Warning: This is a hard post that I have been having a lot of trouble writing, but I owe to all of you.
This past year, I have noticed Ramsey having more and more days of lameness and, when summer finally arrived and the ground got hard, it became more frequent. Seeing Ramsey unloading his foot like this while napping has become a common occurrence....
I spoke with my vet and we decided that it was time to take some new x-rays of Ramsey's foot (Sara picked up on that right away when she saw Mr. Nosey checking out the x-ray machine).
I think Ramsey (the original Mr. Nosey) was just out of the shot chewing on investigating another piece of equipment.
We were both expecting to see some arthritis in his pastern and/or coffin joint and we had discussed joint injections to make him more comfortable. What we got was rather more alarming and difficult to deal with.
There is no easy way to say this and I have been struggling to come to terms with this.....Ramsey's coffin bone is disintegrating.
These bones should all have a smooth whitish appearance. The part that looks like cottage cheese is what is left of Ramsey's coffin bone.
In addition to the bone loss, the coffin bone has also rotated by 12 degrees. This is laminitis caused by a lack of good wall connection, which is itself caused by the bone loss, which will cause more separation......
So.....Where does this leave us? That is the question I have been wrestling with. Wrestling hard.
Right now, Ramsey is still happy and healthy and has an extremely high quality of life. He is now on daily pain medication and I am keeping his foot wrapped and padded. I have also been working with the owner of Advanced Equine Comfort, who very generously sent us several pairs of shoes and other materials to experiment with so that we can come up with a custom fitted, shock-absorbing rubber shoe for Ramsey.
I used some of the materials I already had on hand to make a mold of Ramsey's feet and cast a resin copy of each foot that I can work with.
These shoes aren't (yet) designed to work on donkey hooves, but they are a very nice product and a great option for horses who need better shock absorption. Sue Blair, the owner of the company and a kindred spirit, has been very generous with her knowledge and materials.
We're going to find a way to make these "slippers" work for Ramsey.
I confess that these x-rays were a real blow. Managing Ramsey's foot has always been a challenge, but I had felt that we pretty much had it covered. I knew there was something more going on with him this year, but this was more than I was prepared for. More than anyone has been prepared for as I have shown the radiographs to a number of experts and they have been stumped as well.
I'm not sure what this means for Ramsey's future. If he were a horse, I doubt he would have lasted this long. Despite the bone loss, Ramsey still manages to grow a significant amount of hoof wall and sole, which is his saving grace. He still gallops around and wrestles with Albert.
I do know of one mini donkey who lives very well with NO coffin bone at all in one foot. Can Ramsey do that?
I have no idea.
Ramsey's foot has always made me feel like I've had to reinvent the wheel over and over again. I guess it is time to up my game and invent a hovercraft for him because he is nowhere near ready to give up so neither am I.
For all my readers who have been with me from the start; through Ramsey's birth, his surgery and two week stay at Cornell. Through all the looong months of rehab after. Through two bouts of Lyme disease. Through Ben's canker, Cushing's and his fight with tick borne disease and the laminitis it caused. Through all of Ramsey's jealous sulks over having his world invaded by a new donkey....
I hope this little video makes you as happy as it makes me. Thanks for sticking with us through all the tough times so we can enjoy the moment of pure fun.
"Hi Bloggy peoples! It's ME, Ramsey, the BIRTHDAY boy!"
"It seems like its been foreversince I got to write a blog post. Seeing as how it's my BIRTHDAY, Ma finally let me at the computer again. You'd think she wouldn't be so stingy with it considering what a lousy job she's been doing lately, but at least I am here now."
"I know you all probably have big celebrations planned to celebrate my BIRTHDAY and I wouldn't want you to miss me during all your fireworks and parties."
"Ma keeps trying to tell me that everyone is celebrating Independence Day or Canada Day or whatever, but I know that can't be true. She is just being mean because she doesn't like fireworks and she never gets any for HER birthday. They are just fine by me though, I'm not like that wimpy Border Collie! Bring em on I say!
"This is an exciting BIRTHDAY too because I am FIVE years old. Can you believe that?"
