When Art went out to feed at 545 this am, she had not eaten any feed or hay from last nights feeding. He came back and got me to come look at her. She is standing with her back legs sprawled out, like she is trying to urinate, with her tail raised. Her back legs are stiff but she can move around some. When she does move it is like OUCHY, like she has be trimmed (quicked), but she has not been trimmed. I checked, no heat in her hoofs. And it looks like she has severe constant hic ups in her flank area. She did not poo last night. At 10am she did drop about 6 normals size/look muffins to the ground. Her gums are pink. No sweating, some pawing with her front leg. She is standing, must have been most of the night, her stall in not messed up. Does not have any of the "classic" colic signs. I gave her 1cc liquid Banamine at 730am, vet said to give her 2cc, that was at 10am. It "appears" that she is having trouble urinating. At first I thought Stifle, now I am not so sure. Vet asked if she was in foal trying to abort, no she is not breed, at least not by my doing. And it would be really hard for her to get breed by one of my studs, as the studs only go out at night when the mares are in their barn. And she has a smell coming from her mouth, not soured, more like a nasty garbage can smell...Anyone with any ideas that I can throw at the vet when he gets here? Which may be late this afternoon...
To add...She has very little gut sound, but it is hard for me to get my ear tight on her belly,,lots of hair coming in.
Update 1
I have been in the barn with her since I posted this. She is not any better, the Banamine seems to be doing nothing at all for her. She does not seem to be in any pain. She is still trying to urinate, only a few drops at a time. I had thought about EPM...Lord hear my prayers if it is. No matter what is aling her, I need a vet asap. I have another call out to another vet. He is not as familuar with my horses, but at this point I need someone to examine her. I will keep you posted.....
Update 2...
The 1st vet finally called, Said it could be either of the aforementioned, to bring her in ASAP, what he needs to do he can not do here. So we are off to the vets... Prayers for Lady Please!!!!
Update 3...
Lady is in critical condition..I am crying so bear with me. Her temp is 100.9... I rode in the trailer with her to the vet(25 min drive) in case she went down, which she did. I got on the 2-way and told ARt to put on his flashers and floor it. By the time we got there she was foaming at the mouth. The vet met us at the trailer and his fisrt thought was she ate something toxic. It took a few trys but he finally got the IV in and gave her something to relax her.Her blood is black and she is not moving enough air in her lungs. He said that he would try to stabilize her enough to get her to Oakridge, where we took Dreamer, the call was made and they were waiting for us to get there. I asked him to check her Calcium levels, and asked him AGAIN about the calcium deficiency, he said he had heard of it but never seen it in horses and did not think that was the issue.
After a few more heated debates, I flat out said, "DO BLOOD WORK ON HER AND DO IT NOW"!!!!!!! IF MONEY IS AN ISSUE, HERE IS MY D@$M DEBIT CARD!!!! He looked at me and said money is not the issue, I don't want to charge you for things that are not nessasary. It is my money do it! He did, the tech came out 30 mins later and said her calcium levels were critical. He looked at me, and before he could say anything I asked him to give her the calcium that she needed, it did not matter who was right or wrong. He smiled and went and got what she needed. He said it was better for her to stay if she crashed again we may not get her back in time. And that she would need several doses of calcium and more IV's to flush her kidneys. He said that we could still lose her. It is very difficult to get a horse stablized at levels that low. It took us awile to get her to her stall at the vets, her back legs are completely splayed out and stiff and she is stumbing and dragging her back toes. It is amazing how quickly she fell apart....I told the vet that I did not want to leave her, and I was afraid that we would lose her and we would not be there for her.
He saiad that he would call us if he thought we should let her go so we could be there with her when she crosses, but he wanted to give her a chance. He is not optimistic, but said if she makes it through the night she has a better chance to make it...Prayers for our Ladybug
Theresa
Update 4...
