The Last Years of Sweet Penny

           

                              Penny was a lemon and white, as seen in the far left corner

 

    Almost every year, hunters decollar and dump elderly dogs who can no longer hunt effectively, or sometimes they dump a dog with a medical problem. We do our best to give them whatever food and nutrition they require, and with a vet sympathetic to animal rescuers, we get them whatever immunizations and care is necessary.  For a time, we do look for the prior owner, just in case the dog was lost and the collar broke off. The pound is helpful with this, and then ultimately issues us adoption paperwork if the original owner is never located.

               Four years ago, in the Fall, a female bicolored brown hound was left at our gates. Because she could smell our other dogs and went to check them out, she allowed us to care for her, although she was timid and showed indications of being fearful of human beings.  The vet thought that she was extremely old and that she had given birth to many litters of puppies over the years. She received a rabies shot, routine immunizations and started heartworm preventive, which she tolerated well. She ate well and within a few months had gained the weight the vet thought was optimal. Within about six months she was running with our dogs and acting as if she'd spent a lifetime here.  Because the vet thought she could be as old as sixteen, we chose not to subject her to general anesthesia to be spayed.  Instead, we kept her in our professional kennel with other female dogs and watched her carefully when we took her out on a leash.

             In 2020, the vet believed that she was likely eighteen years of age or perhaps even older and that she could pass at any time. We tried not to think about this much, and it was also hard to believe especially since she was so excited when she was fed, or when we came to play with her.  Because she was so old, we decided to replace her bed with a comfortable and extra padded one in advance of Christmas, when we would normally replace any beds that required it.

              This morning, she was happy to see us, and was up while her water bucket was scrubbed and the water changed. She began to eat as we left the kennel.  This afternoon, when we came to do afternoon, and evening care, and to turn off the radio which runs during the day, she was quiet. She seemed stretched out and comfortable in her new bed. A quick look told us that she hadn't eaten much breakfast this morning. When we took a closer look, the quiet sleeping dog on the new bed wasn't breathing. Some time this afternoon, Penny had passed.  Her eyes are peacefully closed. There is no mess, and she isn't curled up as if she were cold.  As much as this was an extremely elderly dog whose passing was expected, we are sad. She loved her life almost as much as we enjoyed having her here.  Godspeed Penny.  Thank you for staying here and for taking the chance of coming here that September day four years ago.  You could have run away. You could have stayed at the gate waiting for the hunter who left you here, but you were a bright girl. You knew we would care for you. We will bury you and have a farm funeral tomorrow.  Penny, I love you and I am truly going to miss you.

 

                  

Henrietta "Boo-Boo" Hen and the End of an Era

             

                                            Eventually, as Winter came, a fitted tarp was secured to

                               the top of the kennel to prevent their flying out, and being caught by predators.

 

 

 

           Henrietta, "Boo-Boo" was a chick who hatched one summer from an unplanned breeding between one of my particularly speedy and beautiful quick moving Bantam girls, and a much larger Rhode Island Red rooster.  Unplanned, successful hatchings are rare, in part because some of the chickens aren't particularly good mothers and also because the temperature variant even in summer can be broad.  Most fertilized eggs, unless we incubate them do not result in a successful chick here.  Henrietta was one in a million. 

                Because she had been hatched at a time of year that was unusual, and was smaller than the other hens of her type, she tended to be picked on. She frequently received boo-boos, and they seemed to attack her comb, which is quite vascular and can bleed a great deal. Eventually I decided that the older girls were dangerous to her, and I decided to place her in a different hen house with a young rooster who could protect her.  The two happily played house together for years in their own pen, and survived attempts to get them by coyotes, raccoons, young foxes and even a possum. Each day, Henrietta produced a perfect brown egg, which I collected and usually used each day, mostly because she was so proud of the egg.

                After about thirteen years, her mate died, early on a Fall morning.  I wasn't sure what to do for Henrietta.  Eventually, I placed an elderly rooster, a brother of her former spouse, in the pen with her, and although she seemed relieved, I don't think it was quite the same. The following year, her second mate died of old age.

                By then, she was no longer producing eggs and I thought that perhaps she could live with a couple of girls who were also getting on in years. Unlike some farms, I do not cull the chickens when they no longer produce eggs.  It costs me little to allow them to live out their lifespans.  The hens did not welcome Henrietta, again seeming jealous.

