Doc: Back with His Buddies! ~2

Back Home with His Buddies - 2

Friday June 20, 2003
Well, no sooner do I send out an update stating that I think we are out of the woods, then things get murkier than ever...I have decided to call the vet out. Doc is showing sensitivity in his front feet--even to the point of stumbling and now I am wondering about laminitis and thrush and all sorts of evils that could lurk there....sigh. And his hydration is up and down. I just don't KNOW if this is ok. I need someone to look. And someone to look at his hocks...to see if everything is ok...I mean, really!

On the phone the vet told me she seems to think that the hydration problem is because of how much pain he must be in. So we are back on the bute. She feels we need to stay on it. Along with that was something to protect his GI tract from ulcers and the like as a result of the bute. Great.... that drug is REALLY expensive. I don't understand why a vet would prescribe it if there are not yet any symptoms of ulcers...so I haven't given Doc any and have been told that we can sell it back to them. She will have to explain that one to me today. Why a 10-day supply of it, when we don't have symptoms yet? Sounds really dumb to me. They are getting sick of me, I am sure.

Anyhow, sometime this afternoon the vet will come out. I hope to get ALL my questions answered, as this is ridiculous. To me, when someone schedules a surgery and says $1500 (plus) please, that should include a pre-surgery consultation and a post surgery consultation (at the LEAST!)... not this little "catch me if you can" stuff that I have been subjected to. No one ever called me back after my request for sedation for Doc. That chaps my hide. Last I heard I had left messages for TWO vets (including the surgeon) to call me back and answer my questions. If someone doesn't have the time to answer the questions of their clients, they have TOO many clients. I am fit to be tied!!!

Will keep you posted. Thanks for continued prayers.

Later
The vet didn't show!!!

Later Still
Well, stranger things have happened, but I got a call at 7:30pm from the vet wondering if he was in the right place. I told him it sounded like he was, but that I was expecting a different vet and by 5:30 at the latest so I left at 6:30. He agreed to stay put (how come he gets cell coverage there and I don't? LOL!) so we could press on.

Someone apparently didn't call me to tell me that the doctor assigned to come out by 5:30 was stuck at an emergency and that a different vet, one I hadn't yet met or spoken with, had been assigned to come after he left the clinic. I recognized this particular vet's name as one of the owners of the practice so I made sure I stated some of what we have experienced throughout this entire fiasco. I don't know if he thought less of me for it, and I don't care, but I did state that I was disillusioned by the way the surgical vet had not consulted with us before or after and how he had, in fact, two hours before surgery when I caught him, urged me to take Doc home and NOT have the surgery...that certainly intrigued him and I explained how different the surgical vet's take was on Doc's prognosis from the way it had been represented to me by other vets at the clinic. I trust that he will consider the information if nothing else.

Anyhow, earlier when I was waiting for the vet that didn't show, I had given doc salt in his grain. That had, apparently set him drinking. By the time I left this evening at 9pm he had consumed about 6 gallons of water since 6am today and probably 4 of those were just since 4:30pm. The vet, Dr. Morgan, said that on a day like we had today 5 gallons would be adequate. I measured what Doc had consumed and came to the conclusion that it was just over 5 gallons. The vet also did the capillary refill test and showed me specifically how to do it with Doc. He showed me the skin retraction and where I should do it on Doc. He also gave me other pointers and tips and I felt like I was given more than an adequate amount of attention over my concern for hydration. He answered my questions about the GI tract medicine and bute. He suggested I do what a friend suggested...offer smaller doses of bute as needed. If he ends up needing the bute and *then* stops eating and drinking, he suggested that might then be a sign that Doc needs the GI tract medicine. But he says there is no reason to give him bute day in and out unless it appears he needs it.

The front feet are NOT bad...they are tender, yes. But not foundering or laminitis...YAY! Praises to God for that...I tell ya I was worried about that. He suggested having the front feet shod and wondered if maybe Doc just isn't a tenderfoot anyhow...let alone with the weight he may be putting on the fronts right now. He had just had shoes taken off in early May when all pandemonium broke loose and it became obvious I had a lame horse. The shoes masked a lot. Putting fronts on him with pads might do the trick and help him be more comfortable. YAY! He even knew the farrier I have settled on and said he can do the very thing he recommends.

He looked at the hocks closely and said that there are no sores that need dressing or concern. He also watched Doc walk and said that given he has just had hock surgery, the movement looks relatively good, though tenderfooted in the front.

He spent a lot of time with us, fielded questions and was very patient. While he was there the horses all put on quite a show. It was amazing...the more time I spend with them the more antics I see! While he was there, he also examined Breezy's eye (oozing as of last night) and gave Harley his last West Nile vaccination. Everyone is up to date on that. Dodger is the only horse that never has anything wrong. LOL! Leave it to the mustang to be so hearty! LOL! He is getting so fat, though!

Tonight I think I can sleep peacefully. The vet said my feeding program for Doc is just right. That was relief, too. I will divide the grain he gets so he gets some at each feeding and some salt with each grain ration. Then maybe he will stay more on target with this drinking.

Thanks for praying! I know some of you began to really fervently pray when you got my note that the vet didn't show up. God answers! Thank you!

