Box_Of_Frogs
Well-Known Member
Sunny is a 27-ish liver chestnut cob gelding. He's pretty much retired now because he suffers very badly from Summer Pasture Associated COPD and something like half his lung function has been lost. He also had one eye removed 7 years ago although that didn't stop him from winning at dressage competitions and being the safest hack for miles around. To watch him normally, you'd swear he was only 15. He has free range privileges at my yard and is loved by everyone. Great character, very food oriented!
2 days ago, my YO observed him laying down on his brisket in the field in torrential rain. All his field mates were sheltering with bums into the hedge. He stayed that way for at least 15 mins and was very slow to respond to the YO calling him to see if he was ok. The next morning (out overnight) he was very very slow to come in, barely able to lift one foot after the other but seemed ok when I got to the yard later. This morning I brought him in and again it was as if each foot weighed 100lb and he barely had the energy to move. He dragged himself into his stable and - so out of character - collapsed into a heap on his deep litter shavings bed. He was in just a no-fill rain sheet and was cold and clammy underneath. Appetite not affected, not colic, not eye problems, not chest problems, not lameness or laminitis. Maybe a little tucked if you looked hard. As often happens, I started remembering odd little out-of-character things that have occurred over the last couple of weeks. It seems as if he simply has no energy whatsoever, almost as if his blood sugar levels drop to crisis level. Long discussion with YO about either wait-and-watch or get the vet out. Sunny is very precious and anyway with the weekend coming up, I didn't want a crisis to develop when everything is more difficult so I called vets. Vet couldn't get out until after 6pm so I put Sunny back out for an hour or two. Unbelievably, by this time he was back to his old self, came marching up the grass bank to see if I had any food for him! Vet has been and his temperature was normal, no obvious anaemia (gums pink and capillary refill fine), chest the same as is normal for Sunny, heart rate normal. They've taken bloods to test for protein, glucose, white cell count, liver function, pregnancy ha ha, you name it.
This has happened on 3 mornings on the trot but he's always fine by the afternoon, although it was tea time ish that he was seen lying down in the torrential rain. Could he be borderline Cushings? Could he just have got very chilled? A virus he's struggling to shake off? Any owners of veterans got any ideas? I don't think this will be the end of it. My money's on some sort of metabolic disorder but god knows what. I'm very worried. Thanks for reading and large serving of Haagen Das Baileys ice cream if you've got this far x
2 days ago, my YO observed him laying down on his brisket in the field in torrential rain. All his field mates were sheltering with bums into the hedge. He stayed that way for at least 15 mins and was very slow to respond to the YO calling him to see if he was ok. The next morning (out overnight) he was very very slow to come in, barely able to lift one foot after the other but seemed ok when I got to the yard later. This morning I brought him in and again it was as if each foot weighed 100lb and he barely had the energy to move. He dragged himself into his stable and - so out of character - collapsed into a heap on his deep litter shavings bed. He was in just a no-fill rain sheet and was cold and clammy underneath. Appetite not affected, not colic, not eye problems, not chest problems, not lameness or laminitis. Maybe a little tucked if you looked hard. As often happens, I started remembering odd little out-of-character things that have occurred over the last couple of weeks. It seems as if he simply has no energy whatsoever, almost as if his blood sugar levels drop to crisis level. Long discussion with YO about either wait-and-watch or get the vet out. Sunny is very precious and anyway with the weekend coming up, I didn't want a crisis to develop when everything is more difficult so I called vets. Vet couldn't get out until after 6pm so I put Sunny back out for an hour or two. Unbelievably, by this time he was back to his old self, came marching up the grass bank to see if I had any food for him! Vet has been and his temperature was normal, no obvious anaemia (gums pink and capillary refill fine), chest the same as is normal for Sunny, heart rate normal. They've taken bloods to test for protein, glucose, white cell count, liver function, pregnancy ha ha, you name it.
This has happened on 3 mornings on the trot but he's always fine by the afternoon, although it was tea time ish that he was seen lying down in the torrential rain. Could he be borderline Cushings? Could he just have got very chilled? A virus he's struggling to shake off? Any owners of veterans got any ideas? I don't think this will be the end of it. My money's on some sort of metabolic disorder but god knows what. I'm very worried. Thanks for reading and large serving of Haagen Das Baileys ice cream if you've got this far x
