Sue Ann
Help us Help
Sue Ann
3/14/05
- Because of the financial struggle to feed & care for the
TIER residents, we have been saying NO to bringing horses in for
some time. I'm just too soft. I couldn't say no to Sue Ann. I’m
sure she never said no to anyone.
Sue Ann is
an 18 yr. old Standard spotted donkey. For the last few years
she has been a babysitter for orphaned foals. She taught the foals
'horse' sense so that they would not become overly attached to
humans and therefore be problematic as they grew. She may have
been shown at one time. That’s all we know of her past.
We hope to be able to part of her future!
This really
is a case of pure neglect! Flies seem to be very attracted to
the legs of Donkeys. More so than to horses. This can be combated
with fly leggings, topical treatments of fly spray, SWAT or spot
on fly repellents with good success if you are diligent. Sue Ann
did not have someone looking out for HER best interest and the
subsequent sores/habronema were not treated properly. Had this
been addressed early on..........., well, it wasn't. This has
been allowed to go on for some time. Her whole leg is now swollen.
She has sores on her left stifle and also her left front leg from
lying down.
She arrived
on 3/11/05. The vet was out on 3/12/05 to evaluate the habronema
granuloma on her leg. Our vet indicated that surgery would cost
about $700 with a year of aftercare. Aftercare costs would involve
medication, tons of vet wrap & cotton sheeting. Pricey stuff!
IF surgery/healing is successful, it is doubtful that hair will
grow back. This means that we will have to watch her closely for
areas of irritation from lying down and provide her with soft
bedding.
The habronema
is the most obvious concern right now, but the neglect also includes
farrier care. They didn't care for her feet either! The worst
is her right rear hoof, which has been neglected to the point
that she is now walking on the side of her foot. This will take
a long time to correct. Due to the fact that she is walking on
the side of her foot, carrying a huge weight on her right front
leg, she gets tired of walking around and lies down often. The
guy who transported her told us that she is really good with her
feet (GRRRRRR!). He said when he was using the Saws-All on her
right rear hoof, it got hung up and she just stood quietly!!!
They had to use a saw to trim her feet before she came!! As soon
as reasonably possible, we will have our barefoot trimmer work
on her feet.
I step out
to the horse area to feed and there is the sweet faced Sue Ann
looking at me with interest. I greet her with a ‘Good Morning
Sweetie’, check her leg while she snuffles me, and head
off to the feed area to get breakfast for the residents. Sue Ann
calmly follows me. She waits patiently as I fill buckets and carry
hers back to her pen. She eats a bit and then comes back to supervise
the breakfast serving. Once breakfast is served and everyone is
contentedly munching we do wound care. Sue Ann stands quietly
while we go about our ministrations.
I then leave
her to enjoy her breakfast of pellets, orchard/timothy hay and
go about my daily chores. Sue Ann comes out to check on me regularly.
She walks about munching on grass for a bit, and then steps out
to make sure I am performing my duties properly. After awhile
she heads to the sand pile to roll and lie down for a bit as supervisory
duties make you tired!
This wonderful
Jenny is pure SUGAR! We just couldn’t say no to her coming
to TIER. Someone special has walked in among us. There is a certain
something about Sue Ann that we can’t put our finger on.
It has wrapped itself warmly around our hearts from the moment
she arrived.
Welcome Sue
Ann! We will do our best for you as you have done your best for
others. It’s our turn to give to you as you have given.
Thank you for the opportunity.
Update
3/22/05 - Thanks to the generosity of you very special
folks, we are able to make a deposit on the surgery the surgery
that is so desperately needed for Sue Ann.
Harry will
be picking her up this morning to take her to the vet and she
should have her surgery tomorrow. We are hopeful that we will
have the necessary funds to pay the balance of her surgery, stall
& post op care soon.
Update
4/8/05 - Sue Ann had the surgery to remove the huge habronema
yesterday. We are pleased to say that she is doing well!
Our vet has been busy with quite a few emergencies/emergency colic
surgeries lately. He wanted to wait until things calmed down a
bit to perform Sue Ann’s surgery, as he was concerned about
the length of time it would take and bleeding.
Our vet had
been optimistic about the amount of skin he would be able to leave
after the growth was removed which would aid in healing the surgical
site. Unfortunately, the surrounding tissue was thickened scar
tissue and too damaged to salvage. Our little girl may have to
undergo yet another surgery to perform skin grafts.
Our vet &
his assistant used a whole roll of cotton to wrap her leg right
after the surgery. Although she did bleed a lot, the next morning
when the wrap was changed showed that the wound was clotting well!!
Yeah!! She is on antibiotics along with medication for pain/swelling.
When I approached
her stall and called her name, she immediately turned to look
at me. I went in the stall, hugged her and rubbed her beautiful
face. I should have brought some grooming tools as she is shedding
quite a bit! She is such a loving & patient girl! I talked
to her, rubbed her ears, neck, back and legs while she followed
my every move. I didn’t want to overdo it and retreated
to the side to just be with her for a bit. Sue Ann immediately
started walking over to me. She seemed to like the attention and
was glad to see me. I hand fed her some pellets for a while, but
I don’t really think she was hungry. She was just trying
to please me! HA! She is such a lovely girl.
Sue Ann’s
aftercare will most likely be a long one. It depends on how well
the wound heals as to when she will need the skin graft. In the
meantime we will be stocking up on vet wrap, cotton, etc. Thank
you to those who have sent these supplies, as they are really
needed and very, very much appreciated!
Your contributions
are helping Sue Ann to live a more comfortable life. Because of
your generosity, we are close to having the full amount of funds
needed to pay for her surgery/care. She will need to have antibiotics
and pain medication for awhile, but we are quite hopeful that
she will heal well and quickly. Prayers and good thoughts are
needed please!
