Only the beginning.....

After everyone left that night, Mandy said to me, "Mom, I'm so glad it's over."  I said, "Honey, this is only the beginning."  I knew that we were at the beginning of a long, demanding, expensive, boring, gross, agonizing but hopefully rewarding road.  

I am so thankful for the people who came and helped me rebandage Lady that first week or two.  I would almost feel sick at just the thought of having to rebandage her again.  There were times I didn't think I could do it one more time, and now 36 days later, I can't even remember how many times I have done it. 

I will try to give as many helpful details as I can.

We had a hard time getting Lady to eat her grain with the antibiotic & pain powder, so we mixed 2 Tablespoons of corn oil and 1 Tablespoon of molasses together and poured that over her grain & stirred until all the powder was mixed in.   She liked it and we didn't have anymore trouble getting her to eat.

We just had a utility sink with a threaded faucet installed in our basement so we were able to have warm water to hose out her cut.

I have been able to get hay from a co-worker so we have had a reliable source of really nice grass/alfalfa hay.  I don't know what I would have done without that.  What a wonderful blessing!  We put the hay in nets to try to keep as much off the ground as possible, otherwise it makes a tangle around Lady's foot.

We have her under a 10 x 20 tarp canopy.  I tied 10 ft. rain gutter sections along the long sides of the canopy.  It has worked well to help the rain drain away from her shelter.  We have a 20 ft. side and 10 ft. end (with a door that you can unzip and roll up).  There are two box fans in the corners and one hanging from the top to help circulate the air.  We plug in the fans in the morning and unplug them in the evening, unless it is raining.

A second canopy just like the first is set up just outside the fence with a platform built out of scrap lumber and plywood.  We have a picnic table there and have been "camping out" with Lady.

The flys, gnats and bugs have not been too bad.  It probably helps that we have had a relatively cool summer so far.  I have used a insect repellent lotion for what is exposed of Lady's leg.  Otherwise regular flyspray has worked ok.  I did hang up some of those sticky ribbon fly traps which caught lots of gnats and some horse & biting flies.  I also hung up a fly trap that you fill with liquid.  That seems to get the bigger flies better.

Sweet barn lime has helped to keep the bugs away and also helps dry the ground up.

Shavings have been the best bedding.  Straw would have been too messy to haul in the car and is hard to find this time of year.  I have been using 1/2 to 1 bale of shavings per day depending on how often the bandage gets changed.

I got some leftover CAT 5 cable and borrowed a crimper so we could run a phone & computer line from the house to the shed.  It has been really nice to be able to watch the weather online.