"Ma says turning 5 is like turning 21 and I am a legal adult now. I'm not sure how turning 5 is the same as 21, but that's human logic for ya. It has something to do with the drinking age, which makes NO sense at all. I haven't been allowed to drink in ages...sigh...I still miss it....
"Since I am a legal adult now, I think that the big grey donkey should admit that I am the boss, but he doesn't seem to notice yet. Maybe all the fireworks will show him the error of his ways."
"Anyway, I hope you all have a good time celebrating my BIRTHDAY and, if you must, have fun celebrating that other holiday as well.
Ben is sound and healthy and seems very happy and content these days. He was a bit aloof when he first came here and somewhat wary in a quiet, stoic way. Dave tells me that he was always that way at his place too. Ben is coming out of that shell though as he adjusts to living here. I think he is thriving in a small, non-threatening, close-knit herd.
Ben strikes me as more of a lover rather than a fighter and he dislikes conflict or drama of any sort. I think he has spent most of his life at the bottom the pecking order and, rather than fight his way up, he stays on the edges and works to avoid confrontation.
The only exception to this is where food is involved as he was rather guarded and defensive about his food when he arrived. However, that faded once he realized that there is always something edible available to him here. He might have to go looking for it or work to get it out of the nets, but it is always there and that relieves a huge source of stress for him. He was terribly annoyed by the hay nets at first, but he has come to appreciate them.
I have also found all of Ben's favorite scratchy spots and make a point of spending time with him every morning, after his vitamin breakfast, rubbing his ears and scratching his withers. Now, instead of being aloof, he follows me around like a puppy and comes when I call.
Ben is incredibly sweet and lovable and even Ramsey is starting to accept him more - as long as he gets hugs and scratches at the same time Ben does. Ramsey requires two scratches for every one that Ben gets, which Ramsey thinks is fair since he is half Ben's size. That is donkey algebra for you.
Ben is gradually becoming a true part of the herd and the more integrated he becomes, the more relaxed and content he is. Ramsey would still like him to disappear on occasion, but much to Ramsey's dismay, Ben does not feel intimidated by him in the least. It drives Ramsey a little crazy sometimes, but he is working it out.
Ben is still very intimidated by Tessa, but she is the least threatening horse on the planet and she loves donkeys. He is gradually figuring that out, although he doesn't entirely trust it just yet.
All in all, I think that Ben is happy here and learning to be very content. He has also figured out that I have fallen pretty hard for him and he is learning how to keep me wrapped around his not-so-little ears. I think Ramsey may be giving him lessons in secret.
Several have wondered what Mr. Himself thinks about having Ben around. There was even the suggestion (gasp!) that I might have forgotten about Himself. Trust me on this one: that. is. not. possible. EVER.
I would like to be able to say that Ramsey was thrilled to have another donkey - another gelding - here to play with. But, not so much.
He has gone through several phases and even contemplated stealing the keys and running away.
After a bit more thought, he has decided to stay. For now.
Ramsey's reactions to Ben have progressed down a distinct path. Something along the lines of:
Fearful trepidation. Followed by:
WTF!!!! Seriously Ma, WTF???? Followed by:
"If I don't see him, he doesn't exist." Followed by:
"OK, he exists. What am I supposed to do about it? Followed by:
"I hate him, make him go away." Followed by:
"OK, he is here. I accept that. I'm not sure what to do about it, but I am resigned to my fate" Followed by:
Tentative gesture of friendship from Ben. Followed by:
Befuddled acceptance from Ramsey. Followed by:
Tentative gesture of affection toward Emma from Ben. Followed by:
"Hey wait, is that my MOM he's talking to?!? That's MY mom! Followed by:
"I hate him. That's MY mom and MY person and MY barn and MY UNIVERSE!!!
So, Mr Himself has rather got his ears bent out of shape. He is terribly jealous and rather befuddled, much like a young child who has suddenly gotten a new and unwanted sibling. Ben has been understanding and stoic for the most part. He generally pays no mind to Ramsey's quandary and works to avoid conflict - except where food is involved. Ben does like his food and will not back down from it just because one spoiled and confused little donkey tries to tell him too.