                Eventually, I placed her with a Lavender Orpington rooster who, although he was beautiful and a bit vain, didn't seem to want to bother her.  He kept her safe, and she seemed grateful for it.  Recently, at what would normally have been about two years beyond her normal life expectancy, she got wobbly. I looked at her closely and decided that she probably had the end of life pneumonia that takes most of them in the end. I decided to provide one round of antibiotic, one because she had a roommate and I wished to keep him healthy, and two because she would not be eaten and would not be producing eggs and so the antibiotic would not cause food chain issues. She did seem to improve, and was eating and drinking well the following day. Several days after, one morning, I found that she had died while sleeping in what looked like a comfortable position.  Her latest rooster friend was most upset, not understanding how very old she really was, and how she had cheated death so many times in one way or another.

               Thank you God, for the gift of this sweet, gentle, long lived girl. She was the very model of gratitude,  Please keep her for me, until I get home to the farm in the sky, and I can resume my duties.

                 Although this is an ending, it is also a beginning. A couple of weeks after Henrietta's passing, I put the young Lavender Orpington rooster nearby five young Asian black hens I had bought.  In about fifteen weeks, he will begin his task as their protector.

    

In Memory of Sweet Sheila

This is Sheila, during the Spring of her last year.

                       A couple of years after Daniel died, a new family moved in to a tall farmhouse, about four miles from here. They had a number of children and were determined, just as we had been, to provide their children with positive experiences with animals, and skills as to how to care for a variety of them.  The fields adjacent to their home, at that time, were filled with brown sheep.  A few times that week, I drove past the home while on errands.  On one of the times I drove past, I noticed a smaller sheep walking along the road, about a quarter mile from the field of sheep itself. I routinely keep a new leash in my glove compartment, which is usually used to rescue lost dogs I see from time to time, in our rural area. This time I  parked at the side of the country road, approached the sheep, and wrapped the leash around his neck and gently secured it while talking gently to him. He happily followed me back to the house with the sheep, which is where I had imagined he'd come from. The lady who answered the door was watching children as the mother had just come home from the hospital with a new baby. She struggled to find a leash so that I could have mine returned as she relocated the sheep.

                  When I next had occasion to talk to the family and ask them how the mom and new baby were doing, I learned that it was the mother-in-law who had collected the sheep that day. The man thanked me for returning the sheep and asked me if I would like to take home a couple of the sheep.  I wouldn't normally have wished to take on two sheep, but with several of our kids in college, we had recently decided not to breed alpacas any longer, and we thought Cammie, our youngest alpaca, might enjoy a young sheep as a surrogate baby. We were happy to take on a second sheep because ideally, animals should always be housed with at least one other of their own species.

                  The man charged us a nominal fee for the young male sheep, and the same for his mother.   He told us that they were Cotswold sheep, in fact, they were even rarer than that. They were Black Cotswold sheep.  He was parting with them because both of them tended to be escapists, and because he had more than enough animals suitable for breeding.   We brought them home, in a regular car with tarpaulins put down,  to pastures set up for our alpacas, and to our family of about five alpacas from our original herd, and never had any challenges with their attempting to escape. I later decided that both Sheila, and her son, were brighter than normal sheep and that this is why they had tended to challenge restrictions in their original home.  At first, they were kept separately from the alpacas, and then after a suitable introduction and time spent to make sure everyone was well,  Sheila, the female sheep was housed with some alpacas. The younger male sheep, which we named Tesla for his superior intellect, was housed with Cammie, our prize alpaca.  Everyone got along well.

                 Almost ten years have passed since Sheila and her son came to live with us. They have been trouble free and gentle creatures, and great companions to our alpacas. As time went on, and our alpacas reached twenty to twenty-four years, one by one, most of the alpacas died.  This left more and more pasture and more solitude to Sheila.  Earlier this year when I was considering the routine worming that all animals on a farm should have considered, I realized that Sheila was already beyond normal life expectancy.  I realized how lucky we have been to have this lovely sweet sheep with us each day. She was able to see her son Tesla daily, as part of his pasture was adjacent to hers.

