I gave her another dose of the probiotics today. And of course her doses of Maalox and boy is she getting pi$$y....lol Her entire attidude is 'yes, you are trying to poison me, if one thing doesn't work you'll try another right?" She's beginning to finally shed off...which is a good thing. It's actually the fact that she hadn't shed off that made me notice her not well over two months ago. Donkey's shed off really late but she was way behind the others. I brushed her for an hour or so tonight and she's loving that. I got the beet shreds. That's the only thing they had. When I opened the bag I new immediately it was going to be a trial to get her to eat it. It has added molasses. I put some in a large zip lock and added water and it really smelled good. Actualy after reading the article you sent the link for, as a diabetic I think I've found the perfect food for me! lol Tonight she ate about 2 cups of whole corn. She refused, Horse and Mule, alfala cubes, ground corn, and of course the beet pulp. I added half a cup of molasses to the batch I have soaking tonight and added some crushed alfala cubes. She's still eating hay very good and I'm happy with that. And the corn is okay according to vet, a little high in protein but he said as long as she's still eating the hay in good amounts it won't hurt. but it would be really nice to get her to eat the beet pulp. We have cows and our feeder steer is getting all of her rejects. So at least it's going somewhere that will do some good. I truly enjoyed the article you linked. A lot of good information. And a great chuckle about Willam. We've raised a squirrel and I know just what she's going through. Our Rocky did finally go to the wild but returned for a few years to be fed grapes... thanks, arkiema

I am like Iggie when I run into a problem like that I use a TRUCK. It works every time. :>) Keep up the good work. Just remember that old saying ( oops there is that word again "old") it's not how much work you do it is how you do it. Oh yea! Watch out Iggie I am starting to catch up with you age wise. Now with that said I have to go shovel snow. :>( Have A Good Day Bob

Peyton is doing good. Luckily the cyst doesn't hurt or interfere with breathing or eating. Me I am not holding up to good, you can see current adventures on the family update post. Barnmom, You are right I will have to try and come up with a necklace. With me unable to drive because of the pain meds and potassuim problems. So maybe I can get someone to help me out and get one. Things have been so crazy the last 5 months I am trying to just make it through. You know when things are crazy things are just bound to get worse. Stacie

I wonder what is rough sand? Unless it is grainy enough that grains do not fall thru the kitchen sieve, do not use it. Most of us avoid any sand, grit is much better. Grit that is easy to find is chicken grit - small granite that is fed to chickens. It is quite inexpensive. What you see on top of soil in the photos is topdressing of chicken grit but bigger size - for mix, the smaller is used. It is sold as #2 here in Canada, and I believe similar in US? - someone should confirm that. You need to remove old soil from the root ball. It could be difficult if it is so hard. Try using some chopsticks or bamboo skewers. Get a bowl of tepid water and let root ball soak in it for a while and hopefully the soil will loosen up. I am sure you'll loose some roots, but getting the 'brick' of the roots is important. Next time you get new plants, try to repot ASAP after bringing them home to avoid same situation.