How many others are "trying to get him/her through till autum"?

Gingerwitch

Gingerwitch

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 May 2009
Messages
6,102
Location
My own planet
Visit site
As above really - my old girl is really struggling at the moment - she has had 3 danilon today and she is still limping in front - nothing too bad now but last night i just stood and sobbed - the ground is soo hard and she had been shod that day and she just hobbled away.

Problem is she is 25 -has been getting worse with narcalypse and really started to hurt herself recently - so we have given her medication "just to ther her through the summer" but the medication has picked her brain up soo much and now its the body failing her !

Why oh why cant they lie down and never wake up - how on earth do you stop your heart over ruling your head? why does everyone say "you will know" how will i know that i know?
What happens if she gets badly attacked in the field? what happens if i pts and she could have still had a good few years left in her?

ohh this is the hardest part of loving something isnt it?
 
Hugs. I would see how she is day to day tbh. But the ground is very hard and maybe you need to call it a day sooner rather than later as she is in pain now.

It wouldnt be the wrong decision. Those are the words of wisdom my farrier said when I told him i was going to have my boys PTS this summer. In other words, yes you can carry on and it may work out but dont feel bad about taking the decision earlier either.

You would not be making the decision lightly but you will be considering her welfare.

Play it by ear for now but dont feel bad if you decide not to go through till Autumn.
 
I know from experience how hard the decision is. I found that I had to ask myself what I was hoping for for my beloved horse. When the answer was "a miracle" then I knew that the time was right. He was never going to be young and agile again, but as the days and weeks went on the possibility of him getting down and being unable to get back up increased. Although the ground is very hard, an old horse in the summer at least has the benefit of warm dry weather which is generally more comfortable for old joints, and once it gets cold and damp in autumn things are often no better or even worse. This is only my experience which may not be the same for you, so good luck with your horse, just remember that you have to try to ignore your own emotion and think only what is best for her.
 
*hugs*

It is definately the hardest part. However you have loved her so much and I know you will do what's right by her and judge it well. As my instructor always says - better a week too early than a second too late. Just see how she goes and like dozzie has said, don't feel bad if you decide not to hold out for the Autumn.
 
Going through exactly the same thing with me dog, he's a 15 yr old lab, suffers with collapsed larynx, back end is starting to go. I told my hubby that there is no way I'm having any more because this is so painful, but I don't want him to suffer and I don't want to make 'the decision' too soon!! :(
 
Next Wednesday my girl will be pts. Nearly 2 years ago she had Liverpool Cream treatment on 5 sarcoids & 1 has failed to heal, new aggressive sarcoids have come up elsewheer & she has arthritis. If I could wave a magic wand I would. I went out to my car to call the Vet & make arrangements - not something I wanted to do in the office. Afterwards I sat in my car & sobbed so much that a lady came over & asked if I was ok. When I told her what was wrong she said the day it gets easy is the day to stop having animals - so true.
 
Poor dipsey - its the thought process going through your head isnt it:-

First you think - make the call - end it whilst she is in good form - then you think of all the money she is costing you - then you think - is that why i am doing it? then you think "what will others think of me?" then you think No i will keep her going one day at a time - then the OH pipes up - keep her going take every day at a time - she will have good days and bad days - then you remind yourself just how bad she looked last night and then you cry - and then you get to the yard and see the brown ears and face looking at you saying "come on, hurry up - where are the carrotts?" and you think - no today is not the day to make the call and then she walks out of the stable and you think - oh i hope you are not chased today, i hope you dont try and roll and you worry till you see her tomorrow morning - and so it goes on.

off for a snivel now
 
Someone said to me when I had to have mine put to sleep, you loved her enough to let her go, this really helped me personally. I think to be honest that your horse is telling it's time. It's a horrible hard decision to make and only you can do it I'm afraid xx
 
O Gingerwitch I really know how you are feeling as I am in exactly the same situation with my old boy at the moment. :(

He too is on two danilon a day and vet has now put him on medaction for cushing (starts with a p?) have spoken to the vet in length as the last thing I want to see is my gorgeous horse in pain and not be able to make him comortable.

