Wednesday, August 13, 2008

What a snake bite looks like, day 2


Not pretty. The gray stuff is some sort of silver lotion. He was putting weight on the foot today, and his leg was too fuzzy to be able to see where the puncture marks were.

What's also troubling for Pepper now is that he's suddenly lost a lot of weight-- I think his teeth are worn out, poor guy. They're going to start feeding him pellets and soft foods to get his weight back up. Most of the horses at this ranch are fat and shiny-- it's not what they're feeding, but his trouble chewing it. He loved the peppermints stray g gave me to feed him, and also the three bananas. Poor old Pepper.

4 comments:

Linda Davick said...

Aw. I hate to hear this.

But there's his faithful buddy, standing right beside him!

Namowal (Jennifer Bourne) said...

Poor guy. A snake ambush and worn teeth too? Thank goodness there's soft alternatives. The fact that he likes fruit reminds me of the Elephant Sanctuary. It's a retirement ranch for circus/zoo elephants (another creature prone to worn teeth.) Fruit is on their menu too.
What kind of mints does Pepper like best? Is that how he got his name?

Anonymous said...

I am so sorry to hear Pepper's having such trouble. Gosh, it reminds me of when they put Dad on pureed food because it was easier for him to swallow. I am so delighted he liked the peppermints!!!

Sally said...

Thanks for the kind thoughts on poor Pepper. I'm going to go out and give him a nice shampoo tomorrow. He and his bud have to be in separate stalls for a while so Pepper can put some weight on. His bud Row is food obsessed.

Namowal, on the bear trip we learned that grizzlies mostly die from starvation because their teeth fail them when they get old.