Day Two of 365, horse down

Ok sorry for starting so late today.  To is the Sabbath so my DH and I try to sleep till 8am, even though by about 6or so we have been woke up by each little one in turn.  Today we were jostled out of bed by my Daughter Rachael, in tears tell me that our horse Elaine was on the ground and she could not get her up.   I woke up Michael and we sprang up, threw on jackets, socks and shoes and hurried out to the pasture.  I was there first with Rachael and did everything we could with Michael following up the lead and after several minutes of trying to no avail to get her up. I left them with her and hurried up to the house to get the vet.  I called his office and the nice lady I guess maybe his wife answered the phone and I could hear him (the Doc) letting her know what to tell me, of course they ask if she had coliced, I told them I did not know, but that she was down and I would pay any amount of money to get him out here to work on her.   It was around nine that and she said that he would be her at 11.  I thanked her and gave her directions and returned outside to the pasture.  To let you know colic is like having the worst gas attack ever, the animal, in this case a horse bloats and then more often than not just lies down and dies.  This being said, it was hard sitting out there waiting for the vet in the snow, with the horse covered in blankets, which we had ripped off the beds in a quest to keep her warm before the doctor got here.  For the two hours before the Vet got here we worked hard to keep her sitting up as she did have colic and horse with colic become comfortable lying on their side and often die because of this.  Horses develop a strange form of paralysis when they have not moved enough and this alone can and does often kill them, that is why it is so important, with something like colic to get the horse up and walking around. 

So far hours have come and gone and I am writing this about 4:00 ish central time and she has still not gotten up.  The vet gave her a shot for the colic and said it was good for 24 hours and we spent hours with him turning her over, moving her from one side to another.  The vet was worried about her maybe having paralysis from being down for so long, so he gave her two more shots, one is Lasix and the other cortisone.  Anyone with heart problems know that Lasix relieves swelling and makes you pee a lot and the cortisone takes down the swelling.  He said it could take four days to see her up and walking, but that she should be sitting up by this afternoon.  So far this has not happened and I am beside myself with grief over this.  He told us we should try to get her up to the barn before he left and asked if we had a trailer out here that we move things around the farm with, I said, yeah and she is down there.  We use Elaine to move trees and other things too heavy for us to do alone, but for the most part she is just my friend and when we have had time my riding buddy.  At this point we are taking turns sitting with her and trying to get her to at least sit up on her own, we are not having any luck and night will soon be upon us.  Right now I do not have much reason to think she will make it through the night and have talked a little about the what if’s, along with reminiscing about every moment we have been blessed to share with her.  In writing this I am trying hard to fight back the tears I know the odds are not with her living and that I will lose a dear loved friend. 

This was taken about a half hour before the vet got here.

We tryed very hard to keep her as warm as we could.

After about a half hour of trying we pull herup to where she can sit and at this time she could sit for a few minutes with out falling back down.

Down again

up again

For 2 hours waiting for the vet we did the dance of up and down.

This is the vet checking her out.  Tell us it is colic and after he checks her out her runs back to his truck.

After the first shot, it was to stop the pain so she could pass the gas, he said it lasts about 24 hours.

Michael and the vet getting her to sit up.

Trying to get her to stand, she need to stand to get better, walking would be great, but it is a no go.

Still trying to get her up

Pullling he up, I bet we did this over 100 times today.

Down again..but passsing gas.

doing something new to help her pass more gas, more quicly, please never try this or any think you are veiwing in these photos, thats what a vet is for. 

Vet checking her passing gas

Trying to move her to a safer place

My back is out from moving her eariler so Rachael is helping the Doc and Michael

Letting her rest for a few minutes

Time to try to get her up again

and again

Yes, she is up

Down again and she wacked he selfin the mouth, I thought I would pass out from sheing her this way.

At this point we are all trying anything that we can to get her to at least sit up, but maybe to stand.

Now we have to roll her over, we did this more times than I could count, it helps to moce the gas to a differnt place in the bowls and we hope it will help her to get back on her feet.  By now we know that she is tired, we are itred as well and the doctor is also tired, he has been here for hours now.

Turning a very heavy horse, for once I am glad she is a small Draft.

and over

and over

on this side

time to try something new...again never tey this at home, call a vet we did and do say to me you can't afourd it, because if that is true, do not get a horse.  The cheapest that horse is ever gonna cost you is when you buy it.

He is looking at her bloat and says he can try to get a litttle off.

he is using a needle in her intestinal track and you can hear this loud hiss and OMG the smell.....yuck!
No body light a match!

We let her rest a bit more, you can really see how bloated she is and this is after working with her for hours at this point.

getting ready to turn her over again, Rachael is such a great help, she wants to work with horses when she is out of school.

Ok , this is really wierd and might seem disturbing to people even those who were there.

This is really heloing her to pass the gas.

She is passing tons of it now.

You can see how pussed out she is, poor baby.

Now all the way over.

We are taking the ropes off and the vet is getting the other two shots.

Since this has taken place we have called the vet again and he is thinking the worst at this point.  If she is not able to get up by tomorrow morning we will have her put to sleep and I will stay with her while it is done, I will not allow her to suffer.  The vet asked me, that if she was not better in the morning, at least able to hold her self up, if I would want to put her down.  So I am trying to prepare myself for the event if need be and we plan to take turns watching her tonight, so she will not have to be alone. 

I can tell you this, the people we bought her from, abused her, lied about her age which the vet says is close to if not at 30 and I am glad we bought her and that she has been allowed to be a happy horse, to frolic in our fields, raise her son in the knowledge that no one would take him from her and to be loved in ways that most horses will never now and I do not regret any of that at all.  I love her and would do anything for her.  To me, all animals should be treated this way and if you cannot love the animal, please give it to someone who can, because animals give to us with no hope of getting anything in return, they trust us and love us for all our faults and should never not even for one moment have to suffer .  Their love should be prized above all else. 

Most of the rest of our day will be spent in making her comfortable, so please forgive me if I do not post the full blog today.