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Post by aoconnor on Aug 1, 2015 11:41:51 GMT
My newest mare is severely depressed. She lost her filly one week ago today and hasn't bounced back at all from the loss. She isn't interested in anything much, though she does come up for grain and to get a drink from the tank. She stands under a small stand of trees pretty much all of the time. She is on antibiotics for the issues internally, and I have given bute and Oxytocin for the cramping from foaling. I can't seem to bring her up...any suggestions?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2015 14:53:06 GMT
Wonder if she would like a friend? Maybe a young goat?
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Post by Otter on Aug 1, 2015 14:59:57 GMT
have you tried calling all the local vets and seeing if there's a needy orphan for her to mother?
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Post by mollymckee on Aug 1, 2015 15:06:35 GMT
Or maybe a weakling for her to mother.
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 1, 2015 15:51:07 GMT
Wonder if she would like a friend? Maybe a young goat? She is still pastured with the 2 year old stud colt I brought home that was at the kill buyer pens, they hang out together constantly. But...to hang with the mare, the colt has to also go stand under the trees, so he isn't grazing as much as he needs to, either:-(
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 1, 2015 15:52:56 GMT
Otter and mollymckee, good thoughts. I will call around, see if anyone has a baby that needs a momma. While th mare is still so sick, I don't know how well that would work, but she is not contagious any longer I don't believe, and has been on meds since last Friday. I will talk to our vet...
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Post by mollymckee on Aug 1, 2015 16:20:51 GMT
Maybe some prednisone? One of our old vets told me if nothing has worked, she tries prednisone, a lot of the time it works.
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 1, 2015 22:21:21 GMT
Maybe some prednisone? One of our old vets told me if nothing has worked, she tries prednisone, a lot of the time it works. We think it may be the uterine infection that is causing her to be so down. We are going to do a lavage on Monday, see if we can accelerate her return to health. We had hoped the Doxycycline might get rid of her issues, but probably sh needs more care than that, so off to the vet we go. She did come up this afternoon on her own for dinner. She was eating some of the hay and alfalfa I have out for them both, I was very pleased to see her interest int hose things. She ate well, that was good too:-)
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Post by mollymckee on Aug 1, 2015 23:54:53 GMT
Hope she recovers quickly, she looks like very nice mare. I'm glad you saved her.
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Post by Mari-in-IN on Aug 3, 2015 0:03:01 GMT
Oh, aoconnor, So sorry to hear this--I hope she "bounces" back after awhile! I stated before that I don't have horses but I follow these threads with great interest...Praying for you and for all of the animals in your charge... And for answers/suggestions from all of the knowledgeable people here! Take Care! Mari
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 3, 2015 2:48:09 GMT
Oh, aoconnor, So sorry to hear this--I hope she "bounces" back after awhile! I stated before that I don't have horses but I follow these threads with great interest...Praying for you and for all of the animals in your charge... And for answers/suggestions from all of the knowledgeable people here! Take Care! Mari I think she will be fine, I am hoping that when her health issues are resolved she will feel more like being a part of life again. She is a really lovely girl, sweet and kind, hopefully she will stay that way when she recovers! Thank you for praying for her...and for all my horses and critters:-)
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Post by mollymckee on Aug 3, 2015 23:10:03 GMT
Any change?
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 4, 2015 2:41:26 GMT
I took her to my vet this morning. We did a lavage today, but her backside is torn up pretty badly and she is a windsucker right now. We are doing a caslick tomorrow after one more lavage, hoping this will stop the issue of wind sucking as well as the introduction of bacteria and debris into her uterus. She is also getting put on a stronger antibiotic to knock out the upper respiratory infection.
She is eating better and coming up to me much better for her feed and meds. She is a very calm and sweet mare, I am quite attached to her!
Thank you for asking about this girl:-)
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Post by Mari-in-IN on Aug 4, 2015 2:50:43 GMT
Just got done reading the first paragraph of your post and didn't understand a word of it!!! But like I said before-I don't have horses...BUT--following this thread nonetheless (I may learn a thing or two along the way!) and so glad to hear that she is eating/relating to you better! Take care aoconnor, Mari
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Post by mollymckee on Aug 4, 2015 2:57:49 GMT
It's just sickening how many good horses are being sold to kill buyers. I watch the nearest yard, some promising horses get dumped for who knows what reason. The older horese sure don't deserve tone just thrown away. The least you could do for a horse is put him down, if you don't want to retire him. There is an active group here that rescueshorses by finding buyers for them before they ship. They have had some really nice animals there. Several times I have been about to go get a horse but they have found buyers for them. One of these days I'm sure I'll get one, even tho they sell a little higher than cl or local auctions.
