Kali's recovery diary (I hope)

Just a few random pics . . . Kal after his bath today (doesn't he look impressed)?





Little May (new foalie) . . . yes, she is a little scrap at the moment but Mum came out of winter poor and owner thought (wrongly as it turns out) that she had lost the foal so wasn't feeding accordingly . . . but she has picked up beautifully and is thriving now . . . much to the relief of owner (and everyone else at the farm) :)









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Hopefully thinking outside the box will bear fruit PS. The livery may be good but it sounds very busy and unpredictable. I second the Egusin or similar.
 
amandap said:
Hopefully thinking outside the box will bear fruit PS. The livery may be good but it sounds very busy and unpredictable. I second the Egusin or similar.
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Last two days have been good/quiet, but in the meantime I am researching other options.

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Farrier came today to do his feet . . . removed his back shoes, took down that heel (off fore). His feet are a little crumbly, but given how wet the winter has been, to be expected. I will try and remember to take my proper camera up tomorrow to take pictures. He has been much quieter (shhhhhh, not getting complacent ;)).

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I can't work out how to PM you on my phone but I know a very good place locally that does rest/retirement grass livery. A friend's horse went there a few months ago and she's thrilled how well he's settled as he's been a habitual fence walker all his life and now he's completely chilled with his new friends.
 
Just a tiny update . . . still nice and settled in new routine . . . haven't had to dope him or give him a paste calmer since Sunday . . . not at all footy behind without his shoes on . . . I think we're on the right track!

Now that he is in a routine and is spending some time outside/in the field, will talk to some BF experts to get a steer on whether I should take his fronts off now or wait until those feet will be doing a bit more work.

He has his second shockwave treatment on Tuesday - is it too much to hope that vet will find an improvement already?

Massive thanks to all those who have PM'd with recommendations of grass rehab/retirement liveries . . . probably don't need that right now, but if the current treatment doesn't work then I certainly will.

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amandap said:
Great news. x
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Thanks :). I'm feeling a little more calm/less stressed about him now. He, however, has gone into full on grumpy mode . . . he has withdrawn rather into himself and is very subdued. I don't like seeing him like this . . . I miss his sparkly, cheeky attitude . . . but I know that this is his way of coping with not being in work and it's infinitely preferable to him charging around.

Can't wait until I have my sparkly boy back again in a few months time though . . .

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Quick update . . . he is now coping well with his routine, and has even been happy in the barn alone for the past two nights (YO's two are competing at Southview and Frey goes out at night now). He is a little footy behind on the gravel, but fine on the tarmac and in the field. Has his second shock wave treatment on Tuesday.

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Phew. Oh lord I hope it was just a blip and the circumstances temporarily blew his brains! Hopefully if the routine stays you can stay on the roll......... Good luck Tuesday x
 
Just to say, my boy fractured his radius, he was cross tied for ten weeks and box rested for a further three months, I gave him a calmer called zyklene, it worked a treat.
 
Second Shockwave Treatment

What a difference from the first . . . he was calm and chilled, took a minimal amount of sedative and it was over nice and quick. Vet agreed with me that he is looking rather, ahem, portly . . . now that he has settled into his routine, spends much of his time scoffing good quality hay and does NO work, he has piled on the pounds and looks like an in-foal mare! So . . . I will have to start soaking his hay - oh joy, another job to add to my day!

Vet (who is not my regular vet, but is from the same practice - mine's away) did palpate the suspensory and said he was still getting a reaction . . . but without knowing how bad the inflammation was to start with he has nothing to compare against.

So . . . it's all rather boring really - continue as we have been. A couple of hours in the field with his little buddy while I muck out/do yard chores, etc., bute, cold hosing twice a day and gentle/controlled exercise on an appropriate surface (basically crawling round the walker at the lowest possible speed setting) just to get some movement in those feet for his navicular.

Two more shock wave treatments and then vet will come back and do another lameness work up and (possibly) re-scan and/or inject with steroids.

He is not currently having any calmer other than the mag ox supplement and seems to be coping really well. No Magic, no sedalin . . . he has even coped with being alone in the barn at night since Friday - YO's two were at Southview competing and his girlfriend is currently out at night/in during the day. Clever boy :).

Keeping everything bendy crossed that we are on the right path . . .

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PolarSkye said:
So . . . it's all rather boring really - continue as we have been. A couple of hours in the field with his little buddy while I muck out/do yard chores, etc., bute, cold hosing twice a day and gentle/controlled exercise on an appropriate surface (basically crawling round the walker at the lowest possible speed setting) just to get some movement in those feet for his navicular.


Keeping everything bendy crossed that we are on the right path . . .