Before you start feeling too terribly sorry for little Himself though...I am trying to spend a bit of extra time with him and help show him that Ben is OK. I also think that this is good for Ramsey even if it is a little hard. He has been rather sheltered here and he has never met any other donkeys. I think it is good and important for him to learn how to get along with others. I wish he could have been around more donkeys when he was a baby, but that was not possible.
It is good for all animals to get used to the wide world and I worry that mine don't get to see enough of it. It is fine as long as their world does not change, but all worlds change eventually and it is better if they have the skills to face it. Given time, I think Ramsey and Ben may yet become friends. I hope so anyway.
They are still thinking about it.
The nice thing about donkeys is that they do think about it. They are not entirely happy with each other yet, but they are willing to share space without any real squabbles and they are getting better about sharing food.
As for Mr. Himself.....he may have his ears bent out of joint just a bit....
But it hasn't entirely ruined his world and it isn't keeping him up at night - or afternoons.
Four years ago today, this is what we were doing, much more fun than what I am doing today.....
***
This little guy made a rather sneaky appearance at about 10:00 this morning. Emma and baby (it's a BOY) are doing very well and Emma is already on her way to being Mom-of-the-Year...
I will tell you more later. Right now, I have to go do more baby watching:)
Time for some good news. Ramsey broke a record this year - for the first time in his life he made it all the way through November and December without getting an abscess. It might seem like a small thing, but it is a bit of a triumph. His foot is doing well.
He still needs very careful trimming to keep everything in balance, but that is not new, nor will it ever change.
Since his fetlock turns inward and the hoof turns outward, I always leave the medial (on the right) wall unbeveled to give him added support and keep the hoof from turning under. The lateral wall (on the left) gets trimmed very short to keep stress off of it, as that is where the coffin bone is missing and the wall has poor connection. I keep the toe short to make break over as easy as possible. The result might look like I've only trimmed half the foot, but this keeps him sound and keeps the hoof from becoming distorted.
You can see how, all along the left side of the foot, the hoof wall just doesn't connect well. It never will since he is missing a third of his coffin bone. The back of the foot looks a bit ugly right now as he is shedding the frog, but that is normal for this time of year and it will grow back.
It may not be the prettiest foot ever, but we made it through the Fall mud season without an abscess for the first time ever. I hope I am jinxing us, but this was a record I was very pleased to break. I hope we can continue the pattern for a very long time.
"Hey Mom, what do you suppose is wrong with that Yellow Cat? Rolling and squirming around like that - there has to be something the matter with him don't you think? Maybe Ma should call the vet?"
"Beats me. Maybe he's got colic."
"I mean really, have you SEEN what cats eat? Disgusting!! It's a wonder they don't have colic all the time. Seriously, anyone who actually eats moles has just GOT to have problems, right?"
"I don't know Mom, it's hard to tell. Cats are just so weird, strutting around one minute, flopping all over like a fish the next then leaping up a running for their lives just cause I twitched an ear. Cats are weird."
"I guess that's why people think they're so inscrutable and mysterious. All that hype about curiosity and sphinxes and nine lives and blah, blah, blah..."
"Personally, I think it's just a bad case of gas. I mean really - MOLES?! Blech. Ick! Yuck!"
We finally got to Ramsey about mid afternoon. At first, Pete looked a bit disappointed about Ramsey as he was itching to get to that poor jenny in yesterday's post. He wasn't so sure that there would be much to talk about with Ramsey, but I told him that he might just have a surprise for him. That seemed to cheer Pete up.
(For anyone who is new to the blog, here is one of Ramsey's previous radiographs showing what his coffin bone looked like after having surgery at four months old for septic pedal osteitis (an infection of the coffin bone, also known as p3).)
After describing Ramsey's history, diet and environment, Pete immediately wanted to see a new set of radiographs. Luckily, there was a vet able to do digital films right there for just that purpose. While we were waiting for them to set up, he took a look at Ramsey's feet and his first impression was that the sole was too thin and he was unhappy that someone had "rasped' his toe off at an angle.
