JJones
Well-Known Member
I made the decision this morning to have my elderly tb pts. She has suffered arthritis for a few years and gets lymphangitis. I already had decided to let her go before winter.
This morning her leg had ballooned up with lymphangitis. She wouldn't eat and was shaking. Rather than treat her I decided it was time to let her go. I spoke to vet at length saying I wanted the best possible scenario. I.e straight down and not thrashing about as I'd had a mare do years before after the sedation reacted.
Vet came out and we agreed no sedation just like most of my other horses as it's generally better that way. She injected the first injection of somulose in. I saw blood come back into syringe. I've had many horses pts over the years and generally they go down after the first.
By the 3rd and final one she was still standing. Then she started losing her balance and crashed through the stable partion. To cut a long story short she wouldn't die. She kept trying to stand up and kept crashing into the partition
Vet went and got a bottle of barbiturate. She was lying still enough by now to inject safely. Again I watched and blood came back so she'd got vein. A whole bottle of barbiturate went in. We thought then she had almost gone as she stopped breathing but reflexes in eyes. Then she woke up again, becoming alert. She tried putting a bottle of magnesium in her veins and at this put she went unconscious but not dying.
I have no words to describe the heartbreak. My beautiful horse in her last hours.
Eventually our farming neighbour came and shot her.
I thought I was doing the right thing and now I have to live with what my horse went through. 17 years of loving her and that was her final moments.
The vet was on phone to senior vet and she is not inexperienced herself. They both said it does happen. I've never seen a horse not die after all those drugs.
I don't know if something did go wrong or it was as she said.
This morning her leg had ballooned up with lymphangitis. She wouldn't eat and was shaking. Rather than treat her I decided it was time to let her go. I spoke to vet at length saying I wanted the best possible scenario. I.e straight down and not thrashing about as I'd had a mare do years before after the sedation reacted.
Vet came out and we agreed no sedation just like most of my other horses as it's generally better that way. She injected the first injection of somulose in. I saw blood come back into syringe. I've had many horses pts over the years and generally they go down after the first.
By the 3rd and final one she was still standing. Then she started losing her balance and crashed through the stable partion. To cut a long story short she wouldn't die. She kept trying to stand up and kept crashing into the partition
Vet went and got a bottle of barbiturate. She was lying still enough by now to inject safely. Again I watched and blood came back so she'd got vein. A whole bottle of barbiturate went in. We thought then she had almost gone as she stopped breathing but reflexes in eyes. Then she woke up again, becoming alert. She tried putting a bottle of magnesium in her veins and at this put she went unconscious but not dying.
I have no words to describe the heartbreak. My beautiful horse in her last hours.
Eventually our farming neighbour came and shot her.
I thought I was doing the right thing and now I have to live with what my horse went through. 17 years of loving her and that was her final moments.
The vet was on phone to senior vet and she is not inexperienced herself. They both said it does happen. I've never seen a horse not die after all those drugs.
I don't know if something did go wrong or it was as she said.
x
