What did you do today?

[Nanno]

I have been so busy lately it's hard to keep track of what all I've been doing! We've been to goat shows, a Weird Al fan festival, "Cowboy Days", and I recently bought a new horse which ran through a barbed wire fence three days after I bought her. She's recovering nicely. I'll have to post photos sometime. I think she's going to be a really good horse once she settles down a little (and she's already starting to settle down tremendously after just two weeks here). And next week Phil and I are embarking on our annual "goat vacation"! Phew! The last two months have been ridiculously busy and I hope our upcoming vacation is the start of a bit of slow-down for a few weeks so we can recover in time for the annual whirlwind called "Christmas".

[goatzrule]

Unfortunately  I am all too familiar with horses running though fences! When I had horses my two year old mare Summer went though the fence no less than 15 times. Not fun in the least!

[Charlie Horse]

This morning I noticed Crayola my Caique parrot wasn't on his perch when I fed.  He wasn't in his nest either... Then I saw him on the bottom of the cage.  ALWAYS bad.  He was cold.  The night before he was great, happy, healthy, flying around and being cuddly while I was at the computer.  He had a little defect where one nostril was really small and he'd get sneeze attacks, especially in winter.  I wonder if he clogged up suddenly or something.  I'll never know.  He was really an important part of my life and always wanting to be part of what was going on.  Always there to snuggle up and hang out.  Not just a few-times-a-day pet, but a constant companion.  He's sure going to be missed.  He had a good life though, for a captive bird.  I don't have any regrets.  I'm sure going to miss him.  Its hard.

   

[Nanno]

I'm so sorry you lost him. He was a beautiful bird and had so much personality.

[Nanno]

Well, the NAPgA calendars are ordered. Phew! I don't usually have to put them together all in one afternoon, but I wanted to take advantage of a discount coupon that ends tonight. Meanwhile, we were nursing a sick Huckleberry Finn in our basement for much of the evening. I'm worried about the fella. He was acting pretty off yesterday--moping around by himself, dragging along at the back on our walk, and just generally acting "blah". I took his temperature and it was 106.4. Yikes! I got some banamine in him and sent him to bed last night hoping he'd be better today. Well, he was perkier this afternoon and his temperature was normal, but around evening time he went back to feeling poorly and his temperature was back up to 106. Unfortunately, we had a sudden blizzard move in this morning and the weather went from 65* and sunny yesterday to a humid 20* and snowing all day today. He got more banamine tonight, along with vitamin B complex, Nutra-Drench, and probiotics. He didn't have much appetite this evening like he did yesterday and this afternoon, and he was no longer interested in exploring our basement. He did, however, manage to make several messes on the floor which required a broom and mop. So his plumbing is alright at least. He started begging to be let out with the other goats, so I put Cuzco's old blanket on him and took him back to the pen a couple of hours ago. I just checked on him and it's cold out there! But he's not shivering, so I guess I'll leave him be. I hope he's alright in the morning, poor fella. If he's not, we may be making a trip to the vet.

[Saph]

Sending good vibes for Huck...you & Phil must be very concerned. Thinking of all of you...

[Nanno]

Thanks. He's still not himself today. I kept my eye on him through the night (no fun walking out to the goat pen at 4:30 in the morning when it's 20 degrees, humid, and spitting snow outside!). He's still dull today and not hanging out with the herd. Temperature was 104.2 this morning. I've got a vet scheduled to come see him at 5:00 this evening if he doesn't perk up. It's weird because I can't really find anything wrong with him. He did have a brief but rather violent coughing spell this morning when he first got up, but he hasn't coughed since. He's still nibbling hay, ate a couple of apples this morning, and is drinking fine. The odd thing is that it looks like all four of his lower legs are swollen, especially around the ankles. I'm not sure what that's about but it has me concerned about his circulation.

[Taffy]

I sure hope the vet can do something for him! Thinking positive thoughts he'll recover quickly.

[DownUnder Gal]

Any news Nanno?

[Nanno]

Thankfully Finn improved a lot during the afternoon and I ended up not having the vet come out. He still had a slight fever (103.5*) but his appetite was back, he kept up on our walk instead of dragging behind, and he was fighting and jostling with the other goats like his usual "I'm in charge!" self. I gave him a dose of banamine again tonight since his temperature was still a little high, and I made him wear Cuzco's blanket to bed, but I don't plan on having to go out and check on him through the night again. Finn ran off when he saw me coming with the blanket, and it's usually a pretty good sign of health if your patient is difficult to catch. I left him eating at the hay rack with the other goats tonight instead of watching him crawl unhappily into his shed and lie down shivering like he did the previous two nights. I'm hoping he's right as rain in the morning. We did just come back from our annual "goat vacation" and we had cold weather during much of the week, so he may have simply come down with a bit of shipping fever.