Just spoke to the vet......

MontyandZoom

MontyandZoom

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......and Monty is not as good as he was hoping.

Basically, the vet was called when I was away because Monty had a nosebleed. The vet came out and said that he had a 'head cold'. He prescribed some heavy-duty antibiotics.

That was 8 days ago. He has finished the antibiotics now but I called the vet on Saturday because his 'man-bits'
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were half out (unusual for him) and seemed to be a bit drippy. He also was standing like he needed the toilet. The vet said to give it all a good wash and see how it went.

I called the vet today. Monty's winky seems a bit better but still not 'normal'. His eyes are still very sore and swollen and his nose has lots of dried blood and snot in it. He is still sneezing but has no temperature and although he looks a bit down, he is eating and behaving normally. The vet said that he is concerned since his nose and eyes should be 100% now after the course of drugs.
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He is also worried about the winky problem since the antibiotics he was on are the same prescribed for urinary tract infections. He wants to have a look with the scope up his shnozz to see what's going on. He also wants to run some bloods and see how they look.

I'm really worried about this
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Mainly because he is so old, it isn't covered by insurance. I have asked for a quote and am going to speak to them about paying monthly if it is a big hefty whack.

To cut costs, they said the best plan was to bring him to the practice. That way there is no callout fee and it would be much quicker since electricity is difficult at the field. The problem is......Monty is a kn*b to load!! He is hideous!!!!!
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Does anyone have any idea what could be causing his illness??!!
Do you think I should take him there to lower the costs but potentially upset him??
(and me....last time he caused serious tendon damage when he reared and stood on my ankle!)
 
Personally, I had the vets out to me when my boy was really unwell, they wanted me to box him up to them, but he used to get very stressed when travelling and I decided it was too much to ask of him (he was around 28+ at the time). Only you know your horse well enough to decide whether to box him or not, I can only offer you my experiences and wish Monty a speedy recovery.

Edited to add: because of my horses age he was also not insured, so I know how hard that aspect is as well, I really feel for your situation.
 
That's the problem, he is a stressy type
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But on the other hand, as zoeshiloh says, at least if I went to the clinic they have all the diagnostic tools on hand to investigate what's going on.

Bloody horse........I better get some serious mega-love tonight after all the worry he's causing me!
 
He's 30ish. Not really sure but basically mega-old. He doesn't look or act his age though and before this, was in good health.

That's why I can't claim on my insurance, they will only insure him for injuries.
 
How upsetting this must be given age of monty.

Personally if funds were a bit tight - and you never know what they might find or what it might cost - I would try and load him. As said previously there will be better facilities at the vets to get to the bottom of the problem.

However, I wouldn't push it and get him in a total tiz, just try and see how you go you will know whether its right to stop or not.

If it doesn't work out you can then go to plan b and get the vet to come out.

Good luck thoughts are with you
 
Is he a bad traveller or just a bad loader? If he is just a bad loader, I would set aside a whole day, hitch up the trailer, take all partitions etc out, clip a lunge line onto his headcollar, lead him up to the ramp, then go inside and wait for him to follow. Wait all day if you have to. Don't let his attention wander, keep him facing up the ramp. Don't feed him - put feed/hay etc inside. He will get bored sooner or later and go in, totally stress free. We have used this method on several sticky loaders when stress free loading was the order of the day, and it hasn't failed yet...
 
I have only travelled him twice and he was fine once in the lorry. He didn't make a sound the whole time, including a 7 hour journey when I first got him. He is actually fine once you get all four feet in, even before he's 'locked in' with the partition. He also walks calmly off the lorry too.

He doesn't appear to be afraid of travelling, he's just an arse! I haven't tried him in a trailer so he might be better in the trailer.
 
I'm sorry for your situation, but I do think that you need to consider that at his age, this may be an "end of the line" thing for your horse. He's got problems in more than one place that haven't been cured by strong antibiotics. How likely is it that the vet will find something that can simply be cured and he'll be all right again? Not very, surely? And meanwhile you will have bankrupted yourself, which is bad enough (but at least it would be your own choice), and put him through what sounds like a huge amount of stress for an old man. In your shoes, I think I would see if he gets better at home, and if not have him quietly put to sleep on a nice spring day.

I'm sure you aren't going to want to read this, but I think it needs saying. He is already older than the age most horses live to.
 
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I am not the type that would give him an undignified end and TBH I have always said that anything serious would be game over since it seems pointless to put him through horrible treatment at his age and I love him too much to do that to him. I do understand what you're saying.......but he's not that ill. He is pretty much his normal self, not in pain, just uncomfortable.

OH thinks I should just see how he goes at home. I am just worried that there might be something treatable in which case I don't want to let him just sit in the field feeling poorly. I thought maybe if we can see where the irritation is coming from, we could give him something to make him more comfortable.
 
You are doing your best for him, so if you find whats wrong with him are you going to on treatment till the next problem. At 30 he's done very well and if he'd been in the wild he'd have died years ago. Let him go with some dignity
 
I would try and get him on trailer and get him to the vets so they can take a good look at him and see whats going on. Then at least you will know whether it is something simple or whether he has come to that time in life. But give him a chance first it could be something cureable and he may get back on the mend for a few more good years.
 
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