EACH LIFE MATTERS: ADELE DONKEY

If you have not yet met her, we want to introduce you to Adele Donkey, born May 2010.

Our Star Donkey lived here with a Welsh Pony named Gracie until March of 2020 when Gracie passed away. We wanted Star Donkey to have a chance to "talk donkey" and live with a rescue buddy who was like her!

At the start of the pandemic, Adele was surrendered by her owner to Save Your Ass Longear Rescue of NH. She was a donkey who got along with every size donkey and she seemed like a good fit for us, and for Star. They have been together since 2020.

Adele is a mid size or "standard" donkey, and Star is a mini Sicilian. Have you met Mammoth Donkeys? She adores ear rubs, and is social with all the volunteers who get to know her.

Recently, she started to have difficulties with her rear movement. We started with a protocol of pain relief, but that did not change her issues. The next step last week was a spinal tap at Tufts Veterinary Hospital to test for EPM (Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis), plus radiographs of her entire spine. We are waiting on the test results of the spinal tap, but the radiographs don't show any obvious nerve compression in the spine.

Adele is beloved here, and we will do whatever we can to make sure she is comfortable, and hopefully we will soon be able to make informed decisions about her next steps.

***Update 9.30.2026 We have an update on Adele Donkey today - the results of her spinal tap have returned and we will be treating Adele for Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis EPM. It is not possible to know if this is a flare up of a long ago exposure, or a new exposure, but the results are the same - we begin treatment this Friday! A special medication for this month-long protocol will be $1200-1500 and we are grateful EPM is something we can tackle with a medication. Her Vitamin E levels are great, so that is a big plus - she will continue to get that supplement as well.

Please keep thinking good thoughts for Adele!