Trouble in Paradise?

So far I've had Jessie for three + years and thankfully no health issues. We were scheduled to leave town for a family wedding 250 miles away last Friday. Thursday night I came home and was busy getting ready for the trip. About dusk I went out to see Jessie and noticed she seemed a bit lethargic. I went in and rubbed her and she felt warm so I took her temperature...103.4. She was eating her dinner, her stools were normal, her rear pasterns were a bit swollen but held no more heat than the fever, and she walked, but it was a laboring kind of amble. No discharge from either the eyes or the nose. Normal stomach sounds. I ran my hands over her entire body and found no wounds or marks of any kind. I gave her some bute hoping it was an antipyretic. I checked on her a couple of times that night and she was still up and moving. She usually lays down around 10 or 11 pm and she followed that pattern. (A couple of other tidbits: I had noted in my journal that she was in season on the 9th [this was the 21st], and she is up-to-date on all her vaccines having had them about a month ago)


The next morning I checked her at 6 am. If her temperature was still high, I was going to take her to the vet for the weekend. She had pooped two more times overnight, both normal, and peed once. Her temperature was 97.8 which is a little below normal but it was a cool morning and I think she had just gotten up. She went after her breakfast with "almost" all of her usual gusto. She seemed to be walking better and her rear pasterns seemed less puffy.

We went on our trip and had a good time seeing family and friends. The neighbors took care of all our animals. We got back and Jessie was looking better. She had had a crack in her rear hoof that I thought was just a minor thing. Sunday afternoon I lunged her around. At the lope she was more willing and balanced going to the right. Going to the left her gait was choppy and less smooth. The crack in her hoof is on the outside of the right rear hoof.





It is somewhat interesting to note, although I really have no idea when they appeared, but there are several "dents" in the TOP rail of our good Priefert panels. Not to say these could have cause the cracks, just that they are there.



This morning she looks like she is getting her energy back most notably by the display of impatience at my hay dispersal techniques...