He has two fused hocks, arthritis in both shoulders, and one knee. Has been enjoying his retirment but has a regular limp at the moment because of the hard ground. Got me wondering about another winter of frozen ground and trying to keep all his joints warm whilst keeping him moving! You really do start to doubt everything and why you do things.

Doesn't help that he looks so good and seems so happy. Still has his ears pricked limping across the field to see me and looking in fab condition as well.

Got the vet back out in a few weeks to reassess as he is hoping the cushings drug may well help with some of the lameness (haven't explained that very well)

Everyone has there own view on when it's time. I've read many a post where someone like you or me asks advice and is told, quite without feeling on occasions, that if it's lame and old then your just dragging out the inevitable.

I belive each case is individual. I know that having owned my boy for over 17years I could'nt let him go without knowing that I had tried everything I possibly could of.
 
(((((((((((Hugs)))))))))))) I so feel for you as I know what you are going through but you must think of your horse. It is never easy but trust me that you will feel relieved when the time comes. Sorry to sound blunt but it really sounds as if the time has come.
 
Sorry to hear this gingerwitch.
But i think you should really think about making the right decision for her now. I really wish i could have mad that decision for my girl before she passed away. We were not expecting it at all she had an accident in her stable before xmas which she came through well and on the 18th Jan she went in the field and passed away in the middle of the lake. How she ended up there know-one knows we think shes stood on it and gone through it and had a heart attack.
I really wish i would have been able to make this decision for her and could have helped her through her pain.

Sorry iv gone on a bit still very raw and i still beat myself up for not letting her go sooner.

Sending you hugs
 
Gingerwitch I'm going to say this bluntly because I think it will help you when your mare has gone.

YOUR MARE IS IN PAIN - THE TIME IS NOW!
 
Poor you it's a horrible decision to make. I have had to do it a few times now and each time I have made my decision I called the vet the same day and had the deed done as soon as poss. This stops you putting it off when you know that the horse is struggling.

At the moment I have a 20 year old mare who, like yours is on Danilon every day and when that stops working I will make the same decision again - long before she is in too much pain and I know that once she is gone that is the one thing that will make missing her bearable. I have had her for 15 years now and it won't be an easy decision but it is one that I am quite prepared to make.

Last summer another old girl of mine who was 21 was struggling on the hard ground - she had no problems in the soft ground of winter but the harder the ground got it was obvious, even on Danilon that she was sore so I called the vet and had her pts I could have battled on until the soft ground of Autumn but it would have been for my benefit not hers.

If you see your horse one day and know that enough is enough then I promise what makes things better is knowing that, at the end, you did your very best by your horse including making this, the most important decision of all.

I have had to talk to others on occasions, over the years, who have had horses on my yard who put the decision off until their horses were struggling to either move without being in pain or to get up once they lay down and afterwards they wished that they had not put off the inevitable too long as the memory of knowing that their horses were struggling has stayed with them.

I think that you will know in your heart if your horse has had enough it's not something that anyone else can tell you really.
 
Gingerwitch, such a sad post, you clearly love her very much.

I can only say that I could never imagine a moment when I would instruct someone to put my horse down, I did agonise for a while, I fought for her, she fought as well, but that moment did come and I knew it was her time.

I wanted her to live forever, but not in pain and not vulnerable and a shadow of her former self.

Take a long hard look at her, write down each day how she is looking, how she is compared to this time last year. I think you might find your answer there. I'm very sorry it is such a tough one.
 
Do what I have done and talk through things with your vet.

People on here may have had there experiance of these things but they are not there to see your horse and are not medically qulified to know if there is anything else that can be done to your mare. As I said before each case is different.

I would not except someone telling me to 'do it now' on a forum. I'm sure if the ground was softer there would not be so much of an issue with lameness, in fact that was pretty much what my vet said.