                Sheila continued a calm and peaceful life until a day last week, when she seemed a little slower than usual to rise as I approached.  We made sure we spent plenty of time with her that day. The following day, she had Cheyne-Stokes respirations, and she died peacefully later that morning, while we were present.

               Sheila was the recipient of a typical farm funeral just outside the paddock with all of the animals, including her son Tesla present.   We were so lucky to have this dear creature as a companion to us and to our other animals.

Your Pets Cannot Give You Coronavirus

               

                This is Ranger, who was sheltered for a time at the shelter mentioned.


  It has come to my attention that in the midst of coronavirus that in some places, particularly Southern California, that people are abandoning their pets in droves.  Although some early coverage stated incorrectly,

 Your dog, cat, rabbit or other house pet cannot give the COVID-19 coronavirus to you.


All that relinquishing him with do, in these times, is to ensure his euthanization.  Many, many pets have been euthanized during this time because of the disparity between the number of animals being relinquished and the number being adopted.

                 Please keep your animals. 

   If you wish to adopt an animal then contact your local pound or find our when East Valley Animal Services is open again. They always have lots of beautiful dogs and animals waiting for homes, and they euthanize many. 

  http://www.laanimalservices.com/shelter-search/east-valley/

In Gratitude for Sable

       

                                                                   Sable


 


          In 2009, we were called to adopt a beautiful adult dog from a shelter who had a persistent and ongoing case of dermodectic mange.  This is a type of mange that is not communicable, per se, but is caused by an exaggerated reaction to the mites that all dogs naturally have occupying their skin. Often dogs with ongoing dermodectic mange, have other autoimmune issues, which occasionally include lupus.

             Sable was a beautiful dog who still had missing fur around her eyes and muzzle. We were told that now that her dermodectic mange had been treated that it should resolve and she should live normally.  We knew at the time that the possibility of recurrence existed.  In not too many years prior to this, dogs with ongoing cases had to be euthanized.

              About a month later, Sable once again had a severe case of dermodectic mange. She was itching, losing hair, had infected eyes, and had areas of skin that were also infected.  Our vet treated the infections, but needed to do some research as to how to suppress as severe and as continuing a case as she had.   Once again, she recovered, only to backslide again, every time the daily drug which helped to prevent her reaction was withdrawn or the dosing schedule amended.  In addition, Sable had a touchy stomach and couldn't receive the oral version of the drug as often as she needed it to inhibit the reaction.   Eventually, the vet had me administer Dectomax, which we had on the farm for other animals anyway.  Sable received about a half ml. subcutaneously every third day, and this permitted her to recover, and live a normal life.  Of course, medicating any dog as frequently, with any drug, is not well charted territory.  As much as she needed the drug, receiving it could ultimately cause liver and other problems. Each year, the vet explored cutting back, and each year, Sable would have a flare, and we would have to return to the prior dose. At some intervals, she received Dectomax every other day via subcutaneous injection.   We realized that the continuous use of the drug might decrease her expected lifespan. We also were grateful to have her live a wonderful life here on the farm, and not require euthanization.

             Eleven years have passed since beautiful Sable came to us, and she has enjoyed a wonderful life and has been an important part of the farm. She has played with horses, alpacas, cats, chickens, guineas, ducks, sheep, and other dogs, and now she plays with our grandchildren. Her jet black hair is now gray in places, and her eyes have aged. Despite the thickening of parts of her skin as a result of her ongoing skin process, she still has thick hair, so much so that she frequently resists our putting a turn out style dog coat on her in Winter.

             A couple of days ago, Sable went out, and didn't come back in. When we found her, she seemed unable to walk and more concerning, unable to eat. We have had dogs recover from strokes before and so we were initially very positive. She received an antibiotic in prevention because her lungs seems congested following her neurological event. For the two days that followed, she peacefully lay on her side. We offered food and fluids at intervals, and were prepared to have her euthanized, had she experienced pain or tooth grinding.  Sable passed peacefully in the early afternoon today, probably the result of a stroke.

             When we take on an animal with a chronic illness then we must anticipate some added effort and some expense, but we also should expect a loyal and kind friend. Sometimes a dog who has required specialized medication all of their lives will die early, but sometimes they won't.  My family and I don't regret even one moment of the time we had with Sable.   Sable sweetheart, rest in peace, and thank you for being a part of the farm. It was our honor and privilege to have you here.