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 4, 2015 11:26:51 GMT
mollymckee, I couldn't agree more. I find it sickening that in this society, everything is a throw-away anymore. I have several older horses that will never lack for care while they are on our ranch. I can't imagine dumping a horse because it is old and worn out. Put it down, yes, but dump in a slaughter auction, never. I would take them all if I could. Sigh. The other ones that hurt so much to see are the babies. My 2 year old colt we just pulled, he is gorgeous. But he has an umbilical hernia that went un-repaired as well as needing to be gelded, and I am sure those two things combined is why he is emaciated and was in the kill pen. He has no manners, so no one ever even tried to do anything with him. Really? He is a sweet, kind boy, and will be a wonderful gelding come next week! No more hernia either!
I love what I am allowed to do! I feed em, God fixes em:-=)
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 4, 2015 11:46:54 GMT
Just got done reading the first paragraph of your post and didn't understand a word of it!!! But like I said before-I don't have horses...BUT--following this thread nonetheless (I may learn a thing or two along the way!) and so glad to hear that she is eating/relating to you better! Take care aoconnor, Mari LOL! Ok, here's the scoop: A lavage is basically like a womens douche. It is a uterine flush to remove bacteria or other type issues form a mares uterus. I have them done every time I get ready to breed a mare, it just leaves a "clean room" for the embryo to settle in and grow. They hang a huge bag of saline solution, insert the tube into the mare, inflate a little balloon to open up the cervix into the uterus, then "flush" slowly. There is an exit tube that they can control the water flow out of, they drain the inserted fluids back out into a container so they can see what is going on, if the fluid coming out is clear or if there is a visible discoloration. That gives them an idea of infection, etc. In Bellas' case, we did a saline flush first, then an antibiotic infusion that we left in her. We will do another lavage, infusion today, then she should be good to go. A wind sucker is when the vulva does not come together correctly or is very flaccid and loose, and the mare "sucks" wind into her vagina which can introduce bacteria into her uterus that can cause inflammation and infection, as was what happened to Bella. A Caslick is a manner of suturing the vulva from the top down to close off some of the vulva for several reasons, including stopping wind sucking. A lot of performance mares have a caslick done to keep them from wind sucking in competition from exertion. A lot of time a portion of the vulva is removed on each side, reducing the tissue amount, and then is sutured together (which will be permanent). A vet leaves enough room for the mare to urinate normally, but the opening is much smaller than before and even if she were to get in with a stallion it would be difficult to penetrate her. The caslick will be sliced open at the time of breeding, then closed back up again until foaling time. I have a Thoroughbred mare that was on the track. She had a caslick we removed when she foaled, but since she was artificially inseminated, we didn't have to cut it when she was bred. After she foaled we sewed her back up:-) Anyway, it is always good to ask questions, I will always answer the best I can:-)
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Post by Mari-in-IN on Aug 5, 2015 2:23:19 GMT
Welllll... That was mighty informative! Thanks for taking time to fill me in! I now do believe there is much more to keeping a horse than I ever imagined... I hope the two are continuing to improve... Still makes me so sick that animals such as these go to butcher... I'm glad there are people out there like you that have the resources and the heart to give them a good life and a chance to live it out... Regards, Mari
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 5, 2015 3:43:28 GMT
Welllll... That was mighty informative! Thanks for taking time to fill me in! I now do believe there is much more to keeping a horse than I ever imagined... I hope the two are continuing to improve... Still makes me so sick that animals such as these go to butcher... I'm glad there are people out there like you that have the resources and the heart to give them a good life and a chance to live it out... Regards, Mari Lol! I am a teacher at heart:-) Sorry if it was a little too descriptive! Both the are doing well right now. Brought Bella home today and she is feeling much better:-) Banner was ecstatic that she got off that trailer today!! They both happily loped away into the pasture to graze out for a while together:-)
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Post by ketoriverfarm on Aug 5, 2015 3:52:05 GMT
Welllll... That was mighty informative! Thanks for taking time to fill me in! I now do believe there is much more to keeping a horse than I ever imagined... I hope the two are continuing to improve... Still makes me so sick that animals such as these go to butcher... I'm glad there are people out there like you that have the resources and the heart to give them a good life and a chance to live it out... Regards, Mari I don't have any horses either, but I do stop once in awhile just because. The things you learn. My oh my!
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 5, 2015 12:16:50 GMT
Sorry if I was a little TOO descriptive in my explanation! I do try to teach, should maybe stick to smilies!
