PTS- Is it too soon?

EB83

EB83

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Am I wrong to be considering putting my mare to sleep?
In summer of 2023 she sadly damaged her suspensory (fore) and was also diagnosed with arthritic changes in her hocks and one knee.
We have attempted to rehab and maintain with steroids & shockwave treatments, water treadmill and input from physio and vet on a regular occasion.
We suffered setbacks with ulcers, 2 fractured teeth (they now think she has a condition affecting the pulp within the teeth) and she has been at times a danger to handle (rearing in hand, threatening in the stable). I retired her from ridden work in the summer (we could not stay sound enough for hacking) and at times she did not want to go to the field, we have to go down a hill.
I have spent nearly £10,000 and I know deep down she is still in pain, she's currently on regular bute but I don't feel it is fair to continue longterm when she cannot be field sound without.

On the outside she looks so well and I don't want to loose her but I dont feel she has the quality of life she deserves.
 
Nobody should criticise your choice unless they have been in your shoes.

You could (with vet approval) up the bute a lot and see if that helps her in hand behavior. Ultimately there may be long term side effects but it might help in the medium term.
But if you chose not to do that - it sounds like you have done more than most would to try and keep her comfortable.

Coming into the bad weather of winter with that list of ailments and not being happy retired - it's a kind thing to be considering for her benefit.
 
So is she field sound and nice to handle on the regular dose of Bute? If so I'd be happy to keep her going as IMO there's nothing wrong in keeping a wonky horse comfortably retired on Bute. Personally I would probably only do that if you felt there was a decent chance of both you and her getting a good run - a year or so maybe - without her requiring any more major interventions. It's not fair on you to be going to the yard every day thinking, what disaster am I going to find now.

However if she is still dangerous to handle and unhappy walking downhill even when she is on regular Bute, then that would suggest to me too that she's really very uncomfortable and the Bute isn't touching it. You said "I know deep down she is still in pain, she's currently on regular bute...." - if that's the case then I would say it's a kindness to let her go.

Sorry you're having to make such a difficult choice.
 
HopOnTrot said:
Doesn’t mean it’s not hard, but you wouldn’t be wrong.
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Absolutely this! Whatever you choose, it's not wrong. You've obviously already poured a huge amount of care and money into this horse. No one could doubt that you've done as much as possible to help her. Not everything can be fixed, or even maintained.
 
If you are thinking about pts, it probably is time. If you can't reliably control her pain and there is no cure for her condition, which there isn't for arthritis, there isn't really any option.
We have been lucky that the weather has been quite mild up to now but it will only get worse for the next 3 months or more.
As has been said before on here, "euthanasia isn't a welfare concern but it can be considered to be an appropriate treatment".
 
elliejhb said:
I dont feel she has the quality of life she deserves.
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I’m guessing before you’re feeling like this then it’s been playing on your mind a lot. Once it gets to that stage then yes, I think it definitely should be a consideration. I’m sorry all the effort hasn’t paid off, it’s such a hard decision.
 
If you feel she is uncomfortable and not happy even on Bute then I wouldn’t say it’s too early.

Some vets are quite pragmatic about such things, some need you to spell out that you aren’t bothered about meeting BEVA guidelines for a death payout from the insurance.

If you don’t want to have to let her go yet and don’t feel she’s comfortable then you could ask about other drugs such as inflacam or equiox (that may not be spelt quite right) or adding in something else (I know a few people who use paracetamol but the dose is of course massive) but with the amount of investigation you’ve done and the things you’ve tried please don’t feel you’re obligated to keep going even if most of the people around you are saying “why don’t you try XYZ” or saying that she’s “not that bad” because she’s not utterly crippled.

If the things she has going on are progressive she’s unlikely to suddenly become any better than she is right now / is likely to become worse over time. If you’re not happy with how she is right now and her current QOL then it sounds like PTS would be a very reasonable and kind choice.

