Cold wet noses, sandpaper tongues, and burrowing scales

I just want to take a moment to talk about how much I appreciate the love of my smaller animals friends. God knows, with many of them getting into their old age and others very young I certainly run the gamut of animal maladies to handle around here. They are financially and emotionally draining at times. Sammy the Siamese eats a small pharmacy every morning for breakfast. Ice (one of the ferrets) scares us constantly with his insulinoma and blood sugar issues. He's been prone in the bottom of his cage, frothing at the mouth, eyes fixed and dilated, and/or in seizures recently. He requires prednisalone, diazoxide, and often other supporting medication 2x a day and he's less than happy about it. We're on a constant search for the perfect ferret treat to keep his interest in his medication. Recently his meds made him so nauseous he refused to eat for days and got so close to dying from low blood sugar that we've been hiding his meds in chicken flavored baby food in the mornings. Getting ready for work is a zoo circus of me stumbling outside with the Husky puppy Nutmeg ( now around 7 months old) and coaxing her to poo at some ungodly hour before dawn, then coming inside and cajoling Sammy to PLEASE eat her pill pockets with the crunchy pharmacy of pills inside them, then begging Sushi the Siamese to hold still while I put his asthma mask on and give him his inhalers, then grabbing Ice out of his cage, putting together his meds on a plate, mixing them with baby food and trying hard not to get scratched while I dangle him above the dish forcing him to do nothing else but concentrate on eating. Lastly, I hand Ice and his plate off to Joe who is sitting at the computer in the mornings while I'm tending The Zoo and he's playing Mafia Wars. He sits with the ferret and clicks away while I try to tempt the bearded dragon Ziggy to eat his veggies and hand feed him pieces of kale and mango to get him started. Really, Hailey (the other ferret) is the only non-complicated animal in the morning.

Of course if anything throws a cog in the wheel of animal husbandry in the AM it throws the whole balance of time off. I find myself racing to work with the pedal of the Prius mashed to the floorboards because Ice was being fussy and refusing to eat his meds, Sammy didn't like the treats I gave her and I ended up having to pop a cocktail of Lasix, methimazole, aspirin, and enterinix down her throat by force (she is anywhere between 17 and 20 years old and has a weak heart and hyperthyroidism), Sushi kept tearing his mask off with his claws, or the dog, who we have been battling a 5 week battle of diarrhea with--likely giardia or whipworms, and now also a possible food allergy as the protocol for whipworm and giardia treatment has not completely cleared her up--refuses to poo in the yard and sits defiantly at my feet for the THIRD try that morning knowing full well we will be coming home to a crate full of diarrhea and a proud tail-wagging, howling puppy who has PLAYED in it all day.

So why in the hell do I put up with this craziness and having to make payments on what seems like increasing frequency of vet bills and medicines? Surely my time and money could be going to something much more rewarding. But, on days like today where I have Sammy purring on my pillow behind my head, Sushi curled up next to me trying to give me little sandpaper kisses, the dog walking up and noodging me with her cold wet nose to be petted and rubbing on me like a cat, Hailey scratching at her cage and begging to be held for a moment while she curls up in my arms and licks my hand, and Ziggy doing his cricket dance to be fed, begging for attention and then riding around on my shoulder or burrowing comfortably into my shirt to cuddle and stay warm I realize why I put so much of my day aside for all of them. It is a bit overwhelming, and I am at a true threshold that I DO NOT want any more animals right now. The fact they are all getting old or sick at the same time is just draining. I feel like I cannot split my time and attention appropriately between them all and give them each the love and attention they deserve individually. But, they couldn't have more spoiled lives in comparison to the horror you see in so many animal rescue cases. I am a good caretaker of my little furry (and now one scaly) friends and they return the care with complete love and attention back. Its the mornings waking up smiling to sandpaper tongues, cold wet noses and burrowing scales that make it worth it all in the end. I dote and worry over each of them, and they all are happy and love me back in return. Now, if I could only get ANY 2 of the species to get along, it would be utopia ;)

Red Shoudered Hawk in the pasture today!

It was a great photography day--we got to see a red shouldered hawk by the pasture today. We were able to get very close to it before it flew across the street. Just had to post some of Joe's pics :-)

The Blue Sucking Machine of Death

First off, let me say how much I love my husband. One of the best gifts I've ever received-- EVER EVER--was a horse grooming vacuum. I LOVE my vacuum. I've had it for about 4-5 years now and I am still in love with it.

This is the model vacuum I have

Of course, there are some horses that call it the Blue Sucking Machine of Death and will run backwards down a barn aisle at 50mph when it's switched on. Most of my horses and client horses have been completely fine with it and are happy to stand there, winter hair 2-3 inches long, static electricity jealously clinging on to every dusty molecule of hair, and be rubbed up and down with the teeth from the grooming attachment on the vacuum. They get a little nervous when it's up near their ears, or when the hose brushes against their legs, or when the blue body of the vacuum on wheels moves unexpectedly. But when your horse decides in the middle of winter to grind their coat into the mud at their favorite rolling spot with the fervor of a lotto winner cashing in their ticket, it's the only tool that really works to get the dirt out of their underfluff. It's also AWESOME if you have a horse in training that has a short hair coat and is blanketed/clipped during the winter and has dandruff. It's about the only grooming tool that can suck the dirt out of a coat AND fight static all at once. The grooming attachment on the end has teeth that will break up the worst caked on mud...they actually say to NOT curry the horse ahead of time (to cut down on the static electricity issue) and just attack the horse with the vacuum. I've found they're right! And to finish it off, I use a rehydrant spray after grooming to moisten the coat during the dryest winters.

So, late one night while Anne-Marie was prepping feed and bringing horses in, I decided to try the vacuum for the first time with Tiki. Joe, knowing my intentions, just walked out of the barn and asked that Anne-Marie calls 911 BEFORE him so they would at least already be on the way. Silly man! Both Anne-Marie and I had confidence Tiki would be just fine :-) . Back when Mona was growing up, I'd vacuum her regularly. It had been at least a year since she had seen the vacuum. While Mona and Tiki were munching away at hay, I set up the vacuum outside the stall and ran the hose through the bars. I fired it up and the horses barely flicked an ear. I walked into the stall, started to groom Tiki with a brush, and then grabbed the hose and started vacuuming Mona. Tiki watched with a tipped head like a puppy who's heard an odd sound and let her curiosity get the best of her. She inserted herself between Mona and I and started nibbling on the hose. I wasn't shocked, she really hates when another horse gets ANY attention--especially her mother! After no time at all, I was scrubbing her with the vacuum, turned to high, with no problems. As I was vacuuming her forehead and giggling, I yelled over the din to Anne-Marie "Did you call the paramedics?" and she laughed and yelled back "Yeah, the ambulance is already on the way!"

Once the horses were comfortable with me scrubbing all over them with the vacuum hose, I had Anne open up the stall door and bring the whole body of the vacuum in to the stall. With it noisily whirring away, Tiki walked right up to it and put her nose down to it and sniffed. After pawing a couple times at it, she came right back over to continue being groomed. Amazingly, even though I started snaking the hose over Mona's back, between Tiki's legs, and generally had it intertwined all around them and the stall while scrubbing away at them, they completely did not care. They happily munched on hay, free in the stall, while the vacuum whined away right by their heads.

After they were sparkling clean, I put the vacuum away and Anne-Marie and I talked about how wonderfully laidback the horses were about the entire experience. While it truly wasn't a surprise on how well behaved both of them were, it still made a mom's heart proud!