Monday 10 June 2013

On the up?

I thought I'd better do a blog because I'm now getting grief on Twitter as well as Paul for not blogging!!  I had intended to blog over the weekend but just ran out of hours and dropping to sleep whilst trying to type isn't much fun.

So the story continues:-

Friday Morning having found Cara laid down legs out and not at all happy Sam the vet came out.  Having struggled to get Cara to walk more than three steps without sitting before he arrived you can imagine my embarrassment and slight pleasure when she stood up and walked about 10 yards before sitting back down, clearly still in some discomfort.

Cara had one day last week when she spent a lot of time sat down so a second bout of sitting and the fact that she'd also had a premature cria makes you think something is definitely not right.  Despite it being very warm her temperature was a little low and Sam could hear a slight crackle on her left lung which wasn't really in keeping with her other symptoms, which were more indicative of abdominal or uterine discomfort.

She had some antibiotics and anti-inflammatories and by tea time was much more like herself, her little girl Janjan actually lost a little weight which was probably down to the fact than mum had spent so much time sitting that she'd not been able to feed. 

Thankfully both mum and cria seem to be doing just fine now so fingers crossed whatever was causing the discomfort is now sorted.

Now onto Cassiopeia, she is our old superfine grey girl (20 microns at 18yrs old) and mum to Lily our young grey showgirl.  About two weeks ago now she was in the field acting a little out of character and didn't come for her breakfast.  Then on the Sunday she seemed away with the fairies and had a couple of stumbles, none of this stopped her from running all the way back down the hill to her bed in the overhang of the shed.

To cut a very long story short I think she then suffered a stroke which has affected her eyesight and caused a weakness on her left side, so after a few conversations with Sam out he came.  He confirmed that it was some sort of brain irritation causing her the problem, be it a stroke, infection or cysts without a CT scan we couldn't be sure.

Not wanting to put poor Cassiopeia through any suffering I wanted the vets conformation that me treating her was in her best interests.  She has some sight and responds well to my voice and is happily eating drinking and going to the toilet.

I've got to be honest I was worried about what he was going to say when he saw her but he agreed a course of antibiotics amongst other things was worth a try and we would reassess her later this week.  Thankfully the drug regime seems to be helping, she hasn't had any major wobbles or seizures for a couple of days and is calm so I'm feeling much happier about her future, as long as she has a quality of life I will do all I can for her.

And whilst on the subject of quality of life, Oonagh is finding all this heat exhausting carrying round her big baby bulge so is spending most of her time relaxing.

 
As is April who thinks that sneaking back into the back garden and sitting in the perfectly kid sized birdbath is a good idea!



5 comments:

Unknown said...

Poor Cara she isn't making your life easy but she is worth, beautiful female. Loving April!

Zanzibah Alpacas said...

Its really hard when they get old, hoping she is far happier now ....what a lovely picture of April in the bird bath ...enjoying the sunshine .... Jayne

Bev said...

What a week, congrats on the lovely babies, and April to bring a smile, great photos. Best wishes to Cara..

Rosemary said...

April is just gorgeous!

Hope Cassiopeia continues to do well - she is in the best of hands.

Shirley said...

Poor Cass, hope she is OK. Bet the birdies got a shock when they went for a bath! Shirley & Robbie