Laying on boards

Late this afternoon when I went to feed the cattle hay I saw Daisy was laying in the sun on this stack of my boards.

I know this stack of boards looks odd.  I had planned on building a storage building for my baler and swather.  I moved some of the boards away from where I planned on building the building.  But after I moved half the boards away I changed my mind on putting the building there.  For now, instead of moving this stack of boards back, I left them here and placed a few boards to keep the stack upright and not have the cattle accidently push the stack of boards over.  Once I get the building built I will move this stack back to where the rest of the boards are located.

Sitting in a junk pile

This afternoon Daisy decided she wanted to check out the pile of "crap" I have in part of the toolshed building.  I had been working on a pile of short barb wire pieces and Daisy was happy I was outside so that she could do stuff with me.  Since I was here she wanted to check out part of the stuff.  She was standing and trying to see on top of some of the plastic garbage bags that held clothing or other plastic garbage bags.  She couldn't quite see on top so she didn't want to jump up there. So I lifted her up and placed on top on the bags.  A little checking around here and there and then she laid down as I worked on the barb wire pieces.  It wasn't long and then I went on to do other stuff.  Daisy decided to keep laying here and spent most of the afternoon laying and sleeping here.

Sunshine

Daisy inside the house on a sunny morning a couple days ago.  He had already been outside on a sunny, but cool to cold morning.

We are now back to cloudy and snowy weather. This morning I found a dead mouse outside my door that Daisy had caught mid-morning when he was outside.  So he can still catch mice with his poor eye vision in one eye.

Outside

Today I let Daisy go outside by herself twice.  First when I went out to feed the cows.  A few hours later Daisy wanted back in the house and to spend time with me as he pestered me until I sat down and got a blanket out where Daisy could then sit on my lap and groom and then sleep for a while.

Later in the afternoon Daisy went out for a number of hours.  He sat for a while and watched the neighbors in the blue house as they were loading pickup trucks.  They sold their house and are planning to move next week.

Checking for mice once again.

Daisy came back to me when I was loading hay for the cattle the end of the afternoon.  He is staying in the house all night as I don't plan to let him outside after dark for a while.

Cone off

Donna helped me take the cone off Daisy's head this afternoon.  The cone had been on tight as Daisy wasn't able to remove it, but the removal was easier that I thought it would be.  Daisy cooperated.

Before the removal:

After the removal:

This evening Daisy spent some time grooming now that she could lick more than just the end of her legs and tail without the cone around her head.  And she can lay curled up again without the cone.

Daisy's vet visit for checkup

I took Daisy in to the vet this morning.  He was pleased with Daisy's eye recovery and progress.  The eye is cloudy but blood vessels are forming.  The pupil is dilating much more than last time.  I'm trying to remember exactly what he said; I believe it was that her pupil tends to go up and not straight out due to the injury and recovery.  The vet put some green liquid in her eye so he could check if her eye developed an ulcer, and it did not.

No more follow-ups unless her eye takes a turn for the worse.  I am leaving the cone on her head for another 5 to 7 days to be on the safe side in case she tries to scratch around the eye because it is itching due to the continued healing.  Daisy does a bit of scratching against the cone but I think it is because of her neck and chin are itching due to the cone.  Daisy's outside activity is only during the day and when I can be with her.  It is not as long as she would like as I hear lots of grumbling when I pick her up and take her back in the house.

On the roof, and Daisy's eye

Daisy is feeling better.  So much that most evenings after dark she wants to go outside.  I don't let her as she is still recovering.  So for an hour or two she complains to me and asks me to let her outside.  However during the day I am letting her outside when I can accompany her.  In the beginning we sat somewhere for twenty minutes or so as Daisy sniffed, listened and tried to look around, then went back into the house.  The past few days she is walking around the house a little. Today we went outside in the morning and again just before sundown.  Before sundown she then wanted to explore the yard and a few times I had to pick her up to stop her from going into the stack of boards or when she tried to leave the yard to go into the NE pasture.  She is now grumbling to complain when I pick her up when she wants to go somewhere.

This morning Daisy decided she wanted to climb the shrub /tree by the house.  In the past she figured out how to climb this shrub/tree to get up on the house roof.  Today with her cone on her head I didn't think she would get far.  She still figured out how to get around some branches with her cone and get up on the house roof, which still has lots of snow on it.

