Haven't been here in a while, I lost my girl 😢
Sept 27, 2016 10:08:11 GMT -5
via mobile
rainer likes this
Post by shanree on Sept 27, 2016 10:08:11 GMT -5
Kids, life, and farming kind of took me away from keeping up on the boards. Our farm grew, my mom passed away from leukemia, we went through a political campaign where I ran for office, we took in an exchange student... Lots of life events! I've thought of the boards a lot this week though as I lost my sweet Josephine. I knew y'all here would understand when people IRL don't understand the bond and saw her as "just a cow!"
My Josephine, purebred jersey girl was my friend, late night prayer partner, my huge "lap dog" with slight diva attitude, my big brown eyed beauty that trusted me fully, ran to my voice, and lived primarily in my front yard playing with the kids and greeting us at the porch.
On Friday my husband woke me with the most frightening words I had heard in a very long time "wake-up, Josephine is down in the field it looks like she can't get up!" I frantically got dressed and ran out to her. She was flat on her side, heavily breathing, wild eyed and kicking her back legs. I went to her head and talked to her... She instantly calmed down... She trusted me to fix her problem 😢. We pushed her up to a sitting position, called the vet, bright her water and a bucket of food. She eagerly ate and drank but couldn't get up. When the vet finally arrived he was baffled. All of her vitals looked good, no signs of sickness, no sign of snake bite, no signs of broken or dislocated bones/joints but she had no use and no response to stimulus in her front left leg!?! He gave her a steroid shot and a cal/mag IV and said to hope that got her moving by evening. A neighbor came over with a backhoe and hip huggers. We lifted her but she would give no effort with her front legs.
Saturday morning she was still down. My vet asked me to call the large animal vet at Auburn University. He has spoken with her and she has some concerns. Upon her review of his notes, her symptoms, age, breed, and the fact that she didn't respond to the meds she said she believed with about 90% certainty that lymphoma would be the diagnosis. She said it was common for a tumor to develop on the spinal column and eventually press a nerve causing paralysis or partial paralysis of a limb.
We tried desperately again to lift her with the backhoe using the hip huggers and a front strap to lift her entirely and set her on her feet. There was no muscle resistance in the front left leg, no ability for her to bear weight on it. My father-in-law came to help... He worked her legs to help with circulation and literally cried and begged her to stand. He's a tough farmer with hundreds of cows and makes tough decisions all the time. He said that she was just "different" and he didn't want to lose her (she's not even his or on his farm, but he loved her that much too). After hours of trying and seeing there was no hope. I had to make the call. My heart broke. I held her head, kissed her, and thanked her for being my friend and milk provider. My father-in-law and neighbor handled the hard part. I went to the house, I couldn't be there. Once in the house I heard the shot fire at 3:39 pm on Saturday. I still can't believe she's gone. My heart hurts. 💔Josephine 1/13/08-9/24/16
Though I am a little gun shy on getting attached again, I know farm life must go on. My father-in-law is bringing me a WILD 1/4 jersey, 1/4 holstein, 1/2 Irish black 9 month old heifer calf to tame-up and turn into our next family milk cow. I know she's a weird combo of breeds, but being a total of 1/2 dairy breed I have hopes she'll do good once I get her tame. She's never been handled and has just been free on over 100 acres.
My Josephine, purebred jersey girl was my friend, late night prayer partner, my huge "lap dog" with slight diva attitude, my big brown eyed beauty that trusted me fully, ran to my voice, and lived primarily in my front yard playing with the kids and greeting us at the porch.
On Friday my husband woke me with the most frightening words I had heard in a very long time "wake-up, Josephine is down in the field it looks like she can't get up!" I frantically got dressed and ran out to her. She was flat on her side, heavily breathing, wild eyed and kicking her back legs. I went to her head and talked to her... She instantly calmed down... She trusted me to fix her problem 😢. We pushed her up to a sitting position, called the vet, bright her water and a bucket of food. She eagerly ate and drank but couldn't get up. When the vet finally arrived he was baffled. All of her vitals looked good, no signs of sickness, no sign of snake bite, no signs of broken or dislocated bones/joints but she had no use and no response to stimulus in her front left leg!?! He gave her a steroid shot and a cal/mag IV and said to hope that got her moving by evening. A neighbor came over with a backhoe and hip huggers. We lifted her but she would give no effort with her front legs.
Saturday morning she was still down. My vet asked me to call the large animal vet at Auburn University. He has spoken with her and she has some concerns. Upon her review of his notes, her symptoms, age, breed, and the fact that she didn't respond to the meds she said she believed with about 90% certainty that lymphoma would be the diagnosis. She said it was common for a tumor to develop on the spinal column and eventually press a nerve causing paralysis or partial paralysis of a limb.
We tried desperately again to lift her with the backhoe using the hip huggers and a front strap to lift her entirely and set her on her feet. There was no muscle resistance in the front left leg, no ability for her to bear weight on it. My father-in-law came to help... He worked her legs to help with circulation and literally cried and begged her to stand. He's a tough farmer with hundreds of cows and makes tough decisions all the time. He said that she was just "different" and he didn't want to lose her (she's not even his or on his farm, but he loved her that much too). After hours of trying and seeing there was no hope. I had to make the call. My heart broke. I held her head, kissed her, and thanked her for being my friend and milk provider. My father-in-law and neighbor handled the hard part. I went to the house, I couldn't be there. Once in the house I heard the shot fire at 3:39 pm on Saturday. I still can't believe she's gone. My heart hurts. 💔Josephine 1/13/08-9/24/16
Though I am a little gun shy on getting attached again, I know farm life must go on. My father-in-law is bringing me a WILD 1/4 jersey, 1/4 holstein, 1/2 Irish black 9 month old heifer calf to tame-up and turn into our next family milk cow. I know she's a weird combo of breeds, but being a total of 1/2 dairy breed I have hopes she'll do good once I get her tame. She's never been handled and has just been free on over 100 acres.