I saw some of the rather hurtful comments that were made to another member recently when someone reported her to the RSPCA and if I was her I would of been gutted.

We all know when the time is coming but we also owe it to our horses to at least try and keep them happy enough to enjoy some kind of retirment. As I said before I will try everything that my vet recommends. If there is no improvment then I will let him go knowing that I had tried everything.

Don't let anyone make you feel bad for trying.

xx
 
It is very difficult. We are thinking that our 27yr old is probably in her last summer. Her legs are fine, in fact the farrier comments every time he comes on how supple she is for her age. But last August at vaccs time the recently qualified vet listened to her heart/lungs and said that her heart was not too good. We have noticed that she is less able to cope with extremes of weather this year and although we would love to keep her forever, we know that this is not possible. We shall ask the experienced vet his opinion this August and take this into account. But we know her best.
But we keep our horses for life and so have had several, young and old, pts over the years and I can say that although always distressing it is easier, IMO, to carry out a plan than to have to do the job in an emergency. One of the worst experiences of all my considerable number of years of horse-keeping was when my 24 yr old had a stroke (as we later realised) late one evening and although apparently completely conscious refused to even try to stand up. We stayed up with her most of the night and rang the hunt in the morning.
OP, have you tried magnetic boots? I have used them very effectively on an arthritic horse who was on a high level of painkiller prior to using them. They just might get your horse through to Autumn.
 
I really do feel for you, a horrible decision to make. You know in your heart where it is going, and, as you have mentioned "getting her through the summer", you know, really, the possibility of, maybe, a "few good years left" isn't really going to happen. So very sorry, you obviously love her very much. No one can tell you when the time is right, but I echo everyone who has ever said, "better a month too early, then a day too late". I personally would rather have my last memories of an old friend looking well and happy, than frail and in pain. xxxx
 
I have found that the hardest thing was making the decision. I wept buckets but have been more settled since. I have been exceedingly busy at work & with visitors which has helped. A friend waned me that in the period betweem phoning the Vet & the actual event their coat will shine more & everyday will seem a good one & she was right. It's so hard but there comes a time when you are holding it off for your benefit not theirs.
 
The other thing about "the last summer" is the ground is hard on aching joints & the flies are a pain. My girl has had to have a fly rug on & she got so hot & itchy in it. The last few days I've thought "sod it" & just plastered her in fly spray & yellow fly cream. She has been so much more comfortable.
 
I ve been through similar with a animal you plan ahead , nice summer and say good bye, sometimes that decision is taken away from you.......
so soul destroying...so sorry for you
 
I've been through this before and find myself in the same situation again this year with my 25 and 29 year olds.

One thing someone on here actually told me a couple of years ago, when i made what I thought was a hasty decision at that time to have my mare pts, really put it all in perspective for me, and gave me great comfort. It was:

Better a day too soon than a day too late.

I think of that all the time. It is so true.

Sorry you are having such a tough time, and I know that when the time comes you will 'know' and you will find the strength, its what we do. Take care x
 
Always the hardest part of owning animals is doing the responsible thing for them. Fwiw, if a horse of mine was still uncomfortable on 3 danilon a day then I do think it is time to let them go. It is unfair to keep them going as a horse doesn't think 'I might be more comfortable when the ground is soft', they have no perception of the future, only the now, and if that 'now' is uncomfortable, then life can't be much fun. You've also got to bear in mind that horses naturally hide pain as it makes them vulnerable, so when it gets to the point that they are in obvious discomfort then we need to listen to them.

We often think that summer is 'nice' for them, and in a mild year it can be, but when it is too hot older animals struggle more anyway, flies are worse and it can be difficult keeping a horse that isn't old and with other problems comfortable, never mind an elderly lame horse, so it can have its own downsides.

As heartbreaking and sad as it is, I often find that once the deed is done, you often feel a sense of relief, the weight of worrying about it is lifted and you often know that it had to be done anyway; often better sooner rather than later.