Daisy on the top of the house roof

She spent a little time looking out at the world.  After it began to rain lightly she wanted down.  Getting down is now harder than climbing up.  Before she had no problem in getting down off the house roof.  With the cone it might have been too hard.  After getting into the shrub/tree as seen below, she couldn't turn and get further down. She went back on the house roof.  I got a ladder and carried her down even though she doesn't like to be carried.

After we came back into the house I took photos of how her eye looks currently.

Cut eye

Last night Daisy got into a fight with the neighbor's cat.  Most likely over who gets to be in Daisy shed of hay bales.  He came back in the house after dark so I didn't notice his injury.  This morning he didn't want to go outside at his usual time between 4 am to 7 am.  I checked on him after I got up and saw his eye was swollen shut and liquid was running down his face. I made an appointment at my vet clinic and after feeding the cows hay I took Daisy to the vet clinic mid morning.   They learned Daisy's eye cornea was cut.  After the first look at the open injured eye I couldn't look anymore as Daisy's eye condition horrified me.

The vet doctor said he could perform eye surgery and stitch the cornea back together.  A 50/50 chance of saving Daisy's eye. A $425 vet bill but Daisy is worth it.  I wasn't able to speak to the doctor after the surgery when I came to pick up Daisy in the afternoon as the clinic overrun with people and their pets.  A nurse said the doctor said the eye surgery came out better than he was initially concerned with.  Daisy's eye hadn't collapsed so the surgery went better.  So we'll now wait to see if this saves his eye.

I have a follow-up appointment in ten days to remove the eye stitch.  Daisy also has to wear a "buster" collar until then to protect the eye from itch scratching.  Daisy is not happy about the collar.  Earlier I could hear Daisy walk around the house as the collar would scratch against the wall as he walked.  He also had trouble going around corners as the collar would catch on the wall.  And sleeping is different as he can't lay the way he normally does.  Eventually he came and laid next to me for a little while like normal when I started the fire in the wood stove and laid on the floor in front of it.

Daisy's injury is heartbreaking.

Hanging out in the hayshed

Picture was taken back in October.   Daisy likes to hang out in the hayshed.  Sometimes she has to contend with the neighbor's male cat who also wants to hang out here.

Daisy very happy to see me again

September 24 I had a severe accident.  The next afternoon I was finally awake long enough, and barely functional enough, to call a friend and ask her to take me to the hospital.  I was in the hospital for 11 days.  So I hadn't seen Daisy in twelve days.  While I was in the hospital I had several friends who let Daisy in my house in the evening to eat, then let Daisy outside the next morning.

When I came home in October Daisy immediately came and ran towards me. She (he) did not want to let me go.   I had to stay at Donna's house for a couple more days as I wasn't ready to stay home alone.  Alone meaning people wise as of course Daisy would stay with me.  Once I got home Daisy spent a lot of time with me as she (he) was afraid I was going to leave again.  I stayed home and mostly recovered.  So Daisy is getting back to her patrolling the ranch.  In the evening when I start a fire in my wood stove initially I'll lay on the floor in front of the stove for a little bit.  Daisy makes sure she is in the house at this time and insists on laying next to me and against me.  Tonight I laid on my side and Daisy put her paws and head on my elbow and checked out my face before she settled down to rest, still with her head and paws on my elbow.

Donna took a couple pictures of Daisy and I when we first met after twelve days of being apart.  As you can see in the second photo Daisy has her claws in my pants leg so I don't go and leave her again.

In the alfalfa field

Sometimes Daisy accompanies me when I work in the pastures; sometimes she sits in the alfalfa field and looks and listens for mice.  Tonight that is what she did.  I am still working on getting my irrigation up and running this year and have walked back to the house numerous times to get different tools or parts. All these trips back and forth is creating a path in the alfalfa field.  Daisy sits at various part of the path and looks and listens.  Here she is sitting as I came back after sundown.

Up in the sky

Early this evening Daisy was looking way up in the sky.

At first I thought she was looking at a bird in the tall box elder trees.  Then I saw the hot air balloon way up in the sky.

The previous two evenings Daisy trekked with me all the way to the river and "supervised" as I worked on the irrigation pipes and system.

Doctor visit

Apparently Daisy was in another cat fight.   The past week she had a slight limp.   I watched and waited.  A few days ago she appeared to have stopped limping.  But yesterday her limp came back and was worse.   She slept in late - longer than me! - so it was that late this morning.  

