Update

It sure was cold and windy today. Morning check MBJ was up and had finished all her food except the beet pulp, which she apparently doesn't care for much. She had eaten everything else though and was eagerly awaiting breakfast, so I thought that was a good sign. No diarreah from the feed change, so overall a very good check.

I had a doctor's appointment so I had to run to town, but when I got back in the afternoon she was eating and laying down, just like her previous owner described. I was a little disappointed but seized the opportunity to work on her feet.

She was fine with me going up to her but she didn't want to lay down all the way, so I had to work as best I could. Her feet were packed with mud and rocks (which might have caused some bruising so we'll see in the next few days if she's a little less sore on her front feet). I was able to cut off some excess frog and work on the side of the foot a bit, but needed her to lay down to do the rest and she just didn't want to. Hopefully she'll let me soon as it would make trimming her very easy with my back and all.

Anyway, her feet were surprisingly good. She has a bit of thrush but nothing too bad. I will take some iodine out tomorrow and soak her frog and white line to make sure we catch anything but overall her feet are healthy--just long and possibly bruised. She also has a bit of a contracted heel but I've definitely seen worse.

I gave her another shot of bantamine since I couldn't get very far with her feet. She appears body-sore when she walks, probably from just a little bit of everything it seems. I will have to talk to my vet about getting her a few chiropractic adjustments when she gains a little weight and can travel in comfortably.

I also got a good look at her teeth. For a cribber of her age her front teeth look terrific!!! I was very pleased! She's 14 or so? Seeker's (the cribber I had who is now owned by my good friend Kim Noyes) front teeth are almost non-existant and she's only a couple years older. I also felt around for points and while it wouldn't hurt to get her floated there was nothing particularly sharp back there that I could feel, so great news--she's at least able to masticate her food fairly well, which will hopefully make her recovery go smoothly.

I've had horses come in with many more problems, so overall I'm feeling very good about her prognosis. I'm a bit worried about her being so body sore when she walks. With her possible digestive issues I absolutely don't want to give her bute, so right now bantamine is the only pain relief I can offer her, and I hate to keep sticking a needle into her neck everyday, so I might need to check into alternatives here. I want to make her as comfortable as possible so she eats--the more she eats the stronger she'll get and hopefully the better she'll feel. If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

She LOVES her alfalfa, by the way. She whinnies really loudly when she see me bringing the flake! She will eat it all up before she touches her grain. It's hard not to give her more but I'm afraid I'll overdo it and she'll get sick, which wouldn't help at all... Eddie forgoes grain for alfalfa, too, so I thought it was kind of funny that MBJ is the same way :)

Everyone else is fabulous! Paula keeps whinnying across the farm to MBJ, who completely ignores her. JJ really fuzzed out now that the cold weather has set in--he looks like a chia pet LOL.