Being an animal lover and livestock farmer, I understand that vet bills are just part of life. Part of my responsibility to my animals is to provide care for them and to insure they are living their best life. I’d also like to start off saying we are lucky to have an amazing vet, but four trips for 4 species of animals, within three weeks, is entirely out of control. With that said, April 2019 will henceforth be known as the “month of continuous vet bills.”

Anyone who knows me knows that my dogs are my kids. They act like miniature humans, and I treat them as such. April was the month for their check up with Dr. Jeff, and while this is an expected expense, it still seems to sneak up on me. Superman, Nellie, and Denim go every six months to get the ProHeart 6 shot. This is a heartworm preventative, very necessary in Arkansas. There are also monthly pills I could give them, but with my short term memory being non-existent, the six month shot is our best option.

Our dogs are so funny at the vet. Superman loves everyone and thinks he should able to wander around and greet every person in the building. Even as they are giving him his shots, he still grins and soaks up the attention. Nellie is very apprehensive because of her past traumatic experiences (stepped on by a horse at 3 months old, and shattered hip joint at 3 years old), but she trusts Dr. Jeff and Shanda. You can tell she is not a fan, but she knows they are only trying to take care of her. And then there’s Denim. Dramatic doesn’t even begin to describe her. First of all, Dr. Jeff has to bear hug her to hold her for her shots, and the whole time she is growling, barking, and almost foaming at the mouth. As soon as they are done, she’s fine. Back to normal. She hates being hugged, but even more so when it’s someone besides me or Colton.

Since I was going to the vet anyway, I also took Colton’s horse, J.R. He had something going on with his eye for about a month, and it hadn’t gotten any better, so I figured it was time to get it checked. Dr. Jeff predicted it was something known as “cancer eye” that is normally seen in cattle, but very rarely seen in horses. Of course our horse would get a rare disease. He checked out the situation, and decided the best bet would be to sedate him heavily and remove the growth. He was super busy that day, so I came back the next week. We laid J.R. down, and he removed the growth quickly. J.R. did great! Dr. Jeff sent the growth off to the lab to confirm his prediction, and he called me a few days later with the results. It was Squamous cell carcinoma. I’m happy to report that J.R. was back to his sassy self the next day, and has shown no further issues in his eye.

The next week, I stopped by with two calves to get health papers so we could travel across state lines to an auction. This was a quick and easy trip, but I made the mistake, as I walked out the door, of saying, “I love y’all and everything, but I hope I don’t have to see y’all anytime soon.” Little did I know…

That night Colton and I met his mom and Nana in Little Rock for dinner, when we got home around 8pm, I went in the barn to check the goats. I noticed my pregnant boer doe had a water sack hanging out, indicating she was in the beginning stages of labor. We decided to leave her alone to do her thing. An hour or so later, we came back out to check, and no progress had been made. This isn’t entirely unusual, but I had a feeling something was wrong. We gave her more time, but when she hadn’t kidded by 10:30pm, I knew something was up. I called my mom to come help about 11, and tried to call the vet for advice. She wasn’t dilated enough for me to try to assist, and I didn’t want to injure her worse by trying. After discussion and debate, we left her alone about midnight. I checked her about 4am, and mom checked her about 5:30am, and I was waiting at the vet’s office at 7:30am. Dr. Jeff (again – he’s awesome) pulled a deceased baby for us. The baby had had its head down, in an almost impossible birthing scenario for a young doe that wasn’t fully dilated. I’m so thankful for his assistance, but unfortunately we lost the doe a week later. The kid must have done internal damage we weren’t aware of.

It seems that farm life routinely goes like this month did for us: there’s good and there’s bad, and something is always happening. In order to survive in the world of agriculture, you must always remember to have gratitude. Even with the disappointment of losing my doe, here are the things I had gratitude for throughout this situation:

• We have an amazing vet that is willing to work on the variety of animals we have at the funny farm known as the Flying Pig Cattle Co.
• I had enough of a financial cushion to be able to take care of our animals without major concern.
• God blessed us with the responsibility of caring for the animals, and in return, the animals improve our quality of life daily.

Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds;

Proverbs 27:23 New International Version (NIV)