My donkey is hurting and having a hard time walking. I noticed it last Sunday and have treated her with some Bute and vet suggested DMSO. She is limping on her right front leg. I don’t know if she got kicked, or pulled her shoulder or what. It is painful to watch her struggling to get around. It is the same leg that she had a crack in her hoof back in August. My current farrier finally agreed to trim her if I sedated her. She does not like a farrier. She tried to seriously hurt the last farrier I had, so she has never had her feet trimmed. She has never had trouble with her feet before this year. We had a lot of rain in the spring, then pretty much dry after that for most of the summer. I don’t know for sure if that contributed to the crack or not.

My last farrier semi-retired and a new younger (and very good looking) man trained with him and took over for him. He went to farrier school, so he is up to date on things. He is always calling me Hon. 🙂 He is really polite and so good with the horses. He is very patient.

In September, he did manage to get all but one hind hoof trimmed. We didn’t quite get her sedated enough before she tried to take a shot at his head as he finished the left hind foot. We all thought it was a good time to quit and she was the last one anyway. The right front foot came out pretty stubby looking and Jenny limped around for a few days, but she got better until this past Sunday. All the horses and Jenny are due for a trim again in a couple of weeks.

I was giving Jenny too much Bute in the beginning of her being limpy. I called my veterinarian on Wednesday and he wanted me to try the DMSO, or some other heat medicine that I can’t remember the name of. I settled on the DMSO. I didn’t think about using gloves the first couple of applications and wondered why my food and drinks tasted like the DMSO smelled after the second time applying it. It was soaking into my skin as well. Nasty stuff! Not super bad but it wasn’t pleasant. I used gloves after that. The old DMSO used to heat up really fast. As soon as you dipped your fingers in it. This newer version didn’t. But I was pretty sure when it started working on Jenny. She swung her head around and looked at her shoulder like, “What’s happening!” Then she kind of calmed down. Maybe it felt good. I hope. But it is not doing so much in the way of  helping. She is still limping and not wanting to put weight on it. She almost acts like she doesn’t want to pull her leg back into a normal position. She doesn’t mind if I rub it sometimes (at least not when I have a halter on her) and stretch it out front some. But if I try and pull it back into a normal position, she definitely does not like that.

On Wednesday I made a smaller pen in front of the shed and put in water and straw and a tub of hay so she wouldn’t move around so much for a few days. My vet thought that was a good idea also. So she is not very happy with me because I have separated her from her buddies. Especially Lily. When I tried to check on Jenny while she was still in the pen and paddock, I would feel someone breathing down my neck. When I looked up, Lily would be standing as close to my back as she could get, and looking as though she was saying “What are you doing to my friend?”

I would sit in the small pen with Jenny and she would come over and offer her leg to me. She seemed to like me holding it up off the ground and working it. I am not making that up. Really. Once she propped it up on my boot and seemed relieved that it didn’t have any pressure on it. She doesn’t seem to have any pain from the knee down to the hoof. Just in the upper part of her leg and shoulder area. I am hoping she doesn’t have a cracked bone or dislocated shoulder.

Here she is talking to me a little. This was yesterday, Friday evening.

We were in Holton today for some shopping, recycling and a soup luncheon and sale, so we stopped at the veterinarian’s office to see when I can get her in to be checked. They could see her on this next Wednesday. So I am just giving her the required amount of Bute until then and praying for the best. I also turned her out into the pen and paddock with the others, so she wouldn’t be so frustrated. She is happier now. I was hoping that moving around for some exercise after being penned up for about three days would help. I am not sure at this time.

Stay Safe and God Bless!

❤