(I was in a vaguely similar situation of having spent about 15k of insurance money and still having a young horse whose soundness / general movement I wasn’t happy with even on Bute / inflacam and recent joint injections into 3 different joints who was also having issues collapsing to his knees sometimes if he lost balance when you had a leg held up. He was also overweight and I just couldn’t manage that without work despite track system that controlled the weight of every other horse there. My vet & the vet at the referral centre were both of the opinion we weren’t at point of PTS… I overruled them (with support from my trimmer who could see exactly what I could see and osteo who admitted albeit more grudgingly that things were only going to get worse from here and weren’t exactly great now) and had him PTS by gun. No judgement from them at all and he went stuffed with an amount of food that would have shamed an elephant!)
 
Having been in a similar position with a horse who looked amazing I know how hard it is to call it a day.
This isn't a sudden idea you've had. You must have been thinking about this for a while. For me it's never too soon if you've tried your best and reached the end of the road financially and emotionally. I am very very sorry you find yourself in this situation x
 
misst said:
Having been in a similar position with a horse who looked amazing I know how hard it is to call it a day.
This isn't a sudden idea you've had. You must have been thinking about this for a while. For me it's never too soon if you've tried your best and reached the end of the road financially and emotionally. I am very very sorry you find yourself in this situation x
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This puts into words exactly what I was trying to say. Sending 🫂 🫂🫂
 
Thanks everyone, I thought I was going to have to make this decision late last winter but we reinjected the hocks and had an improvement (albeit with many hiccups through summer) they were redone in October but sadly it's the suspensory which is causing the issue again.
She doesn't box rest and sadly we do not live in an area of the UK with good winter turnout which will do her no favours with her legs.
 
It's a very personal decision and only you really know your mare.

I found in the closing days/weeks before Choccy went (Sept this year) I had rehearsed and planned telephone conversations with the vet, decided what I did and didn't want, how I hoped it would be. In effect I'd definitely made the decision that he definitely wasn't going to do another winter, I just needed some sort of sign that I was 100pc making the right decision. In the end he made it for me, on the first cold dawn morning of this autumn.

It was quick (as in instant) and as perfect as euthanasia could be. Afterwards I felt a huge, massive sense of relief at not having to take him into winter. My lovely vet made all the arrangements so the fantastic vet arrived at same time as the very discretely parked-just-out-of-sight cremation man. In the weeks since, I've looked at old photos of him in his much younger days when he was healthy, a tear will prick my eye, I remember him very fondly especially as he was my first horse and I had him in my life for 26 years, but it's a tear of remembrance, not a tear for the ancient 33 year old horse that he was this year.

We'll be here to support you whatever you decide to do.
 
Not every horse is able to retire, be it due to pain, personality, turnout options or financials and no-one should feel any shame for any combination of those things, or singular reason. You have done your best and you know your mare better than anyone, if you were being callous about it you would not have done 10% of what you have already tried
 
EB83 said:
Thanks everyone, I thought I was going to have to make this decision late last winter but we reinjected the hocks and had an improvement (albeit with many hiccups through summer) they were redone in October but sadly it's the suspensory which is causing the issue again.
She doesn't box rest and sadly we do not live in an area of the UK with good winter turnout which will do her no favours with her legs.
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This was exactly the situation I was in in 2018. I let my mare go in the September. After 2 years of battling various issues which started with suspensory ligaments. The thought of putting her through another wet Scottish winter just wasn't an option. Making the decision and the call to arrange was one of the hardest things I've done. Cried loads before but I never cried when she was away, honestly I just felt relief for her and for me. It had been a lot for me financially and emotionally. Sorry you are in this position, take care. X
 
elliejhb said:
...
On the outside she looks so well and I don't want to loose her but I dont feel she has the quality of life she deserves.
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It's hard when they outwardly looks well, but other things are giving you that nagging feeling that there's still something not quite right. It's hard when your love is telling you Maybe it's not that time yet.

But on the other hand, what is best for her? Waiting until she also outwardly begins to not look that well anymore?

There's not always a clear, definitive right or wrong answer regarding giving them some more time versus euthanasia. Sometimes you just have to make a decision, and accept that you're doing what you hope is the best decision.
Lots of sympathy, and {{{{{Hugs}}}}}.
 
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