Southern by choice
Herd Master
ok.... I am waiting..... 
FergusonK's journal - Goodbye Java Jewel.
- Thread starter Ferguson K
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #152
Ferguson K
Herd Master
Still trying to convince hubby - that puppy is a monster and the pasture isn't dog ready yet. Sent you the info.
goatgurl
Herd Master
just caught up with your journal and the first thing i need to do is congratulate you on your job promotion. good for you! we just had a ts build about 20 miles from us and am anxious to have it open. its almost ready. i so agree with loving my little farm. i sit out in the evening and listen to the owls and in the summer the chuck-wills-widows. sometimes the coyotes howl a little to close for comfort but Katie tells them that they can't visit much less live here so its all good. i am so blessed to live where i do. i was in town the other day, drove over close to where i was raised and was saddened to see row after row of condo's go in. when i was a kid that was 'country' but now its just row after row of people. i just thank God that i don't have to live somewhere like that.
- Thread starter
- #154
Ferguson K
Herd Master
Poor Titan has spent the last week hold up on the couch, underneath the blanket, with his head on the pillow. His arthritis and this drastically change in weather are not getting along. For example, yesterday morning it was 30 degrees by noon it was 74 by 5 o'clock it was back into the 40's and when I woke up this morning it was 32. His arthritis in his arithritic old joints* are not getting along with this weather at all. does anyone have any suggestions other than tramadol that can help him and his sore joints? He gets supplements like glucosamine and chondroitin, and he gets senior dog food, any takes prednisone and tramadol everyday. I'm wondering if I can give him some sort of icy hot.
There have been mornings when we've had to pick him up and physically carry him outside to get him going. I'm wondering if there's another supplement* or another painkiller I can give him, to give him a little bit more at ease. He got up with me yesterday evening and went and played with the goats with us, however Prudence butted* him and when she did he screamed and fell over and went back to the house and gave up again. I feel so bad for him, but he's got so much left in him I know its not time yet. This has everything to do with these weather swings and the swelling in his joints caused by his arthritis. My vet said I could go ahead and load him up with extra doses of tramadol, as his kidneys are already trying to shut down and what could it possibly hurt? Well, I for one, don't want to shut his kidneys down any faster than I have to. His cancer is spreading* you can tell by the lumps all over his body, but I know its not time. One day he will look at me and tell me it's time to go, and he will.
On a lighter note the goats got a round bale of hay yesterday. My husband and I have been trying to figure out how to get a bale out to their pasture since there is no gate wide enough to get the tractor or truck through, we rigged up a section of fence that can be removed. It involves hog panels. I've never seen the goats so happy to see a bale of hay before! As we rolled it into their pasture it unraveled around us, so we ended up having to put all the loose hay in their old hay feeder. They couldn't figure out if they wanted to play on, eat on, or scratch on the big bale. The sound of my goats happily munching on as much as they can eat is the greatest thing my ears have heard in weeks. We ended up creating a bale protector out of rubber mats that is short enough to go to get their heads over but tall enough they can't paw it like the horses do. I'm hoping that as the bale eats down, this will keep them from stepping all over it and peeing all over it. Who am I kidding? These are goats. So!
the best part about it was when I got up to get ready for work this morning, to go to work screaming at me. Which means that they are finally happy in their little pen. Hopefully by the time that eat through this round bale we will have the back pasture fenced and goat proof, right now the only time they get access back there is supervised. There are too many spots where a little goat can squeeze right on through. The last thing I need is a goat on the highway. my long hours recently, though, have kept me from turning them out pretty much at all. My husband let them out yesterday, and they ate all the buds off of my narcissus plants. Then they ate my cannas. Then they my lilies. By the time he realized what was going on, I had come home. Oh well. its not spring yet and they will bud again.
Friday I will be making a trip to one of the local animal shelters to dig through for livestock guardian dogs There had been an Anatolian Shepherd here just a few days ago, however when I went to go get the dog someone had adopted it thinking it was a mastiff. I hope they know what they got into.
I'm beyond ready for the weather to make up it's mind. It's January... Haha.
Edited to fix tired brain errors.
There have been mornings when we've had to pick him up and physically carry him outside to get him going. I'm wondering if there's another supplement* or another painkiller I can give him, to give him a little bit more at ease. He got up with me yesterday evening and went and played with the goats with us, however Prudence butted* him and when she did he screamed and fell over and went back to the house and gave up again. I feel so bad for him, but he's got so much left in him I know its not time yet. This has everything to do with these weather swings and the swelling in his joints caused by his arthritis. My vet said I could go ahead and load him up with extra doses of tramadol, as his kidneys are already trying to shut down and what could it possibly hurt? Well, I for one, don't want to shut his kidneys down any faster than I have to. His cancer is spreading* you can tell by the lumps all over his body, but I know its not time. One day he will look at me and tell me it's time to go, and he will.
