The Cost Of Emergency

A lot has happened in the past few weeks and its like i live in a perpetual emergency , round and round i go.

Buddy my dog was not eating well and after the second vet appointment(Tuesday) we were given grave news. Xrays show a mass on his spleen and on his lung and bad enough to offer no treatment plan. When i left Buddy there i told him to be brave and that i would be back to bring him home and i kept my promise. He is here and my fridge is full of raw this and cooked that , anything to temp him into eating more. And in following days i just couldn't watch him fail , i had to try something. So off to the homeopathic we went and he is still with me today. In fact he is outside getting a little much needed sunshine on that beautiful and rich shiny coat.

During the worry of Buddy a little pig needing a home came up and a few days later three more. We posted on facebook about Daisy and net worked for at least a foster home and the offers came in. In fact three people wrote wanting her but not one of them has replied to our email nor returned the pre-adoption questionnaire form.. i don't understand people. How can we place animals any where without getting to know you first? Well for us , its not going to happen! And our little Daisy has turned out to be handful as she went in to her first heat at our foster home at Maggie's . So will get her spayed as she is only 10 months and make sure she doesn't go threw life 'crazed" every 3 weeks.

Carol my friend and employer at SAINTS stepped up to house the three pigs until i could get things organized for them here. Three pigs , two of which are not neutered were not going to find a home in the time we were given so what can we do. I do apologize to my volunteers because we are already over worked and i just increased everything ..more feed, more hay and more manure.

Back here and still not able to do the work needed done i hired two guys off of Craig List( Wednesday) to move all the feed out of our feed shed, build a small pen back of it and convert it to a two stall quarantine. One for who we suspect to be the Mom pig and the other for her two boars.

Trying to function with the news of my dog hanging over me like a sack of dread but i got it done and the following day( Thursday) was go get the pigs day. Amber , Brady and Theresa met here at 6am and then off to SAINTS we went. We dragged Carol into this as well getting her up early to help crate . Then Theresa and me , the two boys spent the day at the vets for neuter. Josh fought the sedation , thank God this was not attempted as a farm call. By the time we then got back here and loaded the boys in there new nest , then back to get the Mom and return Carol's borrowed van it was 6pm. Long day and 3 more safe.

Saturday work day, Sunday the same and Monday off to the homeopathic for Buddy to see Julie Lee in Vancouver. Tuesday we were whooped and the girls were still helping me feed except on Thursday i agreed to just start doing it again. I'm in my 6th week since surgery i got to get back working here. Friday morning a gift of a chiro appointment for Dior one of the horse's here had me faced with a barn to do. A wheel barrow load started at the feral pigs shed and 6 more from the barn was just plain stupid. I had to get food for Buddy , back here putting groceries away which is nothing on any norm day, then feed the animals after was asking for trouble the next day. I felt sick and could feel the pull on the inside of my incision, it better be okay the next day. So much for starting slow...

Sunday was great as the Burnaby Pathfinders returned with there work party and i was out there all day. I still felt sick and by late morning i was holding my side but the place looks awesome. I teased the girls and told them i needed them every Sunday!!

And as they filtered out arrived Lisa from SARS and Sandy from Coq Animal Shelter with a car load of party food for the pigs. Leaving Theresa to head out with the girls i went to the dump with Ryan. i got back here and we had a really nice visit with the house pigs sampling the treats.

So here we are on Monday and the only area that didn't get cleaned was the feral pigs. These pigs are neither farm pigs or pot bellied pigs. Tall and lean , with big eyes. They are smart and vocalize much like a farm pig but they look like pigs we see in the wilds of the USA. This rowdy bunch will be a handful, there house will be big and the paddock will need reinforcing. But that can wait a few weeks while there hormones stop racing. i cleaned there accommodations this morning and let Poppy out for a run. The boys were let out to the pen but i just wound them up by doing that and they rolled in the dirt and stood challenging each other. Thankfully they are from the same litter or they would be trying to kill each other . Still , i settle them down with Rescue Remedy and enough food for 4 pigs. I took one wheel barrow down to the pile but had to tip at the bottom. And the second one awaits me but i came in here to write after getting them all back in again. Poppy had a good morning.

The girls who brought the three pigs to our attention paid the neuter bill of $1087.00. It cost us $400.00 for the shed conversion and will cost us about $1200.00 for a new house for them. Adding material costs to shore up the existing paddock and then there will be Daisy's spay. Then there was Buddy's vet trips but this is the cost of emergency.

And the sooner i can put mine behind me and start producing the work i need to do around here and get back to my paid job the better. Right now pushing a wheel barrow for 4 hours is no can do.. so i better be up to snuff by the
week-end.

Pictures are of Daisy in her bed at her foster home, the Burnaby Pathfinders, Poppy , the boys and a short clip of Poppy out with me.