Time does really fly, but it also stands still at the same time.
Ben is now in his third week of box rest after his operation. He is finally settling down and becoming more like his old self as he has been incredibly stressed over the last few weeks. I have found that routine is really important to him. I visit him 3 times per day and do everything in the same order each time so that he knows exactly what to expect. He has finally decided to drink some water which is a huge relief and he is eating loads of hay (soaked for at least 8 hours). He enjoys having a bucket of cut grass at lunchtime and is pooing for England. This makes me relax slightly that the initial risk of colic has passed, but I remain vigilant. He has lost weight since he came out of hospital which is no bad thing as he was very fat!
His stitches came out this week and I was so proud that he didn't need to be sedated for this. The vet wouldn't be drawn into any discussions on prognosis for recovery and told me to try and enjoy the box rest and time will tell if he gets better. He is having two 5 minute walk outs per day and this is just to stop his body seizing up and making sure the blood is flowing round his body. He was getting very strong on these walks as he kept pulling for grass, but he soon worked out that if he walked round nicely and went back into his stable with no fuss he got an apple. He now can't wait to get back to the stable for this treat!
His coat is coming through and he is very fluffy. He has a long mane and is hot underneath it. I have always fully clipped him in September so I am looking forward to seeing how his coat grows this year. He has equine massage and physio appointments booked for the next few weeks so hopefully we can keep his body as functioning as possible.
So all in all, it's going as well as it can. We have 5 weeks and 5 days to find out if the operation worked and if we can start planning for the future. I am enjoying the nice moments as best I can and trying not to think about what the future holds. It scares me to think he might not be here at Christmas but when I snuggle and smell him each morning and night I feel thankful that he is here today and I try to enjoy it as much as I can.
Ben is now in his third week of box rest after his operation. He is finally settling down and becoming more like his old self as he has been incredibly stressed over the last few weeks. I have found that routine is really important to him. I visit him 3 times per day and do everything in the same order each time so that he knows exactly what to expect. He has finally decided to drink some water which is a huge relief and he is eating loads of hay (soaked for at least 8 hours). He enjoys having a bucket of cut grass at lunchtime and is pooing for England. This makes me relax slightly that the initial risk of colic has passed, but I remain vigilant. He has lost weight since he came out of hospital which is no bad thing as he was very fat!
His stitches came out this week and I was so proud that he didn't need to be sedated for this. The vet wouldn't be drawn into any discussions on prognosis for recovery and told me to try and enjoy the box rest and time will tell if he gets better. He is having two 5 minute walk outs per day and this is just to stop his body seizing up and making sure the blood is flowing round his body. He was getting very strong on these walks as he kept pulling for grass, but he soon worked out that if he walked round nicely and went back into his stable with no fuss he got an apple. He now can't wait to get back to the stable for this treat!
His coat is coming through and he is very fluffy. He has a long mane and is hot underneath it. I have always fully clipped him in September so I am looking forward to seeing how his coat grows this year. He has equine massage and physio appointments booked for the next few weeks so hopefully we can keep his body as functioning as possible.
So all in all, it's going as well as it can. We have 5 weeks and 5 days to find out if the operation worked and if we can start planning for the future. I am enjoying the nice moments as best I can and trying not to think about what the future holds. It scares me to think he might not be here at Christmas but when I snuggle and smell him each morning and night I feel thankful that he is here today and I try to enjoy it as much as I can.