On a lighter note the goats got a round bale of hay yesterday. My husband and I have been trying to figure out how to get a bale out to their pasture since there is no gate wide enough to get the tractor or truck through, we rigged up a section of fence that can be removed. It involves hog panels. I've never seen the goats so happy to see a bale of hay before! As we rolled it into their pasture it unraveled around us, so we ended up having to put all the loose hay in their old hay feeder. They couldn't figure out if they wanted to play on, eat on, or scratch on the big bale. The sound of my goats happily munching on as much as they can eat is the greatest thing my ears have heard in weeks. We ended up creating a bale protector out of rubber mats that is short enough to go to get their heads over but tall enough they can't paw it like the horses do. I'm hoping that as the bale eats down, this will keep them from stepping all over it and peeing all over it. Who am I kidding? These are goats. So!
the best part about it was when I got up to get ready for work this morning, to go to work screaming at me. Which means that they are finally happy in their little pen. Hopefully by the time that eat through this round bale we will have the back pasture fenced and goat proof, right now the only time they get access back there is supervised. There are too many spots where a little goat can squeeze right on through. The last thing I need is a goat on the highway. my long hours recently, though, have kept me from turning them out pretty much at all. My husband let them out yesterday, and they ate all the buds off of my narcissus plants. Then they ate my cannas. Then they my lilies. By the time he realized what was going on, I had come home. Oh well. its not spring yet and they will bud again.
Friday I will be making a trip to one of the local animal shelters to dig through for livestock guardian dogs There had been an Anatolian Shepherd here just a few days ago, however when I went to go get the dog someone had adopted it thinking it was a mastiff. I hope they know what they got into.
I'm beyond ready for the weather to make up it's mind. It's January... Haha.
Edited to fix tired brain errors.
Last edited:
- Thread starter
- #155
Ferguson K
Herd Master
I know everyone says to ice swelling and cold for pain, but for arthritis and joint pain, especially if you're already giving meds to lessen swelling and irritation, I think heat is much more soothing... Do you have or can you get a heating pad (low voltage/wattage) that you can get for him to lay on? Just something to warm his joints and help circulation?
Maybe put something like that (or a smaller electric blanket set to low temp) in one of those large cushioned dog beds for on the floor... so he doesn't have to try jumping up on the couch? That can't be comfy for his sore joints either I'd guess...
Sorry, wish I had more to offer. You just recently lost another companion and I know you want to prolong his comfy/good days as long as you can.
Maybe put something like that (or a smaller electric blanket set to low temp) in one of those large cushioned dog beds for on the floor... so he doesn't have to try jumping up on the couch? That can't be comfy for his sore joints either I'd guess...
Sorry, wish I had more to offer. You just recently lost another companion and I know you want to prolong his comfy/good days as long as you can.
- Thread starter
- #157
Ferguson K
Herd Master
I might have a heating pad lying around. The one I use for my back when my pins give me fits gave up on me, but, I think the one I used on some bummer pigs is in the barn. I might try that.
He finally got up and ate and drank, then went out to potty. It was people food but its something on his stomach and I'll take it. My husband got him to get off the floor earlier and help him feed. He made it about twenty minutes before he was on the porch waiting to come back in, apparently.
He's gotten down from the couch and is laying beneath my feet in front of the heater cleaning himself. Poor old man.
He finally got up and ate and drank, then went out to potty. It was people food but its something on his stomach and I'll take it. My husband got him to get off the floor earlier and help him feed. He made it about twenty minutes before he was on the porch waiting to come back in, apparently.
He's gotten down from the couch and is laying beneath my feet in front of the heater cleaning himself. Poor old man.
OneFineAcre
Herd Master
Sorry your dog is having such a rough time
Southern by choice
Herd Master
I read about Titan earlier. Cannot explain it , never met him but-
I'll pm you.
I'll pm you.
goatgurl
Herd Master
Fergie I'm so sorry that Titan is having such discomfort. i can attest to the fact that warmth is much better on arthritis than cold is. trust me on this, cold just makes you ache more. give him the extra tramadol if it will help him. it might not be good for his kidneys but at least he won't be in pain. 
