So after pondering all the nasty possibilites that could be afflicting my little feral kitten, Rascal I think I have zeroed in on one or two, a bit closer to the truth.
When I went to take another look at her in the afternoon yesterday, she was rolling around on her back wanting me to pet her! I felt her backside again but this time it felt more like dried blood or even tree sap! Nothing was obvious on the fur on top, but a bit of fluffed of hair. There would be no way she could move around like she was doing if she had broken any bones. *phew*
Today I rubbed a bit harder trying to ascertain the reason for the clotted hair when she
meowed and complained as if it were somewhat painful. So now I think she must have been bitten or injured on her back somehow. I will keep an eye on her but I think I will still make an appointment for her at the vet next week to be neutered as well as have a good "going over".
Friday, March 15, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
The more animals you have the more likely you will have "issues".
Seems to me that we have had quite a run of "issues" lately.
Last Saturday, I was looking outside watching the horses standing around in the sun.
Hannah's head began to droop down as if she was falling asleep. I was alarmed to
see her legs buckle as she wobbled about. She did catch herself before she fell to the ground. Then she did it a couple more times! She was keeping her usual watch over Hercules who was lying down lounging in the sun. Hannah NEVER lays down willingly outside. (The one time I caught her down - she was suffering from Heaves and exhausted from coughing.)
Off to the internet I went and discovered that horses can suffer from a lack of sleep!
REM sleep in particular. Apparently they need about 30 to 60 minutes of REM sleep each night and to achieve this, they must lay down in their stalls at some point during the night. It appeared Hannah hasn't had a good night sleep for quite some time.
This problem is more common that I thought and their were loads of examples of horses doing this and just as many people looking for answers, which are not equally available!
I did some more research to see what sorts of things could be happening to cause this.
If a horse is anxious or on high alert, they find it hard to relax. Hannah is an Egyptian Arabian who has always been highly excitable...to put it nicely.
A few weeks earlier, as a huge, heavy snowfall had begun to melt, Hannah's stall became flooded. There was no way she could stay there. We moved her to the next stall over which was adjacent to Tango. There is no love lost between these two mares but when they are outside, Hannah is clearly the boss. Tango has discovered that she can take revenge on Hannah from the safety of her stall. She sticks her head out and towards Hannah attempting to bite her. Hannah squeals and tries to bite back.
No contact has ever been made but Hannah doesn't like it and ends up kicking at the back wall of her stall. This is why we always had a stall between them...just to save the wood in the barn if nothing else. We never thought there could be a more serious problem during the night since Hannah just had to step away from the gate.
However, we had to assume she was bothered and so much so, that she did not lie down and relax as usual. In addtion, I learned that if the horse is suffering aches and pains they might also be reluctant to lie down since it is painful to get up.
Or if they have some type of stomach problem that cause them discomfort lying down.
We had her like this for ten days when I noticed her unsteadiness.
So the next night, Hannah went back to her stall, filled with lots of hay to encourage her to lie down. I also gave her a small amount of bute in her feed in case she had any pain, she is almost 28 years old afterall.
In the morning, I carefully surveyed her body for any signs of laying down. But since I had so much hay strewn about - it was hard to tell. Another tell-tale sign of a problem is if your horse does not roll about in the field. Hannah ALWAYS rolls out side to scratch her itchy back. Then she gets up and coughs all the morning pghlem out.
Sure enough, when I put her outside, I watched for a few minutes but went back to the barn to clean stalls. When I heard her coughing, I ran outside to check on her. Although she was back up on all fours - her back was quite damp from having rolled in the snow. Well at least that wasn't a problem!
It has been a few days of the old routine and it seems to have worked! Some folks have stated that they have now found a solution to their horse's falling down problem.
They change paddock- mates around and see what works. I do not have the luxury of doing that so I am thankful the problem seems to have been fixed fairly simply.
This morning, when I went to the barn to feed the horses, I stopped to pet
Rascal, the runt of the feral kitty litter. She let me pick her up and I began
to pet her like usual. She meowed and I was sure I felt something on her back.
I took off my glove and ran my hand along her spine. Yup, there was something
hard that just didn't belong in that place. It felt like a piece of straw stuck under
the hair on her back. I did some research online and I think she
has had some sort of injury, perhaps breaking her pelvis or hip bones.
I have not taken her into be fixed yet - since Christmas I have been trying to get together some money to have it done.
