Success .... Sleeping like a Baby !!!!

 

 

Yipeeeeeeee .... we have accomplished our task today !

 

Today was 'D' Day .... it was time to try once again to get Dougal's feet trimmed.  The task all started yesterday afternoon, I had to prepare the barn ready for the two Highland Cows to come in for the night.  Some readers will remember that our first attempt failed.... over a year ago.

 

This is Haggis at the front and Dougal at the rear, it was Dougal who needed his feet trimmed.  After preparing the barn with lots of straw, putting bales along the divide between the area where the alpacas come in.  It was a case of waiting for the right time to go and try and get the boys to come in.  We had a lovely day yesterday and the cows were lying down most of the day.  I had to wait until 4pm until Dougal eventually got up.  I was hoping to walk them down the field and onto the track, then lead then in through the wooden barn, where we have exteneded the barn, into the big barn.  The cows moved great better than we had all expected.  The key is to 'ask' then to move enough, without pushing then and stressing them.  Causing them to panic and get stressed.

 

This is the boys waiting for the vet to come this afternoon.  The Medi-Dart worked a treat.  It was my job to go in and dart Dougal, to sedate him enough so that we could get his feet trimmed.  Dougal is a kind cow, however he is flighty and very suspicious of people.  Its hard to believe that when he was a baby, he was halter trained.  The key task was to keep calm and quiet.  We loaded the medicine and this was the moment of truth !

 

I cannot thank Deveron Vets enough.  This is a quick photo opportunity with Douglas & Dougal.  Douglas did a fantastic job and we have successfully managed to get the job done.  We were all worried and pre-occupied last night, knowing what was in store for today. 

 

The photos are not good, but this is the job in progress..... this must be the most stressful pedicure, it has taken ages for us to eventually manage to get Dougal's feet trimmed.  This was the last and probably the most worrying task  for everyone, to be completed

 

Dougal has slept for 4 hours !!  I have spent most of the day and night in the barn keeping a close eye on him.  The recommended dose for an animal this size is 15ml.  This was given using the crossbow & Medi-Dart.  I manged to dart Dougal without any problems, the dart gun worked a treat and I was very relieved that it had all gone well. 

 

However, for some reason, the amount did not do the trick, it definitely sedated him.  But not enough to actually put him to sleep.  The vet decided that because this amount had not done the trick,  we had to revise the situation.  Douglas decided to give him another dose of sedation.  This is something which is normally not done, however there are exceptions to the rule and Dougal obviously was one of them !

 

The Medi-Dart has done its job and was a good investment.  I was really happy how it performed this time, as you can imagine, we were really disappointed when we failed in out first attempt.

 

And finally ..... Sleeping Beauty !  Here is Dougal .... none the worse for his experience and hopefully he will be tap dancing his way back out into the field ..... some time over the weekend.

 

The weather is horrendous up here tonight, so the 'big boys' are staying in the barn until I am happy that Dougal has fully recovered and is back to his usual self !  I will know this by the fact that I won't be able to get near him !!

 

What a great relief ..... another job .... well done ... and we are all much happier tonight !