We’ve reached the point in the grazing season where all the blind horses on pasture are getting grain served twice a day … and some of the very old ones are getting served three times a day.  This summer became way too hot, way too soon, and the grasses browned out much earlier than usual. …

Blind-and-deaf Blanca, our new arrival from Mexico, has decided her favorite chair in the house is my chair in the living room.  The only problem is that the chair isn’t exactly sized right for a lanky and growing Great Dane.  We were fixing up the dogs’ dinner (that’s what blind Kenai and blind Evelyn in…

Blind Brynn and blind Darby were the other two horses who went to the vet clinic yesterday.  I brought them home today, along with blind Blue.  We had discovered blood in Brynn’s urine on Tuesday during her morning bath — she leaks while we bathe her, so we get up close and personal with her…

This morning I took three of our blind horses to see our equine vet, Dr. Erin Taylor, at Blue Mountain Veterinary Hospital in Missoula.  (More on the other two horses, Darby and Brynn, tomorrow.)  Blue the blind Appaloosa needed surgery for two problems:  he turned out to have a squamous cell carcinoma on his sheath…

I had a call several weeks ago from an elderly lady in California who had heard we had blind-and-deaf dogs.  She wanted to let me know, in no uncertain terms, that she thought it was cruel and inhumane to keep them alive.  That’s how the call began.  Now, this wasn’t an animal-phobic person … she…

It doesn’t take long for summer to start fading in the Northern Rockies.  Even though the days can still be quite warm, the nights can get downright cold.  When we got up this morning, it was 24 degrees.  (For our international friends, that’s minus 4 degrees Celsius.)  I took this photo of Widget’s House about…

Alayne took these photos of blind and deaf Spinner in our welcome center about mid-day on Friday, when our vet Dr. Brenda Culver was here.  Spinner was just hanging out in the too-small dog bed after her exam.  We were having a conversation during a lunch break when Brenda popped a frozen-food dish in the…

Our small animal vet, Dr. Brenda Culver, was out at the ranch all day Friday doing the annual health exams and vaccinations for the dogs.  With 40 dogs, this is quite the undertaking!  We divided the job into two parts.  First, we did the "cottage" dogs … these are the ones that stay with Alayne…

Our equine vet, Dr. Erin Taylor of Blue Mountain Veterinary Hospital in Missoula, came out to the ranch today for several cases: — Beaver the Belgian needed round two of a treatment for a sarcoid tumor on his belly.  Erin gave him the first treatment two weeks ago — here’s a photo I took then…

Alayne came home this evening from a day of running errands in Missoula, including taking blind Joey the Cocker to the groomer and herself to the hair stylist.  Joey is one of those Cockers who grows thick, rug-like hair everywhere except on her back.  She does have hair on her back, but it’s very thin,…