Hard decision..

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buckybee

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My mum has got an old boy at livery and he hasn't been too well recently, He keeps having "Funny turns" and starts staggering around and looks all vacant. In the past this has gone away after a few hours but he's been like that for over 24 hrs now.
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Last time we got the vet, and he said it was probably his heart and he shouldn't be ridden anymore, and we would have to monitor how he is for quality of life etc.

He is fine most of the time but it really is quite scary when he isn’t well, he looks like he’s having a mini heart attack or something.

The lady who owns him has left the decision up to mum…. What would you do???
 
Unfortunately I think I agree with AmyMay. In a situation like this it is always kinder to make the decision earlier rather than later.
 
Personally, I can't understand your Mum faffing around when the welfare of this horse is in her hands.
Sad as it is for you, just what is she waiting for, for him to die in his sleep or something?
Put the poor old boy out of his misery before he gets worse and possibly ends up injuring someone by falling on top of them which can so easily happen.
Sorry to sound harsh but I'm being realistic; it's stupid and cruel to wait any longer even if I wrap it up in nicer words.
 
Well the vet didn't think he should be PTS when he came a couple of weeks ago so maybe that is what she is messing about at!

No need to be rude i'm afraid!
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To me it sounds like time to let him go. There is a risk that he could injure himself or worse and that would be far harder than letting him have a dignified end. It is a horrible decision and not one that anyone would take lightly but it sounds like the condition is getting worse.
 
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Well the vet didn't think he should be PTS when he came a couple of weeks ago so maybe that is what she is messing about at!

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With all due respect though - that was a couple of weeks ago. I'm sure that when you call the vet out to him today he will be advising to put him to sleep.

Emotions run terribly high over these sorts of things. But at the end of the day all anyone wants is the best for your lad.

Do let us know how you get on after the vet's been.
 
ok, thanks guys.

Has helped me to put things into perspective. Only thing is, some people said he should be put to sleep 5 yrs ago becasue he supposedly went blind in one eye and had quite bad eye problems, but he went on to hunt really well for another 5 seasons.

Suppose this is a different situation though. Reading back, I think I've made it sound worse than it actually is but still not good all the same.
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Thanks again. xx
 
I didn't mean for it to sound rude; apologies if that's how you took it. I'm afraid I'm not one for fannying about with nice words, I was just being realistic to get the point home.
It seems I am not alone, most of the answers have the same message which surely tells you something - they are just a lot nicer with words than I can be!
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Not really my decision at all though cos i don't look after him or own him. Will try pass the message across to mother.
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If the illness is getting worse and laster longer each time then i think it is time to say goodbye
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Like the others say i would let him go with some dignity as he could injure himself and might end up having to go in pain. Yes the decision will be taken out of your hands but not a nice way to go.

Not fair on your mum to be lumbered with the decision either i dont think. Think the owner is being a bit of a coward although i appreciate i ont know the full story so could be wrong.
 
I had an old horse that did this, it was arthritis in his neck, the bones were interfering with the spinal cord causing temporary paralysis.
I kept expecting the vet to say, he needs to be pts, but she didn't. We did keep it under control with medication for a while. However, he too had a 'turn' which lasted longer than any of the others (it didn't go off after an hour or so as it usually did) and I called the vet to say I wanted him pts. There was no argument with the vet, she could see he was bad. Horse was pts and the end was peaceful. I'm glad I didn't wait as he was suffering and miserable.
 
Yea I thought that a bit. The horse is in full hunter livery though so his owner doesn't really come to see him unless she is hunting him (not any more obviously) so I think she will just be thinking that mum will be in a better position the make a decision.
 
Your mum and the owner (or one of them) could ring the Veteran Horse Society for advice? I hear that Julianne Aston who runs it is really good at talking people through this hardest decision and whether there are any more options for the horse?

Cassandra
 
I would speak in depth to the vet about it, see what they recommend and what his quality of life will be, if there is anything to be done (ie. drugs etc.). I would always get a second opinion (in cases like this, my own vet would always come out with another) and basically as long as I trusted my vets, I would go with what they recommended. It is extremely sad, but like you say he is suffering a bit and isnt going to improve.
 
This happened to a small riding school mare we had, and looking back I wished we had put her to sleep right away. She seemed better so we left her only to see her collapse on the yard on her way out to the field. She couldn't move and the vet had to shoot her there, it was winter and the blood took ages to remove due to the ice.
I think your old horse is having heart failure and won't last a great deal longer.
If you think about it from his point of view, he must be very scared when it happens, and it's unlikely to get better.
I would use an injection to make him comfortable.
The fact it hasn't improved really makes the decision for you.
 
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