The Foot Today

I got a few pictures of Ramsey's foot this afternoon during the bandage change. 

The farrier at Cornell took off a lot of excess hoof.  The constant bandaging has made the coronet band flatten and creep upwards giving the foot a stretched and overly long look.  The foot is still overly long, but it couldn't be cut back any further, it will have to wear back over time once the bandage is no longer needed.

As you can see from the position of the surgical hole, the foot has grown over an inch since he had surgery.  Hopefully, once it grows out enough that the it no longer needs bandaging, it will start growing and wearing more normally.  I have never seen a foot that has had to remain bandaged for so long and the results are interesting.  It definitely shows how too much constricture can cause problems.  I often see horses with hoof problems that I believe are caused by wearing too-small shoes.  Ramsey's foot certainly demonstrates how those problems begin. 

I think that with careful trimming, I will be able to correct the issues in Ramsey's foot over time once we can get back to normal.  The foot is too tall and the heels are very contracted.  Both are very common problems for young donkeys and they have been exacerbated by 10 weeks of bandaging. 

The bottom of the foot shows that will still have quite a ways to go.  Sorry for the odd camera angle, the foot isn't really that off-center, it's just darned hard to get pictures.  Another case of needing more than two hands.

The spot just in front of my finger is where the sensitive, internal structures of the foot are still exposed.  If you follow the curve of the foot upwards, you can see light and dark patches in the sole.  The light color on the right is healthey sole, the grey and black on the left is where the abscess traveled under the sole, undermining the whole hoof.  All of that black and grey is going to die off and be repleced over time.  You can really see just how extensive the infection was as there isn't much healthy sole left.  The foot will have to stay clean, dry and bandaged until good hoof grows over the internal strucures and he has a bit more healthy sole to support him. 

He is going to loose a lot more of the frog as well (that's the dark, triangular bit at the back of the foot), but it will regenerate with time.  I think he will have to regrow the whole foot before it is normal again, which may take as much as a year, but I think we will get there.  Someday.

Hide and Seek

All the warm air, rain and dense fog of the last few days did the trick.  The snow is nearly gone, at least in the open fields.  That means that donkeys who wouldn't leave the snow-blowed paths last week were out and about today.  It's good to see, if you can find them that is.

A Border Collie's Question

"Tell me again, why do we have donkeys and horses?  Sticks grow on trees after all and they're much more fun."

In a Fog

I took this photo at high noon today, it's the view from my living room where I can normally look out and see most of my little kingdom.  This is as bright as the world ever got today.  Can you see the horses out there?   Yeah, me neither.  Good thing they come when called.

I think this may be the greyest winter I can remember.  It has been relatively mild, but we all may need to start buying vitamin D pills by the case.   Thank goodness we didn't have to contend with this yesterday. 

Whew, after all that grey I know I need a reminder that the sun actually did make a rare appearance a few days ago.  See, I have proof...

And just in case any of you have forgotten what it looks like...

Success!

For once things went almost as planned.  We made it to Cornell at 7:58 this morning with dry roads and no trouble.  Can't beat that!  As soon as we arrived, word went out that Ramsey was back and all of his fans started appearing like magic.  It really is amazing what this one little donkey seems to do to people and I can really see how donkeys can make wonderful therapy animals.  Even worried and distraught horse owners in the midst of their own crises, couldn't help but break out in smiles when they saw Ramsey headed their way, especially wearing his high-top.   One student did an actual, honest-to-God happy dance when she heard Ramsey was there.  He is simply irresistible. 

The good news for Ramsey is that the vet and farrier both thought that Ramsey's foot looks great!  They even decided that they did not need new x-rays since it is healing so well and he is walking so soundly on it.  The farrier trimmed the foot and took off all the dead hoof that I was afraid to cut.  Between what I did last week and what he did today, his foot is at least an inch shorter.  He still has a huge hole in his foot, in fact, it may actually be larger now, but the wound is clean, dry and healing beautifully.

The hole in the side wall has grown out so much that, from the side it looks to be half gone.  However, that large section of sole and frog that was dead, has now been cut out so the hole in the bottom of his foot is rather frightfully large.

After the trimming I did last week, I thought this would happen so I wasn't really surprised.  The hoof that is left is healthy and growing fast, so we all think it will be OK as long as I can continue to keep it completely clean and dry.  The only drawback is that there was no way they could use an acrylic patch on the foot.  The stuff gets very hard and, while it works well on the sidewall of the hoof, it can't be used on the sole.  It would be like making him walk on a large rock all the time.  It means I have another 5-6 weeks of having to keep the foot bandaged. 

Again, I am not surprised by this and I'm not really unhappy about it either.  The patch would have made my life much, much easier, but it also prevents any further treatment or observation of the hoof.  If something were to go wrong under that patch, I would never know until he came up lame again.  It means six more weeks of rather all-consuming care, but, we have made it this far, we'll make it another six weeks.  I do get to stretch the bandage changes out from every other day to every 3-4 four days, so there is at least a tiny reprieve.  I hope to have some pictures for you in a few days. 

The other very good news is that Ramsey's gelding surgery went very well.  Donkeys are much harder and riskier to castrate then most other animals and I have been worried about this.  I am glad I had the surgery done at Cornell in a very controlled environment rather then on the farm.  I am also just extremely relieved to have it done.  I have heard of donkeys actually breeding as early as seven months and Ramsey is just about 6 1/2 months old.  If we had had to put this of for too much longer, I would probably have had to find somewhere else for Emma to stay.  None of us would have been happy about that! 

All in all, it was a very god day and I can't tell you how happy and relieved I am to have this one done and behind us.  We still have a long way to go, but I feel good about where we are.  I had felt like we were making progress, but it is so good to have it  confirmed by the people who really know.  Both the vet and the farrier told me to just keep doing whatever I have been because the results are outstanding.  Very good to hear.

One more trip to Cornell

If all goes according to plan (I winch every time I hear that word), we are going back to Cornell at the crack of dawn Friday morning for Ramsey's (HOPEFULLY!!!) last checkup.  He is going to get another set of x-rays, see the vet, the farrier and (also hopefully), get a patch on his foot.  We will see.

If all goes well and according to plan (ouch, there's that nasty little four letter word again), Ramsey is also going to be gelded in the morning.  He is six months old now and we can't put this off much longer without having to make some drastic changes in donkey living arrangements, which I very much don't want to have to do. 

Ramsey has to be at Cornell by 8:00am, which means leaving here around 6:00.  Since I work nights and normally get to bed round 3:00am......it's going to be a very long day.  Still, I am really hoping that the weather is OK and we don't have to reschedule. I really want to get there and get all of this done and behind us.  I very much want to come home tomorrow and report that my sound young gelding has returned home for good.  Wish us luck.

Naked Donkeys

Looks like we're having our January thaw.  You know what that means...

Naked donkeys running around.

"YO MA!  WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BASKETBALL?"

"i GOT MY SNEAKS ON AND i'M READY FOR SOME HOOPS, SO WHERE'S MY BALL?!

"Sorry kid, the basketball is still buried in the snow somewhere.  Why don't you build a snowdonkey or something."

"PLAY WITH SNOW???  ICK, NOW WAY!  i'D HAVE TO PUT MY FEET IN THAT STUFF AND EVERYTHING.  YUCK!"

"Jeez Ma, you really do come up with some goofy ideas sometimes.  What were you thinking?"

"Sorry guys, I guess that half hour of sunlight we got went right to my head.  Don't worry, I'm sure it won't last too long.  It is only January after all."