Boggle- USA bound!

[SEL]

Also hoping you'd had better news.

Thankful you followed your gut and got him to hospital. Whatever he's caught they sound like they're all over it with the drugs and ice boots

 

[Michen]

Thank you. Still staring at that wall, just in the dark

 

[NinjaPony]

Easy to say, but Boggle needs you to be strong for him, so please make sure you eat something and rest, whatever it takes. When I was drowning in grief both before and after my boy was PTS I ended up carrying my laptop around with me, with New Girl playing in the background constantly, so I didn’t have to be alone with my own thoughts. Ginger is really good for nausea if you have any, fresh ginger and lemon steeped in some hot water with honey helps me when I’m feeling sick.

When I got the phone call that our little dog had been attacked (I was away from home), my sister ordered my partner at the time the to run me a hot bath, make me a strong cup of tea and force me to have a piece of toast. I was in shock and this did seem to sort of snap me out of it.

Really hope the drugs do their stuff for him, he’s in the best possible hands and it’s a good sign that he is eating. He’s lucky he’s got you to look out for him, you’ve made sure he’s got the best chance of recovery.

 

[View]

Ah no - just checking in before starting my school route.

Not the update we hoped for.

You are so, so normal being utterly sick and miserable, but please remember to look after yourself.

Come on Boggle, all of us are willing you better.

 

[Debsflo1]

Is anyone able to be with you.
Thinking of you x

 

[JGC]

C'mon Boggle.

Can you get a protein shake to sip on for yourself? Not sure if they do Bailey's flavoured ones but maybe almondy might do it?

 

[Michen]

C'mon Boggle.

Can you get a protein shake to sip on for yourself? Not sure if they do Bailey's flavoured ones but maybe almondy might do it?

Actually my misery has turned to annoyance because I can't watch the dressage on demand from Luhmelen 5* as H&C tv is so useless and that seems to have spurred a bit of misery appetite rather than no appetite. So I'm in bed with a tub of ice cream at 12.15am scouting for other things to watch

Thank you everyone, truly.

 

[Peglo]

sending so many get well wishes to Bog. So sorry it’s not better news yet. There’s nothing I can say to be helpful but we are all thinking of you and hoping beyond hope that Bog turns a corner very soon.

Just seen your latest update and I’m glad you’re annoyed. Any emotion is better than the despair. Hope the ice cream helps. Xx

 

[HorseyTee]

Ah dear, he is going through it isn't he.
Hope he's over the worst now and starts to recover.
Thinking of you and Boggle.

 

[Michen]

sending so many get well wishes to Bog. So sorry it’s not better news yet. There’s nothing I can say to be helpful but we are all thinking of you and hoping beyond hope that Bog turns a corner very soon.

Just seen your latest update and I’m glad you’re annoyed. Any emotion is better than the despair. Hope the ice cream helps. Xx

I’m not sure that eating all that ice cream on a stomach that’s just had a couple of slices of cheese, an egg and some chocolate lindt balls since Monday night was my best idea

Maybe it’ll be conducive to sleep!!

 

[equinerebel]

The way you’re feeling is completely normal. My cat recently had a long stay in the hospital and I couldn’t do anything during that time except stare at my phone, waiting for it to ring with an update. I kept telling myself to stop hyper-fixating on this, to go outside and touch some grass. Look, the world is still turning! None of that worked. It’s because we love our animals, and that’s the right thing to do.

That said, I second the above about comfort shows. Having the office playing was the only way I got any sleep during that time.

Look after yourself the way your vets are looking after Bog

 

[Chippers1]

I don't really post much but I just caught up and wanted to add to the vibes for Boggle. He's such a beautiful connie, keeping all my fingers crossed for him

 

[scats]

Your feelings are normal Michen. Some horses are just extra special to us and when they are unwell, it feels like your universe has been rocked.
I hope he picks up a bit today x

 

[Red-1]

S*** I’m so sorry to read that. I really hope he’s ok. Sending hugs!