I hope that everything goes as well as expected, whatever your decision.
 
I am facing making THAT call also. My girl is 22 and we rescued her 3 years ago in the most dreadful state. She had a pelvic problem then and it has got steadily worse. We tried allsorts of treatments. Now she is struggling when getting up and has grazed her head on the stable walls, she doesn't roll or run around much anymore. She loves her food and grass (when we have some) and loves her bed, sleeps all afternoon. Vet said you will know and when she starts dragging a toe the time is near. She is dragging the toe and hip is cluncking. I can't get my head around the fact that i am arranging to kill her, or she only has x amount of days to live, i am torturing myself but i know i will have to do it. I thought previously when the decision was further away in my mind that i will be with her but now i cry when i even think about it, so not sure if i am strong enough. She is the nicest, most gentle horse i have ever known and doesn't deserve a painful end. I just can't pick up the phone.
 
Last edited:
I don't think it is a case of getting to Autumn and everything will be OK, unfortunately. Once we get into winter and start getting frost and ice, then the ground will be hard again and surely she will struggle with that. I must say that, personally, if I had a horse that could not stay comfortable on 3 Danilon a day, and there was no alternative, effective treatment available, then I would be thinking very seriously about euthanasia.

Is the horse lame on and off all the time on the hard ground, or was the other day a one off (and perhaps due to the shoeing)?
 
Last edited:
Magicmadge said:
I am facing making THAT call also. My girl is 22 and we rescued her 3 years ago in the most dreadful state. She had a pelvic problem then and it has got steadily worse. We tried allsorts of treatments. Now she is struggling when getting up and has grazed her head on the stable walls, she doesn't roll or run around much anymore. She loves her food and grass (when we have some) and loves her bed, sleeps all afternoon. Vet said you will know and when she starts dragging a toe the time is near. She is dragging the toe and hip is cluncking. I can't get my head around the fact that i am arranging to kill her, or she only has x amount of days to live, i am torturing myself but i know i will have to do it. I thought previously when the decision was further away in my mind that i will be with her but now i cry when i even think about it, so not sure if i am strong enough. She is the nicest, most gentle horse i have ever known and doesn't deserve a painful end. I just can't pick up the phone.
Click to expand...



Try to think of it not as killing her, but of releasing her from her suffering, the kindest gift we can give them. The only thing to suffer from a horse's death is us, the horse will know nothing about it.
 
My oldie was 24. I had her since she was a rising 4 year old. She was my first proper horse.
But her bute had to be increased from 1 a day to 2 then more. I had to clip her as her coat had not dropped. When she went out in to the sand school after the clip she took 6 attempts to get down to roll, i knew then that she could not go on. this was June & part of me thought, shall i let her have the summer?
But in my heart of hearts i couldn't. Yes in some ways i did feel like i was "murdering" my best friend. But the reality was she was siezing up & i couldn't bear the thought of her getting down in her stable one night & not being able to get up again. I called the vet out the next day (tuesday) and after much heartbreak the deed was done on the friday.
But she went down hill in those 4 days, so by the friday morning she needed 7 bute to walk.
the vet said i was very brave for making the decsion to call it a day sooner, rather than later & not let her have the summer. It would not have been for her benefit, it would have been for mine & to me that was shirking the ultimate responsiblity that we hold as owner & lovers of these wonderful creatures.

((big hugs))

It is the hardest decision & good luck
xx
 
I was going to give my old TB until Autumn but I'm not sure now, he spends most of his time under the tree cos he can't cope with this extreme heat and he is very very grumpy which is not him at all. He was retired lame circa 15yrs ago.

The vet is coming next friday to vaccinate the youngsters and I just cannot pickup the phone and ask for it to be done. I need to give at least 2 days notice and am hoping I find some courage between now and next wednesday.

I am also on holiday so could have time to grieve away from work.

I just don't know if he's ready yet as some days he seems to rally.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top