However, she is walking around, even running and doesn't appear to be hindered
in anyway. I can't decide whether to call Copetown Vet or not. They fixed "Patches" for me and although I got the "feral cat" rate, it was still almost $300.00.
Now that I have some money - we sold two steers to Fenwood Farms - I was planning to get the another one fixed next week. (I have two left to do.) They only like to do spaying or neutering from Mondays to Wednesdays. I will have to give this further thought and keep an eye on her. I wouldn't like to think she is in any pain.
Seems to me that we have had quite a run of "issues" lately.
Last Saturday, I was looking outside watching the horses standing around in the sun.
Hannah's head began to droop down as if she was falling asleep. I was alarmed to
see her legs buckle as she wobbled about. She did catch herself before she fell to the ground. Then she did it a couple more times! She was keeping her usual watch over Hercules who was lying down lounging in the sun. Hannah NEVER lays down willingly outside. (The one time I caught her down - she was suffering from Heaves and exhausted from coughing.)
Off to the internet I went and discovered that horses can suffer from a lack of sleep!
REM sleep in particular. Apparently they need about 30 to 60 minutes of REM sleep each night and to achieve this, they must lay down in their stalls at some point during the night. It appeared Hannah hasn't had a good night sleep for quite some time.
This problem is more common that I thought and their were loads of examples of horses doing this and just as many people looking for answers, which are not equally available!
I did some more research to see what sorts of things could be happening to cause this.
If a horse is anxious or on high alert, they find it hard to relax. Hannah is an Egyptian Arabian who has always been highly excitable...to put it nicely.
A few weeks earlier, as a huge, heavy snowfall had begun to melt, Hannah's stall became flooded. There was no way she could stay there. We moved her to the next stall over which was adjacent to Tango. There is no love lost between these two mares but when they are outside, Hannah is clearly the boss. Tango has discovered that she can take revenge on Hannah from the safety of her stall. She sticks her head out and towards Hannah attempting to bite her. Hannah squeals and tries to bite back.
No contact has ever been made but Hannah doesn't like it and ends up kicking at the back wall of her stall. This is why we always had a stall between them...just to save the wood in the barn if nothing else. We never thought there could be a more serious problem during the night since Hannah just had to step away from the gate.
However, we had to assume she was bothered and so much so, that she did not lie down and relax as usual. In addtion, I learned that if the horse is suffering aches and pains they might also be reluctant to lie down since it is painful to get up.
Or if they have some type of stomach problem that cause them discomfort lying down.
We had her like this for ten days when I noticed her unsteadiness.
So the next night, Hannah went back to her stall, filled with lots of hay to encourage her to lie down. I also gave her a small amount of bute in her feed in case she had any pain, she is almost 28 years old afterall.
In the morning, I carefully surveyed her body for any signs of laying down. But since I had so much hay strewn about - it was hard to tell. Another tell-tale sign of a problem is if your horse does not roll about in the field. Hannah ALWAYS rolls out side to scratch her itchy back. Then she gets up and coughs all the morning pghlem out.
Sure enough, when I put her outside, I watched for a few minutes but went back to the barn to clean stalls. When I heard her coughing, I ran outside to check on her. Although she was back up on all fours - her back was quite damp from having rolled in the snow. Well at least that wasn't a problem!
It has been a few days of the old routine and it seems to have worked! Some folks have stated that they have now found a solution to their horse's falling down problem.
They change paddock- mates around and see what works. I do not have the luxury of doing that so I am thankful the problem seems to have been fixed fairly simply.
This morning, when I went to the barn to feed the horses, I stopped to pet
Rascal, the runt of the feral kitty litter. She let me pick her up and I began
to pet her like usual. She meowed and I was sure I felt something on her back.
I took off my glove and ran my hand along her spine. Yup, there was something
hard that just didn't belong in that place. It felt like a piece of straw stuck under
the hair on her back. I did some research online and I think she
has had some sort of injury, perhaps breaking her pelvis or hip bones.
I have not taken her into be fixed yet - since Christmas I have been trying to get together some money to have it done.
However, she is walking around, even running and doesn't appear to be hindered
in anyway. I can't decide whether to call Copetown Vet or not. They fixed "Patches" for me and although I got the "feral cat" rate, it was still almost $300.00.
Now that I have some money - we sold two steers to Fenwood Farms - I was planning to get the another one fixed next week. (I have two left to do.) They only like to do spaying or neutering from Mondays to Wednesdays. I will have to give this further thought and keep an eye on her. I wouldn't like to think she is in any pain.
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