The weather we're under

It's been raining here for - oh I dunno - forever now?  And just to make it that much worse, this past week, it's been in the 40s!  40s!  In Texas!  In October!  I feel as though we've skipped fall and jumped right into the dead of winter.  Everyone is tired of being cooped up inside and I'm tired of wiping mud and muck off of everything after we come back inside from traipsing around outside.

To make matters worse, all of the animals in the household have decided (collectively or not, I'm not sure) to get sick or injured. 

Miss Maeby has been lame and limping since the beginning of October.  We've been waffling on whether or not it's real or if she's faking (see this previous occasion).  She is sound on some days for my trainer and she's lame on all her days with me.  She is fine at the walk but there is a noticeable head bob at the canter.  There isn't any swelling or heat in her legs or feet.  My trainer was able to get this video of her playing, in which she seems completely fine and normal.  The farrier pulled her front shoes last week to see if the lameness was caused by her last shoeing.  He tested her hooves for an abscess but it came up negative so the vet is coming out today to see what the issue is.  My trainer still suspects that it's an abscess so we'll see what Dr. Anderson says.  Meanwhile Mae is happy for the time off - a well-deserved break is what she thinks she's getting.  Update: Turns out she has a sore coffin bone from her feet growing, since we're in the process of lifting her OTTB low heels. She'll get her shoe redone and her coffin bone injected next week.

Ready for Halloween

Bowie woke us up at 3:30 am last Monday morning dry heaving for a continuous 10 minutes.  After a moment of panicked googling and reading about symptoms of bloat, we decided that it didn't warrant an emergency vet trip.  He continued to dry heave (no vomit) for the rest of the morning and I stayed home from work to keep an eye on him.  Bowie was completely normal during the day - ate all of his food, regular bowel movements - but I decided to take him into his vet just in case.  Of course when he saw the vet that afternoon, he displayed none of the symptoms that he had before and the vet pronounced him perfectly healthy but to send her a video the next time he started hacking.  He was quiet the rest of the day but when Bryan came home that evening, he got riled up and had a coughing fit, which we were able to capture on video.  Our vet prescribed antibiotics and cough tablets that evening - bordetella aka kennel cough.  Apparently the vaccine isn't 100% effective.  Who knew?  His symptoms have subsided but he is quarantined from other dogs and going completely stir crazy at home.  Bowie also hates taking pills so we have to hide them - so far what's working is a tortilla with peanut butter.  I know, what a spoiled guy right?

Luckily all of the humans have stayed healthy.  We're drinking copious amounts of tea and get out in the sun when we can manage to.  Keep your fingers crossed for Mae's feet and also that we continue to have sunny days to dry up the swamp that is north Texas.