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Boring! Boring you can do! :) Will be keeping everything crossed the right path continues............. x
 
Hetsmum said:
Boring! Boring you can do! :) Will be keeping everything crossed the right path continues............. x
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Thank you . . . I'll take boring too. Just need to keep him quiet for the rest of the rehab. We had a blip yesterday when he had a mini gallop (probably just 90 seconds/two minutes) because something upset him in his field . . . but if those blips are few and far between and the spends the majority of his time quiet and still, we might have a chance.

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More good news which is fab to read. You must be so relieved he has settled even if you might have to plan for a "bogoff" and the press! ;) :D
 
So he tucked into his trug of soaked hay this morning with gusto . . . really surprised me - thought he would hate it.

However, when I checked his leg this morning (first time since shock wave on Tuesday) he was still rather reactive :(.

Am I being ridiculously impatient? Aside from a 90-second run-around at the weekend, he has now been quiet for a good two weeks straight . . . we've just had second shock wave treatment, he's on two bute a day, is cold hosed twice a day . . . should I be seeing improvement yet?

Sigh.

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Sorry no advise but 2 weeks doesn't seem long to me but I have no experience with that type of injury. Would the shock wave not make it tender though? When I have had treatment on my back it can be quite tender for a couple of days..... If he is being good and all is going ok with the rehab I would try to be patient with it. I was always told breaks heal quicker and easier than soft tissue. xxx
 
Hetsmum said:
Sorry no advise but 2 weeks doesn't seem long to me but I have no experience with that type of injury. Would the shock wave not make it tender though? When I have had treatment on my back it can be quite tender for a couple of days..... If he is being good and all is going ok with the rehab I would try to be patient with it. I was always told breaks heal quicker and easier than soft tissue. xxx
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Thanks. It's hard not to be pessimistic :(.

In other news, he is a) fat (and he never gets fat - not that sort of horse - he looks like an in-foal mare); and b) has been coughing a tiny bit (doubtless due to being in the barn with dry hay/a straw bed) . . . so he is now having soaked hay . . . he is NOT impressed ;).

I have to be careful wrt to depriving him of forage . . . if I cut his hay ration back, even in a small-holed haynet, he will eat it all and we treat him very much as though he has ulcers . . . he is girthy, can box-walk, is generally a stressy boy . . . he CAN (and does) eat his bed if he is hungry/runs out of hay, but I'd rather he had something to eat while he's in just to keep him calm/give him something to do.

I feel bad - the poor boy looks at me like his throat has been cut when he walks back into his stable after I've mucked out and spies the soaked haynets . . . however, needs must ;).

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Sorry folks, having another poopy day . . . I feel like I'm in limbo here with no real idea whether he's getting better or not . . . I know I need to be patient and go with the treatment, but I wish I could see inside that leg or into the future.

Lovely Z has taken both the jump and dressage saddles . . . she can put them to use elsewhere and absolutely fair enough and why not - it makes perfect sense after all - and, as she keep saying, "when he comes back into work, neither of them will fit him and we'll have to have them reflocked so I may as well take them and use them on something else in the meantime" - and the dear girl is right.

But when I step into the tack room and see the empty saddle racks, I am reminded that this may be "it" - that we may not get him sound, and then what?

I love him to distraction. Had a jolly good cry on his neck this afternoon and the little reprobate was actually quite concerned and consternated (makes a change, he is usually too full of his own self importance to notice how I am).

What on earth will I do if I can't get him sound? My magnificent silver boy.

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PolarSkye said:
What on earth will I do if I can't get him sound? My magnificent silver boy.

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You will love him to pieces! :) No different from before.

Anyway I think you are counting your chickens here. You don't have a crystal ball and as you say can't see inside the leg. This is very early days and the main thing at the moment is to manage his day to day routine. The soaked hay will help with the weight and he will get used to it (may not like it :mad: but that's life!) Don't forget the branches to keep him amused in his stable. I do understand he is a horse that loves his job, however he is very lucky to have an owner who will love him regardless..........:)

I have poop news today. After another 5 days of iv antibiotics and 2 weeks oral antibiotics..........a week off and the damn snots have returned to my boy. :( He has had this now since March on and off. Vet already booked for Monday scope which was supposed to give him the all clear........:( It will now be to culture again and try antibiotics again. He is 21 and usually ridden every day. Of my three he is the only one I can compete and TBH I miss it. I was really hoping to get him to some Veteran classes this year and a bit of dressage but at this rate................:( Anyway I think icecream is in order to save the day! :p
 
Hetsmum said:
You will love him to pieces! :) No different from before.

