Getting Pumpkin To Eat

Pumpkin this morning

Pumpkin seemed to be a little better this morning.  He’s no longer regurgitating foam, but he doesn’t have much of an appetite either.  Jack Kittel our Large Animal Vet, is coming by this afternoon to give him an anti-inflammatory shot.  He suggested we try to stimulate Pumpkin’s appetite by giving him some sugar water or glycerine.

Glycerine is hard to come by around here.  I used to use it when I was caning chairs to soften the cane before weaving it.  But it doesn’t seem to be as available as it used to be.

So for now, we’ll try the sugar water.

Besides initially getting Pumpkin in the barn, the water has been the greatest obstacle over the past few days. Even in a big bucket, it freezes quickly.  I’ve been making runs out to the barn to break up the ice and refill the bucket with fresh water.  Yesterday, as I tried to move the mostly frozen bucket out of the stall I dropped it.  The ice broke and the water spilled on the barn floor where it immediately started to freeze.  There’s enough ice around the farm to be aware of without it being inside the barn as well.

I covered the spill with hay to absorb most of the water and create a rough surface to walk on for whatever had already turned to ice.

So this morning I took the large heated water bowl from the chicken coop and replaced it with a smaller one.  I gave Pumpkin the heated bowl and suddenly it feels like my life just got ten times easier.

I’m still giving Pumpkin Pepto Bismol and I’m hopeful that if we can get Pumpkin eating that he’ll get better.  Jack seems pretty confident that he knows what’s going on with Pumpkin, but there’s also a lot we don’t know.  Like why he got rumenitis in the first place.

It’s most likely from something he ate so he should be able to recover from it. I’m crossing my fingers and going with that theory.

5 thoughts on “Getting Pumpkin To Eat

  1. Maria…
    I admire your COVID cautions, a manifestation of common sense. We are also a family at risk. Earlier this year, we shut down all possible activities. Some would consider that extreme. But when things let up, we went full steam to catch up with medical appointments. Now we’re shut down again, but looking for a respite by February.

    Best wishes for Pumpkin.

  2. Pumpkin is having a good and caring life with you so whatever the outcome there can be no regrets.
    Your empty studio , empty in activity that is, is a very good photograph –interesting to see the layout you will probably be returning to. With my own sewing I always begin the next project in order to know what I will be continuing with.

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