Before, the girls got along really well. All three could stand the in the large lean-to comfortably with no issues. Well, there's issues now! Zoe decided she was queen and wouldn't let ANYONE into the lean-to. So I moved her to the stall at night and brought her back out with Star and Melody during the day. This was going great - or so I thought!
It started when I noticed that Star was losing weight. I ended up working with hubby around the barn one day last week and that's when I realized that Star wasn't moving around in her turnout. She would stand in a corner, appearing to be scared to move. That's when I saw Zoe start blasting Star with both back feet right into Star's side!!! Star had nowhere to go so she stood there and took it. WTH?! I was UPSET to say the least! I took Zoe out and put her out with the boys. That was enough of that! If she can't play nice with Star then she will have to go out with Tyson, who is head honcho and will keep her in line! Once Zoe was out, Star let out a big sigh. She immediately walked over to the water and drank for what seemed like forever!
The next day, I went to check on her. Her spirits were up but I noticed she wasn't acting quite like herself. Star isn't a cuddly horse (unless you have treats). She's very sweet but isn't the one who will hang her head on your shoulder or nuzzle your hair. That day, all she wanted to do was rest her head on my shoulder and kept nuzzling me on my neck. In all the years I've owned her, she's NEVER done that. I looked her over carefully and didn't see anything physically wrong with her. So I chalked it up to her "thanking" me for taking Zoe away.
The next night (hubby did chores for me in the morning because I was running late to work) I went to check on her again and this time there were HUGE lumps on her right side and a long swollen area beneath her belly. She was tender to the touch but let me touch her. I called the vet and he called me back right away and told me it could be an allergic reaction and to give her a treatment (with the heaves medication). I did as I was told, hoping that the vet was right. The reason we were wondering about allergies was because I had just switched her to a pelleted grain (no dust) so I immediately stopped feeding that grain to her. I gave her 3 treatments as instructed by the vet and kept an eye on her. I thought I had seen a change for the better one night...
But the next day, she was worse. She wouldn't even let me touch her on that side anymore! I was immediately concerned and called the vet. He said he would come over first thing the next morning. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be there for the vet appointment so hubby was there instead. That was today...he agreed with us that these lumps were probably from getting beat up by Zoe and she might even have a cracked rib. He gave us Bute pills that we are to put in her grain (2 daily) to help with the pain. Hubby pointed out her weight loss and the vet said the stress of being out with Zoe would cause her to lose weight, and then hubby pointed out the swollen area beneath her belly. The vet wasn't sure what the cause for that would be so he took a blood sample. He said he would get the results this afternoon and call us. If it's a tumor, he should be able to remove it fairly easily. But we will just have to wait and see.
While he was there, we had him clean Gunner's sheath. I wasn't sure if he had ever had that done before so the vet took care of that. He said Gunner was very dirty and also agreed that it appeared he had never been cleaned before. Or if he had, it had been a LONG time since the last time. Tyson was done a few months ago so we didn't have him done again. It would be nice if we could get them all on the same schedule next year so we don't have to pay for so many farm calls! I guess that's something I will have to work on next year!
Needless to say, our vet bill is gonna be a big one! With this business with Star, our cows getting preg-checked, Gunner's sheath, and puppy check-ups...it should be a good size bill next month. But, I would do it all over again - LOVE these animals!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
-Leo Tolstoy
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