The last several days in January, we were made aware of a donkey located in Southeast Ohio that the owner was intent on "getting rid of" immediately. They had placed weekly, and then biweekly ads for her each time lowering her price to almost nothing. After learning more we agreed to bring her home to TPDR.

 

Thankfully members Mike and Jackie Minges offered to make the trip on a moments notice. It was the first time hauling their brand new trailer, and a first time for the "Donkey Haulers" as well. What a great job they did! It was very, very cold outside and Jackie bundled poor Hope up in TWO blankets belonging to her donkey boys Darryl&Darnell.

 

The trip was a long and difficult one for Hope. When she unloaded I noticed she was quite painful and unsteady on her feet. Before reaching her pen, she rolled several times on the soft sand floor then carefully led to her pen. She had a small drink, ate a little hay and promptly  went down on the soft bedding with a loud groan. She was still down the following morning, but got up with great difficulty to eat her breakfast.

 

TPDR farrier Jan Chieffi was scheduled to begin work on her twisted very painful front hooves that morning. As he attempted to lift one front foot Hope fell to the ground as the pain of standing on the other foot was too much to bare. I immediately put her back into her pen and called our veterinarian Perry Ragon D.V.M. to help.

 

We sedated Hope and Jan started working on her left front. He opened a huge abscess that looked and smelled like sewage! The right front was an exact repeat of the left. Both Jan and Perry have been practicing their respective trades for some years, and both agreed these were the most severe hoof abscesses they had ever seen!

 

Dr. Ragon thought films should be taken of Hopes front hooves to determine if a bone infection were present. The result of the films would help determine her future.

 

Perry phoned late that afternoon with the results of the films. The right front has some rotation of the coffin bone, but not as significant as the left. There is no clear evidence of bone infection.

 

Then he said "Someone SHOT that donkey!!!"  She carries buckshot in that left front. He found the pellets in her lower leg by accident when taking the films of her front feet. We don't know where else she had been shot.

 

We have her on antibiotics, bute, flushing the holes in the soles of her feet, and frequent bandage changes.

 

How is she dealing with all this?  Like A Lady! She is an absolute sweetie. She feels a bit better today, not a lot but some. I let her out of her pen this morning so I could clean it up for her. I turned around to put her back and there she stood with the empty wood pellets bag in her mouth!!  Update to follow

On April 15th I took Hope to Kern Road Veterinary Clinic to be seen by our veterinarian Perry Ragon D.V.M. and farrier Jeff Cotton.

 

Hope was sedated, and had additional films taken of both front feet. After reading her new films both Perry and Jeff got to work on de-briding the lesions in her front feet. There was extensive corrective trimming done at that time as well. The lesions were then packed with Metronidazole and her feet were wrapped and I brought her back home to TPDR later that same afternoon. The following month will be filled with twice weekly packing of the lesions and re-bandaging her feet. April is normally a rainy, muddy month in Michigan, and Hopes bandages must be kept clean and dry. Update/progress report to follow.

 

***Update 5/23/08***

 

What an absolutely good day today turned out to be!

 

Our veterinarian Dr. Ragon was here this afternoon to recheck several donkeys that had recently been very ill. As I had removed Hope`s bandages just prior to his arrival, I asked him to have a look at the lesions on her feet and give me a progress report.

 The healing process is now complete! After first packing the lesions with Metronidazole, about 10 days ago we moved to iodine. The tracts are now hard, healthy hoof material. 

For the FIRST time in almost six months Hope willingly stood on three feet while the fourth was examined by the vet. A far cry from when she first arrived here and upon attempting to lift a front foot she fell over as the pain was so severe she was unable to stand. 

Hope will always carry  the evidence of her prior abuse and neglect. We can't fix the bowed, knotted tendons in her front legs. They are a direct result of the years she suffered with her infected, twisted front hooves. She had to get around the best she could manage.  

I can't re-grow the areas on both her front and rear legs that are hairless and scarred from a number of summer fly strikes. Crippled donkeys don't have much of a chance fighting the relentless biting insects of the summer months. 

Hope will also forever carry the buckshot Dr. Ragon discovered in her front leg upon his initial exam. I doesn't appear to bother her. It bothers me a great deal. 

There were subtle signs that she might be on the mend. The very first was the change in her expression and overall demeanor. She gradually began to loose that haunted, pain wracked appearance that she came here with. Over the past weeks I noticed she was up more than down.  

Well last week while doing a bit of paperwork, I looked out and saw her out in her turnout yard. Problem was, I didn't put her out there! I went outside to check on things and discovered I hadn't latched her pen gate.  Too crippled to push her pen open you know! She had turned herself out to enjoy a bit of grass. As she was fine where she was, I left her to enjoy the grass, closed the front barn door and returned to the house and my paperwork. I would put her up later. No need for that! When I went to do afternoon chores there she was back in her own pen laying down for a rest. SMART COOKIE !