Thank you
so very, very much for helping us to help Sue Ann. This should
have never happened to her or any animal. It was left untreated
for way too long. Her feet are another issue and we will have
her trimmed by Michael LeGrone when she is able. The vet did trim
the hoof that is turned under and he has also placed a supportive
wrap on the ankle area.
More updates
to come as Sue Ann travels this road to what we hope is quick
recovery.
Update
4/16/05
- Sue Ann is home! She is doing well and wants to be able to cruise
the property as she did before her surgery. Her wanderings are
mostly confined to her stall w/shavings or the backyard where
she can mow the grass. The more she moves, the more the bandage
will move, rub on the wound and have to be changed more often.
Since her return home I have changed the bandage once. The wound
is large of course and it does weep alot. The vet has said he
wants to encourage proud flesh growth to a small degree so that
when Sue Ann goes back for her skin grafts the skin grafts will
have something to adhere to.
I figure that
by the time the wound is ready for the skin grafts I MIGHT have
bandage changing down pat. My bandage looks nothing like the vet's,
but it does the job.....so far. Sue Ann's Neon Rainbow of vet
wrap was donated by her friend Stephani! BIG THANKS to Stephani
for her thoughtfulness and caring. These rolls of vet wrap will
help us get through the first month of Sue Ann's bandage changing.
Hopefully I will get much better at wrapping and we won't have
to change it as often! Thank goodness for Elastikon wrap! This
is placed at the top and bottom of the wrap. The top piece of
Elastikon is put halfway on the bandage and halway on her leg
to keep the wrap from slipping down. Holy Guacamole that Elastikon
is expensive!!!
Update
4/18/05 - As you can see from the pictures, the wound is filling
in well. SueAnn will be returning to the vet's on Tuesday, 4/26/05
so that he can trim off some of the proud flesh that has formed
and do a skin graft.
WARNING:
Graphic Photos
These
pictures are from the second time I change the bandage and the
wound really is coming along nicely. I really expected more
drainage and problems than have actually occurred. The bandages
are changed every 2-3 days, depending on how well it is holding
up. Sue Ann has been dutifully mowing the backyard as I let
her roam there so that she can graze, not be confined and make
the mowing job easier! She is doing so well!
Please
keep the healing thoughts coming for this precious girl!!
May
2005 - SueAnn is home from her stay with the vet! She
underwent surgery again, this time for skin grafting and hair
transplant. We are not sure whether the hair transplant will
take, but her leg is almost normal size and the wound is healing
wonderfully!
The
vet came out on 5/27/05 to change the bandage and to evaluate
the healing progress of the wound. As you can see from the pictures,
the surgical site is healing very well. Our vet is pleased with
how well she is doing and is hopeful that the hair transplants
will take.
Hair
& skin was removed from Sue Ann’s side to graft to
her leg. In the pictures, you can see the vet removing the staples
that had been put in to close the areas where skin/hair had
been harvested.
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The
Vet unwraps the bandage |
and
more bandage... |
|
|
Unwrapped |
Cleaning
the wound |
|
|
Cleaned
up |
Beginning
re-wrap with Biozide |
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|
Elastikon
sheeting & Vetwrap |
Finished! |
|
|
|
Staple
removal |
We
are so thankful to all who have written to us asking about Sue
Ann! Your caring, prayers & healing thoughts have helped
her tremendously! Please continue to send those healing messages
to her as she still has a long road of recovery ahead of her.
A
very BIG thank you to those of you who sent us supplies to treat
Sue Ann’s wound. The supplies are extremely helpful in
dressing her wound, making her comfortable and keeping the cost
of purchasing these items way down!! Thank you so much.
Of
course, we don’t want to forget to thank the wonderful
donors who have sent funds to assist with costs of Sue Ann’s
surgeries! Without your monetary donations, it is doubtful we
would have been able to help Sue Ann properly. Although we still
have a HUGE vet bill for this last surgery/skin grafting, we
are quite hopeful that the upcoming TIER Used Tack Sale/Fundriaser
will bring in funds to pay the vet and to also help us with
the feed/farrier bill for the TIER residents. If you have tack
that you would like to donate for this fundraiser we would be
most grateful. If you are looking for some tack, blankets, saddles,
bits, gift baskets, etc. please come join us at Laramor Park
in Mira Loma, CA on June 4, 2005!
Thank
you all for being there for Sue Ann and the other TIER residents!
Update
Aug 2005
- This Donkey gal is amazing! The surgical site has healed very
well and there is hair growing!!!!! We still must wrap her leg
to protect it from flies and from being irritated when she lies
down, but it is healed!
The
flies have shown no mercy when it comes to SueAnn. Thanks to
the Horse Clothesline of Norco who worked with us on modifying
a fly sheet to fit her properly. Donkeys just don’t have
prominent shoulders & chests so a regular horse fly sheet
doesn’t fit right. The Horse Clothesline also donated
fly leggings to help keep the pesky varmints off her legs. Poor
SueAnne looks like Darth Vader in her leggings, fly sheet and
fly mask with the nose covering. The outfit does help her tremendously.
Thanks
to all who sent Vet Wrap, gauze pads, Elastikon, etc. Your generosity
has allowed us to be able to care for her wounds and also brighten
up the place with all the vibrant colors of vet wrap! SueAnne
does have a spot above the surgical site that gets irritated
from lying down and we bandage that area to provide some padding.
Elastikon has helped us to keep the bandage up that high on
her leg, and the brightly colored vet wrap keeps things interesting
but our supply is dwindling.
10/31/06
- SueAnn has crossed the Rainbow Bridge. More info coming
soon.
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