"WHERE THE ANIMALS ARE SERVED FIRST...AND AREN'T ON THE MENU!"

Saturday, December 21, 2013

A Sick Donkey, A Batty Old Dog, a Canine Salad Thief and More at the Lazy Vegan!

It has been quite the interesting pre-holiday week here at the Lazy Vegan...sleepless nights with a sick donkey (Paco), a batty old dog (Toby) and a full moon adding to the drama!  Poor Paco started to act funny on Tuesday - at first he was just very irritable (yes, I can tell when one of the donkeys is irritable...I totally understand their body language now; I'm fluent in donkey communication!) and hee-hawing for no apparent reason.  Then he felt very warm to the touch.  I didn't go so far as to actually take his temp (I leave that for the professionals...taking a rectal temp on a donkey isn't for the average person!) but I knew he felt much warmer than normal just by hugging him and feeling under his little donkey "leg pits".  By Thursday his  nose and eyes started to get runny, so I stopped hemming and hawing (or: "hee-hawing!") and I called the vet.  The vet came right away and it was not pleasant seeing Paco fight getting poked and prodded.  We love our vet and he's great with the donks, but they still don't like it!  Bottom line:  by today Paco has recovered, after a couple of days of painkillers and some fun moments of administering the meds (I am getting to be somewhat an expert, since I learned a lot during the three months that Paco was very ill two years ago).  On my first attempt, after mixing the Banamine powder in some applesauce and filling a syringe with it, the entire contents ended up on the ground while Paco warily eyed me - when I returned with a new syringe, he wanted nothing to do with it and ran away.  Let the games begin!  So I had to go to a feed store and buy a 50 lb. bag of sweet grain and hide the meds in a handful to give to him that way.   Which brings me to the canine salad thief (that would be Bravo):  while I was spending so much time with Paco I failed to safely secure the bunny's area while she was eating dinner and I returned to find her gate open and pieces of cilantro, basil, parsley (the herbs Bravo isn't too fond of) strewn about the living room and the rest of the salad gone.  Bravo rewarded me later with many bathroom issues from his salad score!  And that's the end of my rather boring stories of the week...little old batty Toby has been keeping me up at night, so that's my excuse for any rambling here!
Mr. Paco when he was starting to feel better.
Whoa!  Alligator lizard in the pasture.
The weekly pose with a recuperating donkey.
I think Luigi was secretly pleased that Paco was under the weather because it meant he made it to the feeder first!
Staying hydrated like the vet told him to.

I was just a couple of inches away from the alligator lizard and he didn't flinch!

Little bird looking for something in the feeder to peck on!
Wasabi has really been the couch bun this week!  Here she watches basketball with the foreman.



 And here she hopped up by herself...no doubt to help fold some laundry!

I spent a couple of nights out checking on Paco in the wee hours and there's something magical about being outside at night.  It looked like it was snowing!
Paco really wasn't feeling well here and I wish I could have taken him indoors to bundle him up.

It was also farrier time again this week - not great timing, but by then Paco was on painkillers so he was o.k. with it.

Waiting for the farrier to arrive on a very cold morning.
Another weekly pose!
Farrier hard at work!



I was having a hard time holding Luigi back so I took off his halter and lead after his turn and just let him watch!

Love the lambs and their mamas up the road.



OMG!  We opened a new bank account at Wells Fargo and got two Wells Fargo stuffed horses!
Which was pretty much the highlight of my week!
The crew letting me know it is almost dinner time.
Young deer visits.
Play time!
Same young deer investigates the olive trees pretty darn close to my car...
My kitchen helpers.

Relaxed bun!
More couch time with the foreman.




And fun time alone!


Toby managed to get himself wedged between the window seat and the living room chair and was wailing away when I returned to the house one day...awful to hear.  Now I really have to "Toby proof" the house when I leave.
Toby decided to pose for some formal photos in the cabin.


I hope he can hang around in this world for a while longer!
First day of noticing Paco was sick.

The concerned foreman!





The rabbit was concerned, too.

Bossing the dogs around in the living room!


As those close to me know, I don't exchange Xmas gifts anymore except for the under 21 crowd...but my Aunt Bubba managed to break that rule by calling the above a "Snowman" gift!  Very funny!  Love the vegan cookbook and other gifts...thank you, Aunt Bubba! (A.K.A. Aunt Barbara & Uncle Neil!).
Bravo hopes there's a special vegan dog recipe inside!
Getting ready for the vet visit.  At this point I could tell just by looking at Paco that he was ill.

Luigi got harnessed up, too, for a pre-vet walk.


The 50 lb bag of sweet grain is still in the back seat of my car!  Since I only needed a little bit I'm going to donate the rest of the bag to Forget Me Not farm.


Brussel sprouts on the stalk!

Really not feeling good.

I sat with Paco for a long time and told him that help was on the way!

It was stressful to see him lose his spunk - we went through that for a very long time when he was really ill before.

Donkey meds!  Thankfully I was able to avoid starting him on the antibiotics, which would have consisted of 16 large pills a day!!!  Wasn't looking forward to figuring out how to get all of that into him!


Went to the office party and wore my traditional vintage velvet coat!
While the foreman wore his annual vest that used to belong to his dad!

 OMG! Spotted in Whole Foods - none other than SNAP, otherwise known as my mama!!
No doubt getting ready for her annual Xmas Eve dinner!

The Lazy Vegan Critter Cam Videos of the Week - Including Paco Taking a Dust Bath!
DO NOT MISS the two foxes meeting one another on the trail - a first!!