Just sitting in the car park, they let me in with him. He actually seems much brighter and he’s eating, and wasn’t as pleased to see me. But he’s had tons of drugs and he’s obviously actually sicker. But I do feel a little comforted. He’s got these long boots on with ice cubes in! He now has a horrible cough.

Got totally overwhelmed though, it was sort of stifling in there and there was a machine for one of the drugs that was beeping just like in a human hospital and I suddenly felt really faint. Had to get out in the fresh air but feel bad I only stayed 30 mins. Though I’m only meant to stay 20

I feel a little better for having seen him even though I know he’s sicker.

Oh heck, the bit about the beeping just dissolved me into tears and that is perhaps not normal. You reacting as you are is normal. You are in a kind of limbo, and you have gone into a freeze. When under stress, I'm sure you know, but you can do fight, flight or freeze. You are not currently able to fight, you have been sent away. You can do a runner as you need to be there for Boggle. So, your body has done the third one, freeze.

The reaction was originally so you could freeze in place behind cover, when a bear or whatever was near. But, our body doesn't know the difference between physical danger/stress and emotional stress.

To help your body, I know it sounds whimsy, but breathing exercises can help. A simple one is to breathe in for a count of, say, four, then out for, say, six. Make the out breath longer than the in.

The reason this works is because, when in the stressed state, your body has many reactions, such as increased heart rate and shallow, faster breathing. We can't control the inner reaction directly, nor can we control our heart rate directly, but we can manipulate our breathing. By forcing the breathing to slow and be longer on the out breath, we take control not only of the breathing, but also the inner reaction.

Taking Pepper for a walk would also help, it would walk off some of the adrenaline as well as regulating breathing if it is a brisk one.

 

[Michen]

I’m doubting his care now too. Yesterday I was told he was taken off the banamine (fever reducing). When I visited last night he was clearly not comfortable, despite them saying he’d been perkier all day than on admission, and on the phone to the vet I told her so.

I feel like they must have taken him off it too soon and that gap is what got the fever back, and now he’s got the pneumonia.

What if what if.

 

[TheMule]

I’m doubting his care now too. Yesterday I was told he was taken off the banamine (fever reducing). When I visited last night he was clearly not comfortable, despite them saying he’d been perkier all day than on admission, and on the phone to the vet I told her so.

I feel like they must have taken him off it too soon and that gap is what got the fever back, and now he’s got the pneumonia.

What if what if.

Fever is a natural (and generally useful) response to the bacterial infection- banamine may have just masked the pneumonia and delayed treatment. Not having it certainly wont have caused the pneumonia.
Good luck, it sounds like he's in the toughest stage now, but he's in the right place to get through it

 

[AmyMay]

I’m doubting his care now too. Yesterday I was told he was taken off the banamine (fever reducing). When I visited last night he was clearly not comfortable, despite them saying he’d been perkier all day than on admission, and on the phone to the vet I told her so.

I feel like they must have taken him off it too soon and that gap is what got the fever back, and now he’s got the pneumonia.

What if what if.

You’ll feel (hopefully) more reassured once your uk vet has spoken to them

 

[Bernster]

I’m so sorry to be reading this. It does sounds like he’s fighting off a virus, which brought on the colic. You’re doing everything you can. He’s strong and so are you. Sending healing vibes across the water x

 

[Northern]

I’m doubting his care now too. Yesterday I was told he was taken off the banamine (fever reducing). When I visited last night he was clearly not comfortable, despite them saying he’d been perkier all day than on admission, and on the phone to the vet I told her so.

I feel like they must have taken him off it too soon and that gap is what got the fever back, and now he’s got the pneumonia.

What if what if.

Fingers crossed from Australia. What he has sounds very much like what my boss's (equine vet) mare had last year. We tried to treat her on property for four days but she ended up spending a week a week in horspital on supportive care but has made a full recovery and is back out eventing with no long lasting effects. Her eventual diagnosis was Salmonellosis, probably grazing from land contaminated by cattle. We have had clients with similar presentations from viral sources as well (which can be spread by vectors such as mosquitoes). They can get quite ill but mortality rate is very low with supportive care, which it sounds like Boggle is receiving a lot of.