I am not sure that Pete actually believed me, but NO, I do not trim his foot this way and I did not rasp the toe off. Ramsey manages it all on his own by digging craters in the pasture. It is one of his favorite summertime pursuits. If anyone has any idea about how to stop him doing this, I would certainly like to hear about it. He never does it when I am around, but I see him doing it from the house.
Ramsey digs holes, almost exclusively, with his bad foot. I often wonder if it is a sign of pain or odd feelings in the foot as a result of his surgery. There are a lot of nerves in the foot and many of them had to have been disrupted when Cornell removed a third of his coffin bone. Ramsey often acts like there is an itch in the top of his foot and will bite at his hoof occasionally. Then again, maybe he is just right handed and he likes being an excavator. Only Ramsey knows.
Finally, we got the new films (which I don't have unfortunately. I am trying to get copies and will post them if I do) and these told a rather different story.
One of the things I struggle with the most in trimming this foot is that the external guides that would normally show how much sole there is just don't exist here. It ALWAYS appears that Ramsey's sole is paper thin, and I ALWAYS have to take a deep breath and commend my soul to God before taking a knife to it. It was one of the things I was hoping to get out of this clinic - some secret that my near obsessive study of hooves has not yet revealed to me.
The x-ray showed that, despite what it may look like on the outside, Ramsey has a full 1/2 inch of sole depth and his medial/lateral balance was near perfect. In the end, Pete did not trim Ramsey's feet at all. What he finally had to say about Ramsey was this:
"It is really amazing just how normal the foot looks, I wouldn't have thought it would be possible."
and:
"This donkey needs a lot, but there is not a single thing that I can do for him that you aren't already doing."
So there you have it, I guess all that obsessing really did pay off.
In the end, the one thing that I got out of this clinic more than anything, is a sense of validation. I am not ever going to even try to figure out how many hours I have spent studying feet and trying to talk to farriers.
For a very long time I really felt like I was out in the hinterlands trying to reinvent the wheel. My attempts at getting local help were generally an exercise in frustration. The farrier at Cornell told me I could bring Ramsey in for trimming every 3 weeks (not possible), but he couldn't help me and he didn't think that Ramsey would ever have anything like a normal foot.
A year ago, I had a saddle for sale and a professional farrier, who graduated from the top farrier school in the country and who also had 7 years of experience, called me up about it. I told him I'd trade him the saddle in exchange for trimming lessons. He came down, we talked about Ramsey and all the other feet I was working on at the time and he got real quiet for a long time, just staring at Ramsey's foot. Finally, he shook his head and told me:
"I guess I didn't really hear what you were telling me on the phone. I thought I was going to come down here and say 'this is a nipper and this is a hoof knife and this is how to hold a rasp.' Instead, I am totally out of my depth here and I don't have a clue what to do for your donkey or the other horses you're working on."
I still gave the guy a good deal on the saddle because he'd lost all his equipment in a barn fire and I felt bad for him, but I quit trying to find help after that. In fact, that was about the time that I made a conscious effort to stop studying books and videos or look for external guidance of any kind. I put all the books away and I took all that stuff swirling around in my mind and stuffed it into an imaginary box inside my mind and closed the lid.
It's all still there of course. That box is now a building block that is an integral part of my hood care foundation, but on it's own, it can never be more than a house of cards. It is each and every individual hoof that have been the real teachers. I couldn't have done it without that solid foundation, without Pete Ramey's DVD's, but in the end, it was Ramsey himself who taught me how to trim his foot.
People kept coming up to me after the clinic and saying things like, "wow, you must be really happy" and, being the socially inept nerd that I am, I wasn't sure how to answer this. Yes, I am very happy. It's a bit like acing the hardest exam I've ever taken. But, it took a while to sink in and there was this little part of me that that kept wanting to say, ' but wait, we haven't found the secret yet!'.
There is no secret of course, except the secret that every hoof is waiting to tell.
I am very glad that I took Ramsey to the clinic, although I am sorry that it stressed him out. If I hadn't taken him though, I would have always wondered and regretted not doing it. I feel good about where we are and about the feedback I got from Pete. At the end of the day though, this is the thing that makes me feel the most triumphant....
