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kirkcudbrightThe past 5 days have been mostly about the horse, starting with a call at 7am Thursday from the morning feeder, saying she had kind of staggered sideways up to the barn, and was currently stumbling around in circles in her stall. (The horses are turned out 24/7, and only come in for their grain.)
To set the scene, the whole site is on a hillside, with at least 10' rise from the back of the paddock to the gate, mostly in last 50' or so. And of course there's a metric fuckton of snow, compacted into paths hither and thither, heavily coated in manure around the hay feeder, with large swaths of untouched snow. Lots of opportunity to slip, not that I know if that caused her problem, but it's sure not helping now.
She's very ataxic (a word I just learned, meaning she's lost coordination of her muscles) in her hind end. Her head carriage is fine, her front legs are fine, but she stands with most of her weight on the right hind, to the extent that she lists to the right. She's prone to stumbling in circles to the right, trying to get her feet under her, sometimes catching herself, sometimes falling. If we were actually working on turn on the forehand, it would be brilliant; as it is, it's distressing.
The vet didn't find any obvious injuries or sign of stroke, and she didn't show any pain when he palpated her spine, hips, and legs. She has sensation to her legs, and will pick up her feet when asked. His initial suspicion was around neurologic effects of tick-borne diseases, and the SNAP test showed exposure to such. So big dose of oxytetracyline, plus banamine for good measure. But this is New England, and who hasn't been exposed to tick-borne diseases? The more complete (overnight) blood test didn't show any toxic load, so no Lyme, EPM, EEE, West Nile, liver or kidney disease, toxic plants, etc. So now he thinks it's a spinal impingement or impairment, and the treatment switches to steroids (prednisolone) to relieve any inflammation (if present). The steroids may also stimulate her appetite, which would be a good thing.
The chiropractor came Sunday, but again no eureka moments. She did a full adjustment on Gemi's spine (ears to tail) and hips, a) to see if she could find a place that was bothering her, and b) to stimulate the nervous system, to "wake up the spine". She gave me some things to stimulate the nervous system (playing with her nose, lips, and tongue; shining a light in her eyes).
She's 24 (25 in April), so not young, but Cheyenne was 24 when I met him, and we had 6 good years together. For that matter, Gemini and I have had almost exactly 6 good years together.
Her appetite is good, her head carriage is fine, she doesn't panic even when she falls (in fact, she takes it as a chance to rest). But she seems to be going down more often, and staying down longer. I'm trying to buy her all the time she needs to recover, but I'm not sure she's going to recover. If she takes a sudden turn for the worse, that's definitely a Thing. If she takes a sudden turn for the better, that's another Thing. But if she continues to fail to recover, if she continues to stumble and fall and lie there instead of getting up, well how long can that go on?
Behind all that is the history that Cheyenne was put down while I was on a plane to California. And I'm leaving Saturday for a short business trip to Stockholm. So my time-frame is probably between Wednesday and Friday of this week.
To set the scene, the whole site is on a hillside, with at least 10' rise from the back of the paddock to the gate, mostly in last 50' or so. And of course there's a metric fuckton of snow, compacted into paths hither and thither, heavily coated in manure around the hay feeder, with large swaths of untouched snow. Lots of opportunity to slip, not that I know if that caused her problem, but it's sure not helping now.
She's very ataxic (a word I just learned, meaning she's lost coordination of her muscles) in her hind end. Her head carriage is fine, her front legs are fine, but she stands with most of her weight on the right hind, to the extent that she lists to the right. She's prone to stumbling in circles to the right, trying to get her feet under her, sometimes catching herself, sometimes falling. If we were actually working on turn on the forehand, it would be brilliant; as it is, it's distressing.
The vet didn't find any obvious injuries or sign of stroke, and she didn't show any pain when he palpated her spine, hips, and legs. She has sensation to her legs, and will pick up her feet when asked. His initial suspicion was around neurologic effects of tick-borne diseases, and the SNAP test showed exposure to such. So big dose of oxytetracyline, plus banamine for good measure. But this is New England, and who hasn't been exposed to tick-borne diseases? The more complete (overnight) blood test didn't show any toxic load, so no Lyme, EPM, EEE, West Nile, liver or kidney disease, toxic plants, etc. So now he thinks it's a spinal impingement or impairment, and the treatment switches to steroids (prednisolone) to relieve any inflammation (if present). The steroids may also stimulate her appetite, which would be a good thing.
The chiropractor came Sunday, but again no eureka moments. She did a full adjustment on Gemi's spine (ears to tail) and hips, a) to see if she could find a place that was bothering her, and b) to stimulate the nervous system, to "wake up the spine". She gave me some things to stimulate the nervous system (playing with her nose, lips, and tongue; shining a light in her eyes).
She's 24 (25 in April), so not young, but Cheyenne was 24 when I met him, and we had 6 good years together. For that matter, Gemini and I have had almost exactly 6 good years together.
Her appetite is good, her head carriage is fine, she doesn't panic even when she falls (in fact, she takes it as a chance to rest). But she seems to be going down more often, and staying down longer. I'm trying to buy her all the time she needs to recover, but I'm not sure she's going to recover. If she takes a sudden turn for the worse, that's definitely a Thing. If she takes a sudden turn for the better, that's another Thing. But if she continues to fail to recover, if she continues to stumble and fall and lie there instead of getting up, well how long can that go on?
Behind all that is the history that Cheyenne was put down while I was on a plane to California. And I'm leaving Saturday for a short business trip to Stockholm. So my time-frame is probably between Wednesday and Friday of this week.
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no subject
Date: 2015-03-09 10:56 pm (UTC)*BIG HUGS*
ETA i emailed birgitte to ask if she could do some reiki for gemi, hope that's okay. stjarni and zip (and i) really liked the way that felt from her.
no subject
Date: 2015-03-10 12:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-10 01:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-10 01:52 am (UTC)I know what I would do.
But regardless of your decision, you've given her what she needs for all of those 6 years. A lot of horses don't even get that.
no subject
Date: 2015-03-10 01:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-10 04:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-10 07:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-03-11 02:55 am (UTC)I hope the best for you and Gemini.