I got shot! ....

Ok. No drama here. I'm talking about the vaccination. 

The nurse that gave to me was excellent! I never even felt the poke. 
Drink LOTS of water I was told by my neighbor who works at my Dental Office when I dropped off my payment. The folks at the Department of Health said the same thing.

"Lots of water. Listen to your body. If you feel tired...nap." 

You know what is kind of weird? I enjoyed visiting with the nurses and the girls while waiting for my 15 minutes. I enjoyed visiting with my neighbor who works at the dental office. Yeah. I felt like it was a BIG day out. 

Plus I got to catch up on the ridge information. One neighbor had a quadruple bypass and a prefab house is going in on the corner. That makes 3 brothers from the same family moving onto what was once cropland that was inherited about 25 years ago by their father.

My upstairs neighbor and I got our shots at the same time and plan on having outdoor coffee or wine together in 2 weeks to celebrate.

Other interesting things. 

We watched crows hunt down a rabbit. 

Mica the white mule has heart failure stemming from breathing issues and heaves or equine COPD. One part of the day she is fine, the next? She seems tired and naps a lot. Rich has had her for 20 years. She is not in dire distress, her heart rate and respirations are normal, but she has "regurgitation". The blood backflows because her heart doesn't work like it should. 

The super dry conditions aren't very helpful for Mica. I moved her to a grassy area with Fred and the 2 of them did fine but were obsessed about not being able to see the rest of the herd. Stubborn old mules! They ate the nice grass and pounded paths of worry with their hooves along the fenceline. I'm going to try another tactic if we don't get rain soon. 

~~ Last night when I went to bed my arm started to ache and I figured I was in for a bad night. 
I slept soundly except when Rich dropped stuff in the kitchen around midnight getting his nightly snack. I'm a light sleeper and I bolted out of bed. I thought he fell. All good, ... he dropped frozen pizzas on the floor while fishing out the ice cream bucket.

~~ Insert Eye Roll here~~

I woke up and was surprised that my arm didn't ache like it overnight. I did chores, gave Mica some meds for her breathing and took a walk at daylight with Charlie.

Do you see what I see?

One black Morel.
I find this very interesting because it is so dry here. The moss is brown yet a morel found enough moisture from under the leaves to come up. The tree above it is in its first years of dying so I follow the root system each year and come up with one or two black morels very early in the morel season.

Today's plan. Drink lots of water and take a nap if I want to. I'm not going to do a lot of Farm Work. I'll move Lil' Richard to trim around my MIL's old car and Sven the Goat to do some trimming next to the old tractor.

Maybe I'll go and scout out some trees. 

Here is our home in black and white [Infrared]. This is the north side of the house.

This is the tidy view that doesn't show the wrecked garage and the mess that would be behind me. I love this place. 

Stay well. I'm chillin' today.

Badger ~ Equine COPD~ Update

The final stages are occurring, the ones you won't see posted on the internet or any vet site.

His lungs are filling with fluid and mucus.
He has essentially stopped eating.

Symptoms~~

Respiration:
60+
Heart Rate:
40+

Lung noises, gurgling and raspy.
Depressed
Listless
Thick mucus is beginning to appear quite often as he coughs.
No interest in others around him or even me when I check him.

I'm arranging a humane way to put him down.

For those who may have an equine in this condition, I'm writing this with a sad heart, but I also feel that it is my way to help others who may want to know what the 'end game' looks like.

It hurts to see and watch this.
I can't help him and I feel useless.

I'm hoping to make the arrangements by this Friday if not sooner.

I'm sorry for those who have followed Badger's and my many adventures for the past 16 years together.
Soon Badger will be out of pain and will cross the Rainbow Bridge to join Cheyanne.

It's Just a Mule

I explained to someone that Badger had Equine COPD and that he seemed better at the beginning of this winter.

I explained about the meds and why we couldn't keep him on it forever.

They commented...'Why he is just a mule...'

I did ride him this winter, bareback across the meadow in snow that was at least 3 ft deep in places.
He took it calmly and without much hesitation. He walked slow and stopped often to look around.

His health began another down turn on Valentine's Day. We had a warm up of weather around the same time.
I have no idea if it was weather related or just something else going on. His lungs are scarred from this and eventually there will be no getting better.

Today he seems comfortable. His respiration is higher than 25/minute. But he does not seem to be as bothered as I am with it.

It hurts to see this and know there is nothing I can do but maintain him with good clean hay and clean air.

This photo is from a ride one year ago. Before he began to show signs of Equine COPD or what is commonly known as 'Heaves'.
My hope is that he can continue to have good days, although I know he'll have bad ones also.

Today he stood at the gate as I hooked up water to run to a stock tank.
He nickered at me with his high mulish voice.
...and then he stood and waited.

Of course I had to go to him and give him an ear rub. He is my pal. Badger even dropped his head down so Morris could stand with his front paws on his head.

Silly dog, silly mule.
Both are my best friends.

He is NOT just a mule. He is so much more than that.

I wish that I could sometimes make people understand. But if they've never had a relationship with an animal like I have, then they could not possibly could they?

I repeat.
He is not Just a Mule.

Badger Update Asthma ATTACK Mule!

Badger ~ 16 yrs old, the prime of a Mule's life. He has allergies. What he had was similar to an Acute Asthma Attack.

His normal respiration is 9. After a hard work out and 15 minutes rest it is up to 11.
Yesterday it was over 72...I couldn't count any faster.
At the vet his heart rate was 38, 36 is his norm.
His respiration was 54, normal 9.

She was not able to hear any wheezing or evidence of severely compromised lungs.
She also said that the fact that I removed him from what 'I thought might be the cause' [where he was and the bale he was eating from] probably saved his life.

Wow.
It is a good thing to know your animal intimately, I guess.

Anyway the DX was an Acute Asthma attack. Apparently Badger is sensitive to dusts and molds. He will be on oral Albuterol and a steroid .... which will be reduced to nothing in two weeks. The steroids help with the inflammation in his lungs and the Albuterol will make it easier for his lungs to process O2.

Badger is now in his own grassy movable pen, I soak his hay, and he is very good at taking his meds in a handful of sweet feed.
I can handle maintaining him if need be on meds.

After all he is VERY special to many people...
Need I say more [Grand children Ariel and Dennis riding Badger]


Many people have emailed me and called.
He is loved not just by me, but many many people.
I was touched.

PS~ I checked the 'oat hay' bale he was on... I mean I DUG through it with a knife. The interior was black spoiled and nasty. Normally my hubby digs through the bales and makes sure they are good.
The bales were taken out of the other lots and will be spread out on the meadow pasture to reseed and decompose.