Flu jab and my old pony :(

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WeLoveShowCobs

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So Upset!!
My little pony is 47 this year and had his annual flu jab that i never worried about for a second, neither did the vet, this was on tuesday and i came down on thursday to a pony that was a shadow of his former self :'( we called the vet who was really worrried about him when she came down ( EVENTUALLY AFTER 5 HOURS OF WAITING!! because he wasnt a priority because of his age!!!!)
he had fluid on his lungs that was coming out of his nose! a feaver and a chill, hadnt eaten or drank for a day so the vet gave him a steriod,ventapulmin,bute and antibiotic injections. she said said to give him 24 hours and if he hadnt bucked up any he had to be PTS as you can imagine i was devastated, he did buck up a bit but we couldnt get any medication down him so called the vet again and waited another 5 hours!!!! to inject him again and it was a different vet who wanted to put him to sleep there and then! :'( we decided to give him 2 more days and he can now drink and has eaten some ready mash and half a tub of custard!! and is drinking for brittan, we are injecting antibiotics our selfs everyday and seringing bute into him everymorning.
he seems on the up but unfortunatley we dont know what he will be like if he does pull out on the other side of this illness, i am writing this as a warning to others

if you have an old pony that dosent go anywhere dont have the flu jab!!!!!!! vets have now told me he shouldnt have had it which now i think of it i should have known it myself

i am beside myself! having slept at the yard since he went poorly i am at home tonight to try and get some sleep! :(
 
Oh poor chap. Fingers crossed for him. You don't get to 47 without being made of stern stuff so he's not going to give up without a fight. Takes it toll though doesn't it? on the owner too.

As for the vet leaving him 5 hours. :mad:

Funnily enough my vet stopped innoculating my old boy (age 36) a couple of years ago (except for tet) as he has built up enough immunity.
 
i hope he will be ok, he sounds like he is coming through it - keep him warm and well fed.

oh - put a full complaint into the practice manager about the 5 hour wait - disgusting, and then change vets.

I stopped having flu jabs with my old man for the very same reason as this. good luck.

47! thats immense! x
 
I stopped getting any jabs done on my old girl, some 5 years before she was PTS because I had heard that a) they have enough immunity by then, and b) she didn't go anywhere to warrant it being done. I had also heard that often in old ponies, they do react to it and their age can't fight it.

Saying that, I've never had the flu jab, and never had flu. I am not going to change my mind now!

ETS, well done on your old man reaching 47, a grand age.
 
Fingers crossed for him.

I stopped when Obi was 24 and developed an abcess in a hoof, 7 days after his annual jabs.

Vet might tell me it's coincidence - but I know what I saw and I'm not willing to take the risk again.

I changed vet (for diff reason) and new vet doesn't seem sold on vaccs unless they need them to compete.
 
My oldie is a mere whippersnapper at 20 but I will not be getting her jabbed again as she doesn't mix with any other horses except my other one. IF it was rapant in the area then maybe I would reconsider.
What a fantastic age for a pony, I really do hope he perks up.
 
thanks everyone!! been up to check his nose is clear now and hes drinking now! thank god not had anything else to eat just a nibble of his haynet, but vet said not to worry about him not eating alsong as hes drinking so fingers crossed!
 
I do so hope he pulls through. My vet advised against all but tetanus vaccinations for our relatively juvenile 26yo.

What I can't believe is the wait you had for attention. I wish I'd had 19 more years with my pony :(
 
I so hope that he continues to improve.try and have a good rest remember you are no use to him unless you are fit as well. Outraged re the five hours time delay that is not good enough. You take care best wishes to you both, please let us know how he does x
 
my boy was only about 10 when he was jabbed, a few days later we had the vet out in the middle of the night in a snowstorm cos his heart was racing, he was sweating, he was essentially having a huge asthma attack. The vet told my friend who was there she was expecting him to keel with a heart attack.... luckily he was ok after some soothing from mum... (she was listening to his chest as i came in to the barn and took hold of him and said his heart rate started dropping then, love him) and a sedative .. that was the longest night of my life in that stable. That vet didnt link it to the jab, it was a different vet who was at my yard for a different horse - i was asking him about jabbing mine for me - and my boy coughed - the vet told me any horse with a respiritory problem should not have a flu jab ..... as it makes it a lot worse ... needless to say he hasnt had one since! hope your pony is better now x x x
 
I think your horse should have been a priority in view of his age, that's dreadful, any emergency has to be dealt with as a priority, I would never complain if a vet was late for a routine appointment, I expect them to spend as long as necessary with each patient, this is not the NHS!
 
Just caught up with this thread.
Hope your old boy is on the mend now.

I've just got the reminder for my two, including my pony who is 30, so I shall definately be reconsidering having them injected.

Does everyone with oldies still get tetinus done or none at all??
My oldie doesn't go any where anymore, except occasionally the beach or the woods, but then only with her field mates.
 
My (then 14 yo) IDxTB had jabs and worming close together and then immediately came down with a recurring virus that was more like ME in humans, it went on for about 3 years with periodic bouts of very low white cell counts, not eating, depressed etc. Our vets were royal vet college and the head horse man advised me not to give him flu jab again, since for him the risks from flu were a lot lower than the risks from the jab!He doesnt really mix with strange horses and our other horse is vaccinated annually.

But I always have tetanus done biannually, you mustnt stop that, too horrible a way for a horse to die and it doesnt seem to cause problems.

So oldie field ornaments personally I would just tetanus them.
 
I gave up with routine injections when my girl was 19 after a really bad reaction, she had never had any problems before. Didn't risk it a second time.
 
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