Super Saturday

Oh my what a busy day Saturday was here! The day dawned, crappy. Snow, wind, cold, hail, grapple. You name it, we were getting it. It was also the day picked for my regular vet to pack up her Subaru and come up into the mountains for a farm call with tech Nic.

It would never do, so after cleaning and getting an area set up for exams and shots, I headed down to the valley to taxi everyone up our mountain road. For those that have never had the pleasure of seeing or driving on Highway 66 in Southern Oregon, it is carved into the side of a mountain. Some places there are no guard rails and the ones that they do have are the little 2 foot high metal bands. For those who don't drive it often, it can be quite intimidating. So down I went and up we came. Horses slated first for exams and rabies shots. Nic got some exposure to horse handling, which in Dr. G's practice is not needed, but he's trying for vet school and equine and other large animal studies are a large part. Dandy was our chosen for a mini anatomy lesson and he was such a good boy. The only problem we had was taking a pulse. Vet's like to take a pulse above the hoof. It's a good indicator of any hoof/lower leg problems which are common in horses. Now Dandy is use to making life easier for the me and the farrier. The minute you reach below the knee on any given leg, he lifts his foot up for you, and holds it there. For the pulse taking, it needs to be down and bearing weight. It made for some pretty funny moments. Neither Nic nor Dr. Gurney got a good pulse. Dandy was getting impatient not understanding what they wanted. He was picking up random legs left and right. Finally, someone took a hoof and held it for him. He had a BIG sigh, and relaxed assuming he had fulfilled what was required. Thinking about it now, I should have suggested grabbing a brush, because once he feels a brush on his legs he knows to stand. Next time. As mentioned at the beginning, weather was awful, the barn floor soggy and flooding and it was probably a great reminder to Dr. Gurney why she no longer does big animals!

After horses and donkeys we moved into the house to get clean and warm up then started in on the house dogs. Four were due for shots, so four got exams. Peter, with his heart murmur, was put on Enalapril. Dennett had been on it for years and I believe it made a huge difference in longevity and quality of life for him. There was nothing else remarkable to tell. Everyone was good, Stella ( who didn't need a anything) was a pest, Rodger came down to be fussed over and picked up. Nic and Dr. G played pass the fat kitty for a bit. Jack didn't bite anyone. We had tea, inspected looms and then Gene drove them back down the mountain while I fed everyone. It was a long day, but everyone is now up to date on rabies and that is a big load off my mind coming into the spring and summer. We are prepared should there be an outbreak here. It was wonderful having this farm call too, much better than dragging dogs down to the office

and having a second vet up just to do these shots on the horses and donkeys.

Parting shot: Navigating the big cheese chunk. And you thought she was getting tired of her "queen for a day" photo shoot huh?