Hare Krishna!
Just yesterday Yamuna, one of the older cows, went down. Please pray for her and us that we may be blessed to take the best care of her that is possible in her time of need. Yamuna is a sweet cow. She loves sweets. Sometimes she is friendly and sometimes she likes to be alone. You can read about what has happened to her and see a recent video of her in the following article.
Your servant,
Chayadevi
ISCOWP Co-Managing Director
Please Pray for Yamuna
10/24/12
While checking the cows every day, Balabhadra noticed that Yamuna has been having difficulty keeping up with the herd in the last week and a half. She is 17 years old and a lot of our older cows of the same age have this trouble but keep going often for a few years more. But just today, Balabhadra found her down in the pasture. With some help, he was able to get Yamuna to stand, but when she started to walk; her legs would not support her. This is usually the result of severe arthritis and/or some joint degeneration caused by old age.
Balabhadra said Yamuna is weak. She is sitting in a very nice spot that she chose. Balabhadra was finding her sitting in different spots in the pasture away from the other cows. Cows are social animals and usually stay with the herd. Often the cows and other animals will look for an isolated spot to leave their bodies when they feel it is time. So, the spot that she is in is one she has chosen. The weather right now is beautiful, a warm breeze and crisp.
She drank and ate today and Balabhadra chanted the Maha Mantra to her. However, Balabhadra feels she doesn’t have long to live.
10/25/12
Balabhadra went to visit her this morning and she had not moved. It appeared to him that her back legs/hips were paralyzed. We called the vet for his professional analysis. He was able to come immediately as he was in the area. He examined her and said she had cancer, Lymphoma. He thinks that it has gone to her spine and that is what is immobilizing her. Dr. Moore, the vet, said to give her steroid injections. The hope is that we will be able to get her to stand up and therefore move her to the barns where we have more facility to take care of her. The diagnosis is terminal, it is just a matter of time. She presently looks healthy as you can see in the video. Please pray for her and for us so that we may take care of her in the best way possible and to keep her as comfortable as possible.
10/25/12 evening
We went to visit her and gave her water and hay. We left her with a recorder of Srila Prabhupada chanting.