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 5, 2015 12:21:53 GMT
I brought Bella home yesterday with lots of good news from her vet visit. No fluid in her chest, but she does have pneumonia. A shot of Excede did what a week of Doxycycline couldn't, it cleared her runny nose and goopy eyes up! I was SO glad to see the improvement! She also has not foundered nor been laminitic; we were very concerned about possible rotation from her very high fever she had last weekend, but thankfully it wasn't as destructive as it could have been. She has very thin soles so we will do a half set of shoes on her fronts to keep her comfortable, that is the only issue she really has that will take long term caution to keep her sound. Her lavage cleaned her out really well and she has no more edema/infection in her uterus. She is eating well, and SO glad to be home! When I turned her out last evening, Banner was beside himself with happy trots around her, and they both galloped away to graze. Beautiful sight for sure:-)
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Post by mzgarden on Aug 5, 2015 12:32:10 GMT
I will chime in - I too have no horse experience, but I enjoy reading and learning. I think you description was clear and helpful - I just never know when I'll learn something here that can be reapplied. Keep teaching and glad to hear your girl appears to have turned the corner.
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Post by Mari-in-IN on Aug 5, 2015 13:36:19 GMT
Sorry if I was a little TOO descriptive in my explanation! I do try to teach, should maybe stick to smilies! I didn't think you were! I found it very interesting! Hey, you just have to tell it like it is-and a lot of the time it's not all roses... When our farmer friend milked I spent a lot of time down there... learned a lot about cows! Even helped him on several occasions when he had to "crank" (as he would so eloquently put it! ) calves out that were not going to come out on their own... A couple of times the cow stood and I got to "catch" the calf as it came out... I was covered with gunk but I had a smile on my face! Neat experience... ~Mari ETA-so glad that they are doing well-by your description-they sound "happy" together...
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Post by mollymckee on Aug 5, 2015 15:16:16 GMT
Your explaination was very well done, aoconner. In our family it might happen at the dinner table! About half of us are involved in medicine, the others are interested and have animals. Sometimes we see visitors turning green.
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 5, 2015 15:43:14 GMT
Your explaination was very well done, aoconner. In our family it might happen at the dinner table! About half of us are involved in medicine, the others are interested and have animals. Sometimes we see visitors turning green. Ha! My husband just absolutely cringes when I go into a detailed account of something medical with my horses. He can't see the cuts, or hear about the arm up the backside stuff:-) He gets all queasy:-) In what way are you involved in medicine? I am always a learner, I love hearing new medical things from my vets, reading about different techniques for treatment, etc. I worked as both a small and exotic vet tech in the past, but since having this many horses...I have really tackled equine health and medical research. I love it!
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Post by mollymckee on Aug 6, 2015 4:47:01 GMT
I'm a retired RN, much of the rest of the family is involved in medicine as well. When our kids were little the vet would say at our house he had to tell the kids to stay back so he could see, everywhere else no one wanted to help. I hoped one of the kids would be a vet, now I'm hopeful that a DGD will. Our oldest DGD is in PT school, the one starting college this fall wants a degree in animal nutrition. The senior in high school wants to study vet med. if she keeps her grades up she should be able to do it. Medical research is very interesting, both veterinarian and human. Our son is a hospital CEO so new technology and research is something he keeps up with so the rest of us try to as well.
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 6, 2015 11:17:12 GMT
mollymckee, very cool! I love medicine and nursing, but didn't go the human route. I have 2 granddaughters so far, both are horse crazy mini-me's:-) They are very young though, just 7 and 2.5. There is much time to harness their energy and direct it into helping others!
Good on you for nursing, it is a blessing to have a good caregiver when the need arises, and a good nurse is worth his or her weight in gold!
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Post by mollymckee on Aug 6, 2015 15:06:29 GMT
Thanks, while I loved working in L&D, my first choice was veterinary medicine. However, back then our state had no school, no contract with another state so getting in was not a reality as school first took boys from their own state, boys from contract states, boys from states with no school, then girls from their state, ect. One of my friend's father actually moved to Iowa when she was in high school so she could qualify as an in state student. That wasn't an option for my Dad. Anyway, while I'm not a feminist, it is good to see more than half of the vet students are women now-as well as medical students.
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Post by aoconnor on Aug 9, 2015 3:52:01 GMT
UPDATE! Bella is doing much better. Her nasty upper respiratory infection seems to have diminished well, and she is eating and moving around a lot more. She is interested in the rest of the herd, wants so much to go out with them, but I won't let she and Banner out until after he is gelded on Tuesday. They will remain on my top pasture until probably Thursday, then out they go with the herd to start figuring out who they are and where they fit on the ranch. I will be trying Bella out to see if she is broke, and if so, awesome, if not she will be soon enough:-) Too nice of a mare to let go to pasture.
Pics when I am able to get some good ones!
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