Rescue Journal

do you know why the wicked witch of the west probably lost her mind and melted when she got wet?

Carol · Feb. 6, 2011

i have a theory.

i bet it was because she grew up on a farm...she spent her formative years soggy from working out in the rain. you get sopping wet doing the daytime chores, you get to warm up and dry off for a couple of hours then you get soggy again doing the bedtime routine...some days you just want to scream...I"M MELTING....." as you finally give up to the wet and sink into the first available puddle, never to be seen again.

seems like a good theory to me.

sigh and i still have to go back out there in a couple of hours again cuz it is too early to do the diabetics yet....next life i am never leaving the city AND i am only having one building so i don't have to go trucking around in the rain between 7...(house, mp building, shop, barn 1, barn 2, and chicken houses one and two).
today i pretty much hate the rain....(and having 6 too many buildings)

poor ziggy...poor little man. he was not coming anywhere near me tonight. he is not defiant...he is afraid...he does not want his medicine...he says it tastes disgusting and please don't do it to him again.

it breaks my heart...this is exactly why i went into rescue so i could traumatize and abuse poor baby dying donkeys....i feel like a total shit-head. i sat with him at bedtime and tried to explain but he couldn't understand me...he just wanted me to go away.

unlike every other donkey i have known...ziggy-pop is not a maniacal food freak. he is in fact kind of picky. so i am wondering if anyone knows of anything that is totally great as a treat for donkeys? cuz i am hoping that maybe we could find something so yummy good that we could hide his meds in so he doesn't know they are there.

i don't want to be a young donkey's worst medicine monster...i want to be his very good, yummy treat friend.

oh and as for traumatizing babies (this time by kicking them out of their nice indoor cage)...the baby chicks seem to be doing ok.

whew.

Comments

Karen

try molasses and a bit of grain, roll into treat sized balls and chill well. Works for Rupert.

Lori

Delicious Munch Cookies for Horses

1 cup dry oats
1 cup shredded carrots and apples (or either or)
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup molasses
Little less than a 1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix dry ingredients first then add everything else. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Your horses will enjoy then very much! Keep in fridge until ready to give to your 4 legged friend!

Jenine

Does he eat a bran mash? Sometimes mixing bran mash
with apple juice will "fool" some of them>some of the
time>>>> Does your vet have any suggestions?

Allie

Hmm maybe some molasses and applesauce (which you could thicken if need be by draining through a sieve)? I know nothing about diluting meds, so that is totally a guess... Maybe some baby food with molasses? No idea if yogurt is something they would like / can eat...

Carol

one is a paste and the other is 15 cc of liquid.

do donkeys like yogurt? maybe we could try mixing it in one of the berry-berry flavours?

oh..molasses...why did i not think to try that with him???

Allie

I know that horses often love bananas - I saw a website that said donkeys can eat them too: http://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/files/donkeys/FeedingDonkey_0.pdf and another website had recipes for apple-banana-molasses treats for horses (um "recipes" - it mostly consisted of chopping and/or combining those 3 items with/without carrots (I find molasses quite strong, so maybe it would help if there's a liquid involved; another site said make sure it is natural molasses but I'm guessing whatever kind we can find on store shelves here is okay ?). Good luck - we all love little Ziggy, whether or not we've met him in real life.

suzanne

they flavor all these anti-biotics for the kids who are practically on these in perpetuity so maybe if it came from a regular pharmacy would be better tasting for him. also, there is some place that flavors all animal meds (some where out west in the lower 48) and I don't remember the name of the company but I'm sure your vet(s) knows of it. I had a cat on long-term pred for a low platelet count and they sent it tuna flavored. they flavor everything.

suzanne

Oh, my poor Zig. Is the med liquid or pills? Peanut butter (also almond butter and apple butter) works with my dogs if it is a pill... squeeze cheese too. Does he like fruit? A pill can go in a slice of a soft-ish fruit. Or use a fruit roll-up and wrap the pill in it like a pill-pocket. Is there a different med that he could take which would have the same (hopefully) good result that doestn't taste so awful that the vet could give him? Copious hugs to him from Auntie Suzanne.