When would you call it a day??

If there was a possibility of it being on drugs for a long time, possibly in a lot of pain, i would have called it a day, especially if its future is uncertain.
Horses should not suffer, and filling a horse with drugs is not something i would want to do.
We had a very similar situation at our yard where a horse was 2 minutes from dying of colic, yes it picked up and is fine, but that horse was in a lot of pain for 3 days, has sores all over it from lying down... some people can cope with their horse being in so much pain, but i don't want to put any of ours through that, especially if its as bad as you say!
 
You look into their eyes and you ask them are they ready to go yet.

Carrie was. So I had her pts. Dorey was not, so I fought to keep her alive.

It applies to old age as much as illness, I know one old boy who although not too old, is ready to go, but his owner won't let him.

It's in their eyes. And only you can read that.
 
If its as bad as it sounds from what you have said then I think I would have to PTS. I would want to give my mare every chance but if she was never going to have a decent quality of life and be in pain and heavily medicated then I would not think twice and have her PTS.
 
I personally think you should call it a day by not putting posts on here at the expense of someone elses predicament as this is not the first time. It not the business of others to judge what this person wants to do. It is a difficult enough time. I am pretty sure that the vets are advising her. They have a 'duty of care' and also a code of 'first do no harm'. I think you should think very carefully about what you put on here before you hit the button.
 
I know its a terribly hard decision but i would have PTS a while ago... horses don't understand that the pain may be temporary and that they will get better.... they dont have that sense of time so its cruel to put them through the suffering imho
 
Cougar/bex to be honest if you don't like what I post don't comment on the posts. Don't bring a personal vendetta on here. I have read numerous posts by you where you have slagged off people and commented on things that shouldn't be brought onto a forum. Those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. If you two want to say something to me do it to my face do not try and cause trouble on a post you have no interest in.
 
lol!!!!!! i didnt think you named names!!! Dont make me laugh! I have never slagged any one off on here and neither would I so get ya facts straight. It is not a personal vendetta at all and if that is the way you think then all I can say is it must be touching your conscience in some way.
 
It is perfectly clear from the post that the OP was not asking anyone to ciriticise this particular person, who is anonymous to almost all of us, but wanting to know what we would do with our own horses in a similar situation.

There's nothing wrong with what she has asked. It's a question that badly needs airing. There are far too many people, in my opinion, for what it's worth, keeping their horses alive because they cannot face their OWN pain if they have them put down.

It can also be very helpful to some people to be given "permission", for example by reading the opinions on a forum like this, to think the unthinkable and have their horse put to sleep.
 
Oooooooooooh big Vic and Bob handbags.

Dog Cat horse whatever, PTS if it's going to be a long drawn out process of pain, just like in the war, soldiers in the trenches "knew" why they were suffering, horses (millions of them on both sides) suffering dreadfully and not knowing or understanding why, very sad when it's all down to mans/womans stupidity or greed.
 
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I would make this decision earlier rather than later. Because a horse that is suffering cannot look ahead and hope that he will be getting better. He lives in the moment of the pain. Because a horse that is dead is not suffering at all, it is at peace. And because if I got it wrong, and he could have had more years of happy life after going through a period of dreadful pain, he doesn't know that, or care.

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ditto in a lot of ways, and interestingly similar to my views on wildlife rehab too as in the animal as far as we know lives very much in the moment and doesnt comprehend the current situation in the same way we do.
 
I don't know - it is a difficult one and I think would depend a lot on the individual horse, how old it was, how could a patient it was. We all know some horses are ok on box rest/not doing an awful lot whereas others it just wouldn't be possible to keep them like this without causing undue stress.

However, I do believe our instincts kick in and if you know your horse you can sort of pick up a 'vibe'. Some horses give up - you can see it in their eyes (I can't explain it if you've not seen it - I have seen it) and then you know there's not an awful lot you can do. Some horses still have that fight left in them and sometimes, although others may not agree, if the finances are there why not try and treat or cure if there is a chance the horse could recover?

I also feel it's important for progression of veterinary medicine in general. It is stated the vets didn't really know what caused this and therefore have to 'guess' at how to treat. But from cases like this they can only learn more surely? Ok, there is a line when it comes to keeping a horse alive purely for veterinary 'experiment' but I do feel it is very helpful for vets to deal and treat cases like this. I guess it's similar to grass sickness, it is still not really known what causes it but treatment and success rates in treating cases are improving and i imagine much of this has been down to trial and error in treatments.
 
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