I have been a lurker for quite some time but figured now is the time to come out of the woodwork. My mother has a mini donkey who a week and a half ago started to loose interest in his food. This is when the weather here in AZ became really hot and stayed there. We figured since he was eating but just not as much that maybe it was the heat. He had no fever, his pulse and respiration was normal and he still was moving around. So there was no indications that anything was a miss with him. Well Sunday evening he decided to skip his dinner. We knew this meant something was up with him. He had a slight fever also. By Monday morning he still was not eating and the vet drew bloodwork on him and tubed him and gave him electrolytes and mineral oil since it didn't appear he was drinking either. He started him on antibiotics and Banamine. I asked if it could be hyperlipidemia and he said highly unlikely that it appeared to be more of an infectious agent. Well the blood work came back yesterday showing an increased WBC count and the begginning stages of hyperlipidemia. The vet came back yesterday mid day and started him on Insulin shots 2 times a day for 3 days and we need to syringe dextrose into him 2 times a day for 3 days. He also wanted us to syringe Karo syrup into him every few hours in addition to us force feeding him grain with Karo syrup. Well about a 1/2 hour after getting the insulin I borrowed a flake of Alfalfa from our neighbor and offered it to him. He dove into it and ate 3/4 flake. We felt so postitive about that. But he has drank nothing in almost 24 hours. Now were worried he will impact and last night he refused to eat again. I am running over to my Moms this morning to see how he is doing and to help give his shot. He seemed to me to be weaker last night than he was in the morning. Has anybody who has been through this have any words of advice. The vet really wanted her to hospitalize him but she can not afford it and we figured between the two of us (I live 3 doors down) that we can tag team him and keep on top of everything he needs. This donkey means the world to my mother. My mother has major medical issues and her little guy is the one thing that keeps her getting out of bed. She rescued him 10 years ago from an abusive situation and he was so rank. He would kick at averyone. Now he is the sweetest donkey ever and completely safe with my kids. She will do whatever she can for him within financial limits but we both feel lost about if what he is doing (i.e. eating then not eating ) is normal or not.
Thanks for reading and sorry it's so long.
Thanks for reading and sorry it's so long.