Warning, graphic photo of Mo's swollen.......

but first just couldn't pass up this photo of Callie, all nestled in one of our wool blankets. It hasn't really been cold enough to warrant a fire in the wood cook stove, so instead we all wrap up in our wool blankets. This includes the spoiled cat!

This is Mo's sheath, the green salve is a poultice for drawing out infection. You can see some of the drainage on the backside of the sheath. This swelling is about 100% less than before the abscess ruptured, poor Mo!Okay after a visit to the vet clinic two weeks ago, a series of antibiotics( IM shot and a sulfur powder in his feed, twice daily for 7 days) still Mo's sheath was swollen, hard and very tender. The vet came to the farm on Friday and said it looked as if it was going to abscess, poor, poor Mo! We hot packed the area three times daily, beginning on Friday afternoon. After the hot pack treatments, we applied an Epsom Salt Poultice( it's the green salve in the above picture), to help draw the infection out. Mo was very patient with me, that is until Monday afternoon, he still didn't do anything to hurt me, just stood with his hind leg held way up and kept looking back at me, as if to say, " WOWIE, now that hurts, please stop!"

We had a call into the vet early Monday morning but didn't get a return call, so I called again early afternoon, and was told the vet was out on an emergency and they'd call. By 4:30 pm and still no call, I called again, the vet tech scheduled us to bring Mo in at 8:15 am. Tues.

We feed at 6 am, both Mike and I were interesting in seeing how Mo was acting, because the previous day he was in pain and not moving around much. Mike looked and said it had ruptured by itself and there was some nasty, smelly white liquid oozing out. He was still moving pretty gingerly, but his eyes were brighter. I called the vet to let them know it had ruptured and was draining, so they wouldn't need to lance it.

I do have to say, I was disappointed in the vet, we arrived on time and expected the vet to look at the abscess site, clean it and give instruction to caring for this until it's healed. The ruptured spot is the size of a quarter and oozing infection, which is what we want. Instead she looked at the area, massaged out some puss and gave us some antibiotic powder( same kind he was on the first time) and the bill. She never washed or cleaned the site. I asked if we should continue hot packing or at least using the poultice, she said it wasn't needed. I then asked about keeping the area clean until healed, she said she wouldn't worry about it. Yeah! right, does she think we're stupid! Since when, do you not clean a wound that has staph infection, or not try to keep it clean. So..... today I washed the abscessed area with a mild antiseptic soap water, also between his legs, which was matted with dried puss and blood. Then patted it dry with sterile gauze, then swabbed the wound and surrounding area with Providine Iodine. Then away from the wound area, I gently massaged in some Epsom Salt Poultice. I checked him several hours later and the wound is draining nicely and the swelling is decreasing. This will be our routine until all the swelling is gone and the wound is healing.

Besides dealing with Mo, we've been busy trying to get regular chores done and then squeeze into the schedule any and all extras we can. We cleaned house, literally, dusting, washing floors, cleaning bathroom, vacuuming, etc..... I found out just how dirty our windows, windowsills and baseboards really are so.... will work on getting those all washed and some touch up sanding and painting done.

Sunday Mike was going to replace seals in the faucets for the tub, because they are allowing the water to drip and it was getting worse with time. When taking the faucet handles off,he decided they were very built up with hard water and not in good shape. We've been trying to baby this bathroom along, as it's slated for a total remodel, including tearing out walls, the floor and replacing the entire sewer line from the house to the mainline. So... off we go to the hardware store for new parts. By the time you buy all the new parts, you'd have more invested than if you simply bought a whole new tub faucet set, which we did for $47. If we'd bought the parts we'd have needed, the cost would have been $59! They are all replaced and look wonderful, sad thing is they won't be transferred to the new bathroom, but will save us in water loss from dripping. Our plan is to put in a claw foot tub with period replica fixtures including a shower and shower ring.

Well..., it's late and I need to clean up supper dishes and get leftovers in the refrigerator. Supper tonight was; pork chops, fried onions and potatoes, and sweetcorn.

Blessings for the remainder of the week.