She would hold her left paw up when she sat.  So I made a vet appointment.  I got in a 3:15 pm.  They were having a busy day.  Apparently the day's theme was animals with limps.  Also a small dog who ate rat poison was rushed in while I was waiting my turn.

Daisy had a wound mid leg.  Her leg was swollen and had lots of pus.   The vet had to put her out with anesthesia to cut and remove the pus.  She had an anti-biotic shot.  I also updated her rabies shot as it was time for another.

Daisy didn't know what to do when she got home.  I put her back on the couch but she limped off to various places different than where she usually lays.  I think once she decided I wasn't going to 'bother' her she went and laid on my computer chair, one of her favorite places.  She has laid there ever since as she is recovering.

I don't know if the bite is from Calvin's male cat, or the female cat that moved in.  Apparently the female cat was dropped off this Spring as none of the neighbors know whose cat that is.  One neighbor at least leaves a little food out for the cat.  The female cat seems to live in the hayshed, which of course is a place where Daisy likes to hunt mice and lay on hay bales.  This evening I found the female cat laying on top of Daisy's favorite hay bale.  It went and hid under and behind a bale as I entered the hay shed.

The vet bill was $217.  Daisy is worth it.

Fathers Day

Today Daisy decided to spend Fathers Day with me.  He came in early this morning for breakfast.  Instead of going back outside he then decided to sleep with me since I slept late in bed to recover from two days of cutting hay.  When I went outside to check on the cattle and do a few small projects, Daisy kept me company.  When I came back inside to have a late breakfast Daisy came in to eat also.  After breakfast he wanted to lay on my lap as we waited out the rain.  We both took a nap in the afternoon.

I think his limping is a little less.  I looked at his paw but didn't notice anything.

Helpling with a gate - take 2

Let's try this again.   Once again.... it seems that Blogger's "email send to:" function is not working.



I'm installing a gate in the SW corner of the hayfield.  The past few evenings Daisy made the long walk with me to the gate's location.

In the above photo, the fence going to the left is the neighbor's fence.  None of my fences are nowhere near that bad.

One evening I put Daisy up on top of a railroad tie so he could see further over the tall grass.  Tonight he climbed up on boards to see over the grass.

Helping with a gate

I'm installing a gate in the SW corner of the hayfield.  The past few evenings Daisy made the long walk with me to the gate's location.

In the above photo, the fence going to the left is the neighbor's fence.  None of my fences are nowhere near that bad.

One evening I put Daisy up on top of a railroad tie so he could see further over the tall grass.  Tonight he climbed up on boards to see over the grass.

Helping untangle a rope

Yesterday I trimmed another branch from my tall box elder trees.  (https://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2019/05/more-tall-tree-trimming.html)

When I had to use a rope to pull to cut branches down, Daisy helped (?) me untangle the rope.

Many barn mice

Friday I did a little work in the barn.  I still had some grain left over from when I used it to entice Red to bond with the Holstein calf.  I stored the bags of grain in a large plastic garbage container.  I thought it was mouse proof.  I was wrong.  When I opened the lid I found the plastic bags were quite shredded.  Inside the container were lots of mice, including baby mice.

I went and got Daisy from the house.  He wasn't too thrilled at being put in the garbage container.  Eventually he settled down and stopped trying to get out.  I thought he would go crazy on the mice but it was like shooting fish in a barrel - too easy and not interesting.  I rattled things around to get the mice moving and Daisy half heartedly chased a few mice.  He killed one and I had to kill the remaining six or seven mice.

One mouse got out of the container and then I discovered how they got in and out.  There are two small holes halfway up the container.  Why?  I don't know.   I plugged the holes with rags.

Later when I was moving some hay bales to get the barn ready in case I had to put a cow and calf in there (which I did have to that night), a mouse ran out and Daisy got all excited to chase it across the barn floor.  Daisy more wanted to play with the mouse than kill it, and after a bit the mouse got away having got among a stack of hay bales.

Why did you put me in here?

New Years Day

Happy New Year everyone!

Daisy and I chilled this afternoon.  She slept on the couch much of the afternoon or else laid partially on my lap as I watched a documentary movie.  Now that she had her supper of 'special treat' (wet) cat food she is outside on patrol; checking on the cattle, the neighbors, looking for mice to play with, and chasing away the neighbor's cat.

If we had sound you could hear Daisy grumble about me taking photos of her (him).