She made it through the night, Thank you God! She still is not out of the woods, apparently they can relapse very quickly, so this is going to be a 3-4 week recovery for her. She is exhausted, but she is MUCH BETTER!!! The thumping in her flanks is gone, her gums are getting back to pink, but her calcium level is still down, not critical but down. As soon as she saw us she whinnied, a GOOD STRONG WHINNEY!!!!! She still has trouble with her back legs, not as bad as yesterday. She is alert, not confused like she was yesterday. I would say her improvement from yesterday is 80%!! It was not Blister Beatles....It is her calcium/Phos levels. We are going to pick her up tonight if she continues to improve. I took some animal crackers with me this am, and she "Snatched" them out of my hand. She is Hungry!!!! Vet got her some hay, and she was chompin away looking for more. By the time I left she had several GOOD urinating and Poo's. It looks like she is going to be just fine. She will be on a paste of ??? for awhile. And we will take her back for another Blood panel to be done, (at my request). Never got an answer as to why she crashed so quickly, but you can bet your bottom dollar I will have Cal/Pho on hand from now on!!!! You learn something new everyday. If she does get to come home this pm, I will keep her in her stall untill she is strong and sure enough to be out. Way too much mud. Thank you to all who prayed for my girl....I told her this am that there were forum angels all around her last nite to keep her safe, funny thing is she looked at me and Art and nodded her head yes!
HUM>>>>>>>>>>>Can a horse get to much calcium??? Thank you my friends, And to whoever lost their horses at Worlds to Blister Beatles, I am so very sorry. Praying for a complete recovery for the others.
Update 5, and hopefully the last one...
We got Lady home an hour ago..When she saw Art pull up with the trailer we had to restrain her, she KNEW she was going HOME! She still is not very steady on her feet. She still has "alittle" thumping in her flanks. She will be stall kept for a few days, or until she can "show" me that she is able to be with her herd. And she has a long road of recovery ahead of her. The next 2 weeks will be crucial. We have to really watch her. She will take the gel for 2 weeks, And then a few days after to make sure her levels are good. We will take her back Friday for more blood work. The vet said he had heard of this in horses, but did not really believe it. He said now he is a believer! Said it will kill cattle in hours. WHen he gave me the gel I said this is for cattle, he guarr. me that it was safe for horses also. I asked if we could overdose her on calcium, he said no. He said there are NO WARNING SIGNS, But to keep this stuff on hand for the future if we should need it. If I can't but it, he will order it for me. It costs $15.00 a tube and he gave it to me, for being a GOOD, PAYING CUSTOMER! He also reduced my bill because we never owe him, we always pay him in full at the time of service. He did not tell me what the bill was, but he only charged us $185.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so happy he thought I was going to have an anxiety attack! I told him I was just so releived that Lady made it through the night and the "APOLOGY" he gave me for not listening to me and other things. He said that he should listen to the animals owners more often, after all we do know our animals better than he does. Apology accepted, no need but accepted. We want to thank everyone for their continued prayers for our farm and us. We have NEVER met a group of people like you guys, we are humble to know you. I hope that Mary Lou will put this on the best of for everyones education and refference. The suggestions you guys gave us, saved her life. And I went with my gut feelings, took stock in the overwhelming response that it was a calcium deffeciency and made the vet do blood work. If you guys had not responded to my post with such determination, Lady would have died...Thank You all! I will let you know how she does...Theresa and Art
Here is what he gave us...The tube is the size of a tube a caulk...and we will give her Probios half hr before we give her the calcium
Update 1
I have been in the barn with her since I posted this. She is not any better, the Banamine seems to be doing nothing at all for her. She does not seem to be in any pain. She is still trying to urinate, only a few drops at a time. I had thought about EPM...Lord hear my prayers if it is. No matter what is aling her, I need a vet asap. I have another call out to another vet. He is not as familuar with my horses, but at this point I need someone to examine her. I will keep you posted.....
Update 2...
The 1st vet finally called, Said it could be either of the aforementioned, to bring her in ASAP, what he needs to do he can not do here. So we are off to the vets... Prayers for Lady Please!!!!
Update 3...