Can I just gently mention, as I work in the equine vet industry, that the vets will know what they are doing. Long term (more than a few days) banamine use can cause other problems such as GI issues/ulcers (which you don't want!). It is completely reasonable for them to take him off it to to observe how his body responds. Remember they always have it in the back pocket to give if the fever becomes high again. Toxic laminitis is a real risk with continual fevers and septicity, which is why they are icing his feet. Said mare above had her legs in ice boots and ice buckets as often as we could practically manage it. Early preventative measures really do make a huge difference down the road, so it's super they are so aware of that risk. I know it isn't a huge comfort right now, but he will probably start turning the corner in the next few days and rapidly improve. Most, if not all, of our client horses who have been this sick have never had a recurrence, sometimes it's just a spontaneous attack of something on the immune system which never happens again!

 

[rara007]

Flunixin (or not) won’t cause pneumonia

 

[tristar]

he has an illness, it starts, and you have to pass through it, bumps and all and come out the other side, there is no way round it, so you have to sit tight and go with it, when you know whats causing it you may get a time scale.

i have spoken to uk vets when out of the country, one had a horse waiting on the operating table, he will never know how much that helped, and his prognosis was dead right

 

[Tracking_up]

Sending continuing vibes to you and Boggle

 

[SibeliusMB]

Long term banamine can also impact kidney function and eventually cause kidney failure, so that has to be carefully managed for long hospital stays. When my horse, Soon, was in the hospital fighting post surgical infections, he also developed fevers. He was comfortable on banamine but that was definitely affecting his kidneys and had to come off it for a period to allow his kidneys a break.

I remember staring at him in his isolation stall, from the outside of the barn through the glass door outside his stall. I talked to him. He knew I was there and we stood as close as we could to one another without breaking the distance requirement. It's heartbreaking. I am sorry and I know it doesn't get much lower and more gut wrenching than standing there, seeing him hurting, knowing he wants to be near you, but being unable to comfort him. I wanted to curl up and die.

That said, I caution against just blowing in there to sit with him in isolation. This isn't just a "visitor's hours" restriction (which some hospitals are happy to ignore if you're not in the way and have a good rapport/are respectful). With an isolation case, the boundaries and protocols have to be respected to prevent you bringing something in and exposing an immuno-compromized horse, or bringing something out of the hospital, or possibly being in the way. It's horrible, but they're not doing this to make you miserable and I promise there are staff members who hurt deeply for you, knowing you want to comfort him and can't due to the circumstances. They see that, even if you don't notice.

Crying now writing this, knowing how hard that was for me, and how sad the staff were seeing me sitting outside Soonie's stall for hours. Everyone was crying.

Sending you strength and more healing thoughts and love sent your and Bog's way!!

 

[Titchy Pony]

I've only just caught up with this thread and wanted to add my best recovery thoughts to every one else's. Come on Boggle! And try to look after yourself as well Michen.

 

[Caol Ila]

Checking back in. I hope you got some sleep, Michen, and really hoping things are looking a wee bit brighter for Boggle today.

 

[Pinkvboots]

Thinking of you both hoping for good news later x

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Today's a new day. Hoping for a good Boggle update later

 

[Ossy2]

If it’s any consolation my old retired horse was recently in the vet school for pneumonia after a respiratory track infection escalated. She was very very sick at the time but is now back home and doing well, so there is hope and remember no matter what country you are in horses can pick stuff up pretty easily.

 

[Nicnac]

Crikey - just caught up after seeing your post on TE this morning. So so sorry and sending container loads of HHO (((((((Vibes))))))) to you but especially Boggle. Hope the ABs do their thing and he starts the road to full recovery. Eating is good (for you too!).

And fwiw stop beating yourself up! THIS IS NOT YOUR FAULT. x

 

[Sandstone1]

Hope things are looking better today.