Cytauxzoonosis

Cytauxzoonosis is why I had to put our barn cat, Annie to sleep today. Until today I had never heard of this. It is passed by ticks that have bitten a bobcat then your domestic cat. Seed ticks are the worst culprit, they are too small and fast for most repellents used on our cats. There is no vaccine and it kills painfully, blood in the lungs and they drown. Annie was in the last stages and would have died in 24 hours. So we had her euthanized and she is no longer suffering.

We will keep the rest of our cats tick treated inside until the weather turns cooler and the ticks go away.

Cloud Eagle

After a heavy rain we had a pink sunset in the sky and clouds. I thought it looked like an eagle landing in the trees.

The Peaches are Here

Now is the time for over ripe sweet peaches. Our neighbor, Nancy, is deep in her kitchen canning peaches. Hot water, jars, lids, peaches and sugar. All are chopped and semi skinned to put into quart jars for a hot water bath. A single peach pit is put into each can for flavor and color. In 30 minutes the jars will be sealed and in 24 hours ready for storage. Fresh summer sweet peaches all year long for pies, muffins or desserts. It is a lot of prep work and organization to can; however the results are very rewarding. I start my canning tonight.

Luna Growing

Luna enjoys eating. She gets a flake of hay 3x's a day and a handful of bran. We are trying to keep mom and unborn foal healthy. And every morning she is covered in mud and has to be groomed from head to toe. Luna loves to roll in the cool damp mud in the evenings.

Luna Due Date

Luna is going to give birth in about two weeks according to our vet. She is a maiden mare and this is her first foal. She has been on a dry fescue free paddock for over 2 months now. We are watching to see if she waxes or other signs of getting ready to birth. Right now she is just getting very large as the foal grows. She is on hay and bran with a mineral block and lots of water. She is happy and in good company with other mares.

Dolly's Bad Feet

Founder is a serious problem for horses. We bought Dolly at auction and we knew she had poor front feet. Dolly had been left on fescue her entire pregnancy. This created a high risk delivery for her foal and foundered her feet. The foal, Maple, was born safely under vet care. Now it was Dolly's turn to have her feet worked on after giving birth. Dolly's feet were studied,trimmed, filled in with fiberglass, and shaped to have new corrective shoes put on. She no longer trips when walking and she is enjoying better footing.

Dolly's New Shoes

Our eighteen year old mare has foundered in the past. Her feet were in poor condition from bad farrier work prior to our purchasing her at auction. We hired a highly recommended new farrier to work on her feet. She was trimmed from the heels and frogs then filled in with epoxy and fiberglass. He then shaped both feet and added aluminum shoes and nails. She will need new shoes every 6-7 weeks as the hooves grow in. Our new farrier was so kind and fast with our mare. Our mare no longer trips when she walks and is feeling very good these days.

Finally Some Rain

It has been a very dry June here in the Ozarks. We finally got some heavy rain that our pastures and gardens needed.

Luna Returns

Here is our second fox trotting mare that we bought at auction. She has been on a dry lot for a month. She is now on a dry lot closer to home. She is pregnant and cannot eat any fescue grass. It can cause problems for the foal and halt milk making in the mare. We are waiting for her to give birth, but not sure when she is due. Since she is a large grey mare we decided Luna (like the moon) was a good name.