Anyway I think you are counting your chickens here. You don't have a crystal ball and as you say can't see inside the leg. This is very early days and the main thing at the moment is to manage his day to day routine. The soaked hay will help with the weight and he will get used to it (may not like it :mad: but that's life!) Don't forget the branches to keep him amused in his stable. I do understand he is a horse that loves his job, however he is very lucky to have an owner who will love him regardless..........:)
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You are, of course, right . . . branches not required in stable, though, as he is calm as you like in there now that he is in a routine. I'm just being impatient and irrational . . . need to build a bridge and get over it really ;).

I have poop news today. After another 5 days of iv antibiotics and 2 weeks oral antibiotics..........a week off and the damn snots have returned to my boy. :( He has had this now since March on and off. Vet already booked for Monday scope which was supposed to give him the all clear........:( It will now be to culture again and try antibiotics again. He is 21 and usually ridden every day. Of my three he is the only one I can compete and TBH I miss it. I was really hoping to get him to some Veteran classes this year and a bit of dressage but at this rate................:( Anyway I think icecream is in order to save the day! :p
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Oh no! Is vet utterly baffled? How frustrating for you - and it must be hard to see him out of sorts. I really, really hope you and your vet finally get to the bottom of what's ailing your lovely boy. Must admit I didn't have any ice cream, but I did have some rather nice wine ;).

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PolarSkye said:
Oh no! Is vet utterly baffled? How frustrating for you - and it must be hard to see him out of sorts. I really, really hope you and your vet finally get to the bottom of what's ailing your lovely boy. Must admit I didn't have any ice cream, but I did have some rather nice wine ;).

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Hope today has you feeling a bit more positive. My lad has strep and staph and has had the appropriate antibiotics..........(several times) but a week after finishing it keeps coming back! Ahhhhhh. Anyway vet back again tomorrow afternoon who is one of the leading respiratory vets in the country so I am sure he will sort it ..........eventually! Horsey is actually not too down :) about it all as he had started to drop off weight (he is a fatty) and so is having extra rations which he is loving! ;) Oh and he thinks he has gone into early retirement - which would suit him down to the ground. If he was a person he would be a couch potato! :p
 
Hetsmum said:
Hope today has you feeling a bit more positive. My lad has strep and staph and has had the appropriate antibiotics..........(several times) but a week after finishing it keeps coming back! Ahhhhhh. Anyway vet back again tomorrow afternoon who is one of the leading respiratory vets in the country so I am sure he will sort it ..........eventually! Horsey is actually not too down :) about it all as he had started to drop off weight (he is a fatty) and so is having extra rations which he is loving! ;) Oh and he thinks he has gone into early retirement - which would suit him down to the ground. If he was a person he would be a couch potato! :p
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How did it go with the vet? How frustrating for you!

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PolarSkye said:
How did it go with the vet? How frustrating for you!

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Wash did not look too bad - but await results today or tomorrow. Bloods may be back today. Sinus did look a little irregular so he may have sinusitis now......oh joy! ;) At least it's treatable though! Hope K's being a good boy x
 
Hetsmum said:
Wash did not look too bad - but await results today or tomorrow. Bloods may be back today. Sinus did look a little irregular so he may have sinusitis now......oh joy! ;) At least it's treatable though! Hope K's being a good boy x
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All possible bendy things crossed for you :). K's not being a complete plonker ;).

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PolarSkye said:
All possible bendy things crossed for you :). K's not being a complete plonker ;).

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How is K doing? Still taking a chill pill? My scope is clear! :D Jump up and down - no infections! Liver back to normal............ :D. Oh dear ..........what was that on Wednesday........lots and lots of snot! :( Vet thinks it is now sinusitis. 2 weeks gentle exercise and 24/7 turnout (my normal summer routine anyway) and touch base then. If still any discharge it will be x-ray and the drill! :eek: About 50/50 odds of having to do it he thinks. Snot has cost about £2k so far and my other 2 having snots too initially (although they recovered pretty quickly) add on another £1k because one of them got antibiotic in his eye so got an eye ulcer........ Then there has been the hoof abscess (£400 required x-rays) and the possible carcinoma that had to be removed (cob already had lost half his manhood to cancer) £500. All since February! Blimey it sounds like I am the most rubbish owner ever or have the most expensive vets ever! They're not - they are fab! Horses are just paying me back for being well for so long I guess.......you know what they say about it always happens in 3's. Make that 10's in my life! ;) Thanks be for the insurance! Although the hoof, and manhood no longer covered. I am just thankful I don't have to face cancer again because compared to that - anything is easy. Hugs to Kali and tell him to be a good boy and get well soon x
 
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