Monday June 23
Hi, everyone. Doc is as sweet as all get out these days. He has the entire enclosure all to himself...hay, watering trough, salt block and a new water trough in case he prefers the taste of plastic in his water over rusted metal. He still isn't drinking enough. Fact is, he drank the MOST on the day the vet visited.

So, one wonders what is up with that. He hasn't had any bute for two days, so I gave him a bit less than a gram this evening to see if that helps him feel well enough to realize he needs to drink. Wish I understood.

Hey, anyhow, hubs says that Doc may be able to come home by the end of this upcoming weekend.

Thanks for praying. The pain seems to have been less the past few days. Please continue to pray he will drink and fusion will take place.

I SO appreciate it! Thanks for caring!

Tuesday June 24
I wanted to share with you a special moment I had with my boy, Doc, this morning. I decided to try adding a bit of water to his grain ration with the salt in it. Oh my! I found a magic combo for him! He loved it! He licked and licked to get every last molecule of whatever it was that had his fancy! LOL! I have never held a grain bucket so long for so small a ration, but I guess the combo was too good for him to let a bit go by! This is great as it is another way to get a bit more moisture into him... every drop helps. But additionally, it was just such a fun time where I got to rub his ears and his forehead, his massive jaws and whisper sweet nothings into his ear! LOL! I told him about how I think I will fight Bob (my hubby) for him and he will have to get a palomino after all--that or learn to ride Harley. *I* want Doc to be MY baby! LOL! I told Doc how he is the prettiest thing in the world, of course, and prayed for him to drink today and for fusion in his hocks and to be pain-free! It was such a wonderful time! The water trough overflowed I was so lost in my time with Doc! LOL! The pasture is now a muddy mess! The horses will love that!

Thursday June 26
Whew...it has been so hot here. Doc hasn't had much to drink so far today. I keep wondering when I can stop being concerned about that. It was windy yesterday and he drank more than ever. I was relieved, but today has me back on edge.

He seems to be feeling well, too, so I don't blame pain or anything. He has only had two doses of bute in the past four or five days. I am so pleased to see him so perky, in fact. Truly, moving him to where his buddies are was tough at first, but it seems to have been just what he needed. In fact, this weekend, instead of moving him home to our house, I may move Harley home (he is getting picked on more than his fair share by the other horses!). Doc seems so happy with the other horses...(he has a fence between them! LOL!) why mess with that before they all can come home?

I found out from CK that one of the technicians at the vet clinic fell in love with Doc in May when she met him. When she heard that he was going to be euthanized, she was going to call me and ask if she could have him instead. She has a thorough-bred race horse farm but has also rescued a couple of horses that have gone lame and put them out to an early retirement in her pasture. I guess she loves doing that for them and wanted to offer to do that for Doc. In fact, she told CK that the offer remains open if we "ever" want to retire him.

That sounds terrific, but I still hope that he can enjoy life...I will have to weigh what is selfish on my part and what is best for Doc. In any event it isn't on my radar screen any time soon.

Today I did take a big oversized sponge and gave Doc a nice wetting down. At first he acted uncertain... but then he resumed eating his lunch *while* I was wetting him down. I figured that was a good sign.

Friday June 27 2003
We are half way to the 60 day check up! YAY! It has been one month since Doc's surgery. Can you believe it?

Well, after my deep concern last night about Doc's water, his enclosure had quite a number of pee spots in it anyhow and he peed for me when I arrived. LOL! His pee was almost clear. Where on EARTH is he getting his water? Maybe he is like a camel and stores it?

I am convinced that sometimes he is close to dehydration (obviously) but I am also now just as convinced that nothing external can indicate when that is per say. He seems to get so close and then I have proof like today that all is well. If I hadn't had such a negative experience in highschool with a horse dehydrating after surgery and colicking and dying I probably wouldn't be freaking like this. So thank you for your patience with me. He has been sweating in this heat, but he seems so incredibly perky.

Here are some reasons for optimism and praise to God (in my humble opinion!):
1. He clearly is drinking when he needs to! YAY! Thanks for your prayers.
2. He is perky and alert, he still sways and gets all excited when he sees me coming, anticipating food or whatever else. He bobs his head and nickers...the works! LOL!
3. He is moving VERY well. The tenderness he had in his front feet has dissipated (for now). I am so relieved. He is even moving well in his HQ...much better than the horse I saw in Arizona!
4. He is affectionate while not being depressed...this is such a blessing!
5. He isn't agitated. He does get agitated if something spooks the other 6 horses and they go barreling up the hill without him, but I don't blame him. He typically seems quite content, however.
6. Apparently many of the horses are hanging out with him during the night and the heat of the day as last night I scooped poop and by this morning there were a bunch of new piles around the perimeter of Doc's enclosure. I think he is enjoying his buddies and they are enjoying him.
7. He allows me to rub him all over. I am able to put fly repellant all over him as a result of him being used to that. I am pleased about that. He is really quite calm for most of the handling I do with him.

I love taking his fly mask off during my last visit at night as seeing those precious eyes is the biggest reward for sticking by him! In the morning when he greets me, those eyes and the nicker just melt my heart all over again.

Yup...hubby may have to have a palamino after all cuz I don't think I am ready to give Doc up!

Thanks for your prayers. God hears!