Lady is in critical condition..I am crying so bear with me. Her temp is 100.9... I rode in the trailer with her to the vet(25 min drive) in case she went down, which she did. I got on the 2-way and told ARt to put on his flashers and floor it. By the time we got there she was foaming at the mouth. The vet met us at the trailer and his fisrt thought was she ate something toxic. It took a few trys but he finally got the IV in and gave her something to relax her.Her blood is black and she is not moving enough air in her lungs. He said that he would try to stabilize her enough to get her to Oakridge, where we took Dreamer, the call was made and they were waiting for us to get there. I asked him to check her Calcium levels, and asked him AGAIN about the calcium deficiency, he said he had heard of it but never seen it in horses and did not think that was the issue.
Update 4...
She made it through the night, Thank you God! She still is not out of the woods, apparently they can relapse very quickly, so this is going to be a 3-4 week recovery for her. She is exhausted, but she is MUCH BETTER!!! The thumping in her flanks is gone, her gums are getting back to pink, but her calcium level is still down, not critical but down. As soon as she saw us she whinnied, a GOOD STRONG WHINNEY!!!!! She still has trouble with her back legs, not as bad as yesterday. She is alert, not confused like she was yesterday. I would say her improvement from yesterday is 80%!! It was not Blister Beatles....It is her calcium/Phos levels. We are going to pick her up tonight if she continues to improve. I took some animal crackers with me this am, and she "Snatched" them out of my hand. She is Hungry!!!! Vet got her some hay, and she was chompin away looking for more. By the time I left she had several GOOD urinating and Poo's. It looks like she is going to be just fine. She will be on a paste of ??? for awhile. And we will take her back for another Blood panel to be done, (at my request). Never got an answer as to why she crashed so quickly, but you can bet your bottom dollar I will have Cal/Pho on hand from now on!!!! You learn something new everyday. If she does get to come home this pm, I will keep her in her stall untill she is strong and sure enough to be out. Way too much mud. Thank you to all who prayed for my girl....I told her this am that there were forum angels all around her last nite to keep her safe, funny thing is she looked at me and Art and nodded her head yes!
Update 5, and hopefully the last one...
We got Lady home an hour ago..When she saw Art pull up with the trailer we had to restrain her, she KNEW she was going HOME! She still is not very steady on her feet. She still has "alittle" thumping in her flanks. She will be stall kept for a few days, or until she can "show" me that she is able to be with her herd. And she has a long road of recovery ahead of her. The next 2 weeks will be crucial. We have to really watch her. She will take the gel for 2 weeks, And then a few days after to make sure her levels are good. We will take her back Friday for more blood work. The vet said he had heard of this in horses, but did not really believe it. He said now he is a believer! Said it will kill cattle in hours. WHen he gave me the gel I said this is for cattle, he guarr. me that it was safe for horses also. I asked if we could overdose her on calcium, he said no. He said there are NO WARNING SIGNS, But to keep this stuff on hand for the future if we should need it. If I can't but it, he will order it for me. It costs $15.00 a tube and he gave it to me, for being a GOOD, PAYING CUSTOMER! He also reduced my bill because we never owe him, we always pay him in full at the time of service. He did not tell me what the bill was, but he only charged us $185.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so happy he thought I was going to have an anxiety attack! I told him I was just so releived that Lady made it through the night and the "APOLOGY" he gave me for not listening to me and other things. He said that he should listen to the animals owners more often, after all we do know our animals better than he does. Apology accepted, no need but accepted. We want to thank everyone for their continued prayers for our farm and us. We have NEVER met a group of people like you guys, we are humble to know you. I hope that Mary Lou will put this on the best of for everyones education and refference. The suggestions you guys gave us, saved her life. And I went with my gut feelings, took stock in the overwhelming response that it was a calcium deffeciency and made the vet do blood work. If you guys had not responded to my post with such determination, Lady would have died...Thank You all! I will let you know how she does...Theresa and Art
Here is what he gave us...The tube is the size of a tube a caulk...and we will give her Probios half hr before we give her the calcium
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