Post by Terry on Oct 4, 2013 3:55:37 GMT
We have had a really rough week this week. Saturday morning my hubby let me sleep in and he went out to feed the critters. When he was done he came and woke me up to tell me there was something wrong with Sis. He said she was very lethargic, was not eating, and appeared to have diarrhea. I was immediately up and out the door to the barn! When I got out there I found not only what my husband had described, but I also noticed that Sis felt very cold to the touch. I ran back inside and called the vet. The vet examined Sis and said her heart rate was very slow, she had virtually no gut sounds, her rectal exam found lots of diarrhea and fluid, and Sis's temp was only 94! She drew blood so she could run some tests but said it appeared that Sis may have Potomac Horse Fever and she was going to treat for it. She said that even if it isn't PHF, the treatment also covers a broad spectrum of other possible culprits for Sis's condition. Talk about a scary diagnosis!! While I was trying to remain calm and composed on the outside, I was totally freaking out on the inside!
The vet ran out to her truck and started putting together everything she needed to start Sis on the treatment immediately. She ended up putting a catheter into Sis's neck for all the meds to be administered through. She gave Sis a dose of IV Banamine and then ran an IV bag of Oxytetracycline solution. She told us that Sis could not be turned out for the next 7 days because of the risk of her rolling or rubbing the catheter out of her jugular, but that we could lead Sis around and hand-graze her if we wanted, otherwise she needed to stay in her stall.
Before the vet left she told my husband to give her 15 minutes and then to meet her at the office so he could pick up the supplies we would need for the week. In the meantime she was going to run some blood tests. When my husband got to the vet's office she told him that most of Sis's blood work looked good, but that she can't test for PHF. Apparently there is only 1 lab around here that runs that test, and they only do it on Thursdays (way too long to wait). She then sent my husband home with a large box of supplies.
Since Saturday morning we have been flushing Sis's catheter every 6 hours, administering IV Banamine every 12 hours, and administering an IV bag of Oxytetracycline solution once a day (in addition to both of us continuing to work our real jobs each day and cleaning stalls every day). We are exhausted, but the good news is that Sis is looking and acting much better! By Sunday morning Sis had a large amount of normal looking poop in her stall and her appetite was back. Several days later she no longer felt cold to the touch, and now she is starting to get a little more fidgety when we have to flush her catheter or give her the meds (which I am taking as a very good sign). Sis still has to get one more bag of Oxytetracycline solution tomorrow, and the vet is due to come back out tomorrow sometime to do a re-check, so hopefully Sis will get a clean bill of health, get her catheter out, and maybe even get to go outside (although it's been pouring down rain today, so our dry lot and pasture are all a muddy, wet, slippery, sloppy mess right now).
To make matters worse, we had planned to let Zena out each day (since she's not sick) so she could at least get out there and graze during the day, and only put her in her stall at night to keep Sis company, but that plan changed really fast. Zena and Sis kept calling to each other whenever Zena got out of sight and Sis was frantically circling in her stall, so she wasn't resting, and when Zena would come back to check on her (every few minutes) she kept trying to grab the catheter in Sis's neck! Obviously we couldn't let that happen, so both horses have been stalled all week.
I'm afraid that when they finally get to go out, they are just going to go nuts for a while with all this pent up energy! Poor girls.
Needless to say, this has been a long, scary and exhausting week, but if the vet tells me tomorrow that Sis is better, it will all be worth it!
Here are some pictures from our ordeal this week...
Sis with her catheter in
Hubby hand-grazing Sis while Zena stretches her legs in the pasture and I cleaned stalls
Sis getting her daily bag of IV meds
The vet ran out to her truck and started putting together everything she needed to start Sis on the treatment immediately. She ended up putting a catheter into Sis's neck for all the meds to be administered through. She gave Sis a dose of IV Banamine and then ran an IV bag of Oxytetracycline solution. She told us that Sis could not be turned out for the next 7 days because of the risk of her rolling or rubbing the catheter out of her jugular, but that we could lead Sis around and hand-graze her if we wanted, otherwise she needed to stay in her stall.
Before the vet left she told my husband to give her 15 minutes and then to meet her at the office so he could pick up the supplies we would need for the week. In the meantime she was going to run some blood tests. When my husband got to the vet's office she told him that most of Sis's blood work looked good, but that she can't test for PHF. Apparently there is only 1 lab around here that runs that test, and they only do it on Thursdays (way too long to wait). She then sent my husband home with a large box of supplies.
Since Saturday morning we have been flushing Sis's catheter every 6 hours, administering IV Banamine every 12 hours, and administering an IV bag of Oxytetracycline solution once a day (in addition to both of us continuing to work our real jobs each day and cleaning stalls every day). We are exhausted, but the good news is that Sis is looking and acting much better! By Sunday morning Sis had a large amount of normal looking poop in her stall and her appetite was back. Several days later she no longer felt cold to the touch, and now she is starting to get a little more fidgety when we have to flush her catheter or give her the meds (which I am taking as a very good sign). Sis still has to get one more bag of Oxytetracycline solution tomorrow, and the vet is due to come back out tomorrow sometime to do a re-check, so hopefully Sis will get a clean bill of health, get her catheter out, and maybe even get to go outside (although it's been pouring down rain today, so our dry lot and pasture are all a muddy, wet, slippery, sloppy mess right now).
To make matters worse, we had planned to let Zena out each day (since she's not sick) so she could at least get out there and graze during the day, and only put her in her stall at night to keep Sis company, but that plan changed really fast. Zena and Sis kept calling to each other whenever Zena got out of sight and Sis was frantically circling in her stall, so she wasn't resting, and when Zena would come back to check on her (every few minutes) she kept trying to grab the catheter in Sis's neck! Obviously we couldn't let that happen, so both horses have been stalled all week.
I'm afraid that when they finally get to go out, they are just going to go nuts for a while with all this pent up energy! Poor girls.Needless to say, this has been a long, scary and exhausting week, but if the vet tells me tomorrow that Sis is better, it will all be worth it!
Here are some pictures from our ordeal this week...
Sis with her catheter in
Hubby hand-grazing Sis while Zena stretches her legs in the pasture and I cleaned stalls
Sis getting her daily bag of IV meds
Oh and tell Nate that I did put on my glasses and looked again and his butt is cute too! 
& 
to you both for managing all that!!