wasn’t having some kind of tick-related illness.
She said it’s not something she’s seen before until this year—she’d just treated another donkey recently for Anaplasmosis, which is not the same as Lyme but another form of tick-borne disease. It used to only be prevalent in California but has spread this far east in recent years.
So she took a snap blood test that she can run at home and her husband called the next day with the news—positive for Anaplasmosis.
We currently had one hen in the chicken hospital for ongoing crop-related issues that I was having to teach Chris how to handle in my absence. He generally helps me with their care when one of our hens is sick, but having two people and administering meds on your own are two very different things, and can be pretty tricky with chickens.
Add to the list Dominic needing twice-a-day care and it becomes a lot for one person, especially because Chris had all-day meetings for work to wrap up his projects before the holiday.
But we set him up for success before I left and after he dropped me off at the airport on Monday he stopped by our vet’s house in Vermont and picked up the meds for Dominic: twice-a-day antibiotics (in flavored powder form, thankfully) that have to be given to him for an entire month.
Thankfully, after the shot of Banamine and Chris and I giving him some food soaked in water with electrolytes and molasses, Dominic perked up by the time I left and seemed like he was going to be just fine.
Our hen, on the other hand, is still in the chicken hospital and having a rough go of it, but Chris did a phenomenal job with her all week long and managed to keep her comfortable and she’s still fighting!
Of course, I’d cancel any trip in two hot seconds if it was needed, but by Monday it looked like it was going to be ok for me to keep my trip as planned. We’re thankful it wasn’t worse.
Once in Florida, I headed to my mom’s and my sister arrived from Alabama later that night, too. Sunday, David came up from St. Petersburg where he lives to meet me in Wesley Chapel near where my mom lives so we could spend the day putting finishing touches on his book.
We had a super productive day and we’re getting really close to being ready for publishing! David decided not to set a hard and fast publishing date, as he wanted the freedom to feel like it could be published when it is truly ready. I admire that about him, but my aim is for us to be done in two weeks, as he expressed wanting to be able to teach his next meditation class in January—and his students will need this book in hand to take the class.
My brother and his wife and their son arrived on Wednesday afternoon and we all spent Thanksgiving day at my uncle’s house. There are six kids in my mom’s family and all but one of them lives in Florida, so we had almost the whole gang together for the first time in many years! Dinner was great, it was great to see everyone, and it was nice to have some time with my mom and siblings and get to spend a few days in the warm weather.
I got back home Friday evening and Chris and I had our own little Thanksgiving feast planned for Saturday together. He’d stopped by our farmer’s house on Monday and picked up a fresh turkey (nothing compares!) and he made a stop by the store during the week to grab the things we’d need. So Friday night we did a little bit of prep and Saturday we got to cooking—turkey, gravy, stuffing, corn casserole, yams, green bean casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie—a true feast and everything made totally from scratch! I didn’t want Chris to miss out on having a Thanksgiving meal since it’s one of our favorites to make together and boy did it turn out great! Everything was wonderful except for the pumpkin pie…
This year I used roasted pumpkin from our garden that we froze from last year, I made the crust from scratch, and when I made the filling for the pie I completely forgot to add the sugar—oops! We’re here to tell you that sugar-free pumpkin pie is not enjoyable! We doctored it up by adding brown sugar to the top, placing it in a warm oven, and allowing it to melt over top of the pie. It’s not the same, but it’s not a total loss!
Chris and I could both use a day of relaxation today—we’ll be hanging out, taking care of the animals, relaxing from a week of travel for me and solo farm duty for Chris, and getting ourselves reset before the coming week.
We sure are grateful things went as well as they did the past week and we’re hoping our hen pulls through and that Dominic is feeling a lot better with a week of meds in him.
I mentioned this yesterday in our Instagram Stories and it’s worth repeating here, too: Chris and I are grateful that our list of things to be grateful for is very, very long.
From all of us here on the Little Dream Farm, we’re hoping you had a nice Thanksgiving if you celebrate it! Tell us—how’d you spend it? How was your holiday? What was your favorite tradition or dish this year? As always, we love to hear about what’s going on in your life, too!
This week’s roundup of some faves (and big deals!):
I wore this sweater yesterday for our Thanksgiving feast celebration with a pair of leggings and booties and couldn’t get enough of how cozy this sweater is! It is a longer length, fits oversized, is so soft, can be washed at home even though it is cashmere-like, and is a perfect staple for your wardrobe. Plus—it’s $9 off until Monday!
Need a way to clean up after pet messes? I just recently got this little handheld steam cleaner for my mom and both she and my sister have it and can’t say enough good things about it! You can do your carpets, furniture, patio furniture, car—the uses are endless. Snag one now while it’s on Cyber Monday deal—$34 off the normal price!
I just picked myself up one of these weighted wearable heating pads that is $15 off for Cyber Monday. I’ve had this in my cart for a few weeks and can’t wait to be able to wear it during the day and in the evenings, especially when my shoulder is acting up!
I got this book Saving Simon when we first got the donkeys because I wanted to read a lot of books and stories about donkeys. I started it but never finished it and then recently learned from my neighbor that the author lives just a few towns over! So, I’m back to reading it again and loving it so far…I think you will, too.
Lately I’ve been listening to healing music at night while I sleep, but regular headphones don’t cut it. I got this wearable headband that has headphones in it and it turns out it’s great to wear for winter walks outside, too. It’s on sale for Cyber Monday—$24 off so grab one now if you’d love this too!
*Note: Not all, but some of these links are affiliate links. That’s no matter to you, as it costs you nothing. However, if you make a purchase, we -may- receive a teeny weeny commission.
I signed up as founding member and am so excited to be part of it!
I work nights so I spent first couple hrs at work . I work on geriatric psych floor. I brought them chocolate chip cookies. The patients loved them and were excited for them. After a nap I spent thanksgiving with family .