Happy leap day! The boys experienced their first snow day earlier this month which was exciting. They weren't enthusiastic about it at first but they grew to enjoy it and had a little fun in it before retreating to their shelter. It's been a surprisingly warm winter here so we were not expecting much snow, we usually have one big snowstorm in March which I'm hoping we still have to get more beautiful pictures of them in the snow.
This month I have finally started on addressing some concerns for Butters, he has been very sensitive, irritable, and generally off personality-wise. I believe he has pain somewhere so I've been working on crossing things off the list - I had the vet come out and do a dental float (small points, no other concerns), blood draw for testing (CBC all normal, Lyme titer negative), and confirmed his vision was good (he bumps into everything!). We discussed ulcers next and I've started a trial of ulcer treatment to see if it helps. I'm sure he would have ulcers given how stressed he has been with the construction around us.
Something to note, I have never seen Butters rest a hind leg since I've owned him the past 11 months now - I attributed this to his locking stifles and/or general poor conformation in his hind end. While he was sedated for the float he did momentarily rest a hind leg, so under sedation he felt relaxed/comfortable enough to do this. At the beginning of this month I started him on a joint supplement to see if it might help and today I saw him rest his hind for the very first time! I really hope he is starting a path to improvement, whether its just the natural course or the extras I'm doing are helping. I am determined to get him feeling his absolute best!
