Pearlsasinger
Up in the clouds
2 years ago I decided to treat myself to a birthday present and my new bombproof Westphalian Draft mare arrived in the last weekend in January.
She obviously decided that we needed to mark the 'ownerversary' this year.
When sis and i went out for last checks at midnight on Wednesday she was obviously in the 1st stages of colic. No-one could possibly call her a stoic, she was lying down groaning. So we called the vet who gave her the usual painkiller and muscle relaxant injection. After several checks, I breathed sigh of relief at 4.00am, when she had passed some dung. I gave her a 2nd bran mash and went to bed, thinking 'Thank God for that'.
Unfortunately I had to ring the vet again at 8.00am when she was down and groaning again. Daytime vet examined her internally, said the colon was blocked and displaced but the gut was not twisted, and intubated her. We discussed the worst case scenario and decided that it would not be appropriate to take her to horsepital.
Although she stopped groaning, she refused to eat and the vet had to come back at teatime, bringing a colleague with her. This time the obstruction had gone, so another injection and time were prescribed. We dispensed with the bran mash and tempted her to eat with well-soaked grassnuts. From then on she began to improve and I'm delighted to say that she is now out in the field with her companions eating grass with gusto.
Sis, who put them out this morning, reports that the drama queen is now complaining that her nose is sore from the tube.
This year's best birthday present (with apologies to all those kind people who gave me one) is definitely the fact that she recovered but I do hope that she is not intending to mark every year in the same way. Sis and I are exhausted!
She obviously decided that we needed to mark the 'ownerversary' this year.
When sis and i went out for last checks at midnight on Wednesday she was obviously in the 1st stages of colic. No-one could possibly call her a stoic, she was lying down groaning. So we called the vet who gave her the usual painkiller and muscle relaxant injection. After several checks, I breathed sigh of relief at 4.00am, when she had passed some dung. I gave her a 2nd bran mash and went to bed, thinking 'Thank God for that'.
Unfortunately I had to ring the vet again at 8.00am when she was down and groaning again. Daytime vet examined her internally, said the colon was blocked and displaced but the gut was not twisted, and intubated her. We discussed the worst case scenario and decided that it would not be appropriate to take her to horsepital.
Although she stopped groaning, she refused to eat and the vet had to come back at teatime, bringing a colleague with her. This time the obstruction had gone, so another injection and time were prescribed. We dispensed with the bran mash and tempted her to eat with well-soaked grassnuts. From then on she began to improve and I'm delighted to say that she is now out in the field with her companions eating grass with gusto.
Sis, who put them out this morning, reports that the drama queen is now complaining that her nose is sore from the tube.
This year's best birthday present (with apologies to all those kind people who gave me one) is definitely the fact that she recovered but I do hope that she is not intending to mark every year in the same way. Sis and I are exhausted!