Relaxed Farming - our farm in your classroom

Dear Onion (first photo) is still not 100% back to normal. It is ten days since her lump was drained and whilst there don't appear to be any signs of the lump itself returning, Onion's face and neck are still rather swollen due to excess fluid just under her skin (see 3rd July entry for a full explanation). We are continuing to give her hot compresses (mentioned on 8th July) but whilst at first her recovery seemed to be going well, we have not seen much more improvement since the start of the week. She had a temperature again on Wednesday so we gave her another shot of antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory drug (to help with the swelling). Her temperature was virtually back to normal today but when she eats it is obvious that there is a problem. She takes a long time to chew the food and swallow, suggesting that the swelling is very much inside her mouth and throat as well.
If you look closely you may be able to see that her face is quite puffy, particularly around her mouth. If you look at the right hand picture of Parsley, there is a definite difference in the shape of their heads!! Onion's eyes also look quite 'tired'. A little like with humans, eyes are often a good way of telling if an animal is unwell or not.
We will continue with the hot compresses and make sure she is still eating okay but if she is still this swollen on Monday, we may well be going back to the vets!
Cheddar (our under-weight dairy goat) is possibly starting to improve - her appetite is definitely good, she had loads of the sugar beet today as well as her usual mix! What is also lovely is how she comes over for her cuddles a lot still, and 'her' eyes surprisingly are really quite bright!!!
It never ceases to amaze us at how well our animals cope when they are ill - it is all part of 'survival of the fittest' really. In the wild an ill animal has to keep going otherwise it could be left behind, so many of them do keep going, until they drop!! But even on a smallholding where food, water and shelter are there all the time, this 'keep going' behaviour naturally kicks in!!!