galadriel
18th Nov 2003, 02:08 AM
Exhausted.
Had a beautiful ride this afternoon--I should have known something was up. Kat was cooperative, soft, and relaxed...Although she was still being a greedy little mare even when I finished untacking and turned her out, so maybe she wasn't feeling bad at all yet.
We left them to wander around a bit and unwind. Half an hour or so later, went back out to feed dinner and Kat was parked out and wouldn't move. I thought she was tying up--I was really quite upset. I ran back inside to get some quick info on tying up and the vet's phone number (left a message on the pager); per the info I found I got a hot towel and took it back out with me. (Use heat on the cramped muscles to help them relax.)
When I got back out though, Kat was rolling. Oh, crap, thought I. Called the vet again and left another message. Vet called me back quickly, said it sounded like colic, and I should just walk her until he got there. It was a *very* long 30-40 minutes; we went out at about 6:15 to feed, and by the time the vet got there I thought it must be 11 at least (Ah, relativity.)
Vet listened at her sides, said he thought it was an impaction on her left, and palpated to check. Yeesh--he charged me $20 for the palpation. I wouldn't do it for $200. At least, to someone ELSE's horse... Anyway, he said there was one, and that it wasn't major, and that she should respond well to being flushed out. Gave Banamine IV, stuck the tube down her nose, pumped warm water & oil into her stomach. By the time he was done, she looked much better.
By half an hour later, she was looking for food. By an hour later, she was begging. The grass out there has gotten really low, so I've been giving them hay for several weeks. Vet said to take all the hay away, let her just eat green grass; Kat was seriously scrounging for tidbits of hay. Duchess was miserable, and it wasn't HER fault that I took all the hay away. I've stuck them in the dog pen for the night. It's got long grass--green but pretty dry, so not much to it. She'll be able to nibble all night.
What frustrates me is that the vet said that I was doing everything right. He said they've been seeing a lot of impactions recently, because with the weather, a lot of horses won't drink enough. I *know* that, and I feed them salt daily to make them want to drink more water; he told me I was doing it right, feeding salt properly and even the right amount. We talked about their whole management setup, and he said that I shouldn't change anything. That's just UNfair.
But anyway, Kat's doing fine now. It's been two hours since the vet left, and he said that if she was doing well after two hours then she should be pretty well recovered. Relief-ful end to a very emotional four hours. I think I'm going to fall over and pass out...
Had a beautiful ride this afternoon--I should have known something was up. Kat was cooperative, soft, and relaxed...Although she was still being a greedy little mare even when I finished untacking and turned her out, so maybe she wasn't feeling bad at all yet.
We left them to wander around a bit and unwind. Half an hour or so later, went back out to feed dinner and Kat was parked out and wouldn't move. I thought she was tying up--I was really quite upset. I ran back inside to get some quick info on tying up and the vet's phone number (left a message on the pager); per the info I found I got a hot towel and took it back out with me. (Use heat on the cramped muscles to help them relax.)
When I got back out though, Kat was rolling. Oh, crap, thought I. Called the vet again and left another message. Vet called me back quickly, said it sounded like colic, and I should just walk her until he got there. It was a *very* long 30-40 minutes; we went out at about 6:15 to feed, and by the time the vet got there I thought it must be 11 at least (Ah, relativity.)
Vet listened at her sides, said he thought it was an impaction on her left, and palpated to check. Yeesh--he charged me $20 for the palpation. I wouldn't do it for $200. At least, to someone ELSE's horse... Anyway, he said there was one, and that it wasn't major, and that she should respond well to being flushed out. Gave Banamine IV, stuck the tube down her nose, pumped warm water & oil into her stomach. By the time he was done, she looked much better.
By half an hour later, she was looking for food. By an hour later, she was begging. The grass out there has gotten really low, so I've been giving them hay for several weeks. Vet said to take all the hay away, let her just eat green grass; Kat was seriously scrounging for tidbits of hay. Duchess was miserable, and it wasn't HER fault that I took all the hay away. I've stuck them in the dog pen for the night. It's got long grass--green but pretty dry, so not much to it. She'll be able to nibble all night.
What frustrates me is that the vet said that I was doing everything right. He said they've been seeing a lot of impactions recently, because with the weather, a lot of horses won't drink enough. I *know* that, and I feed them salt daily to make them want to drink more water; he told me I was doing it right, feeding salt properly and even the right amount. We talked about their whole management setup, and he said that I shouldn't change anything. That's just UNfair.
But anyway, Kat's doing fine now. It's been two hours since the vet left, and he said that if she was doing well after two hours then she should be pretty well recovered. Relief-ful end to a very emotional four hours. I think I'm going to fall over and pass out...