Tuesday, January 27, 2009

A Sad Vet Day

Some sad news from our vet day...

First off, one of our older Sanctuary horses, Pioneer has been acting a bit weird for the last two days. Not anything specific, but laying quietly and not very interested in food. We had Dr. Schur check him out this morning first thing. Upon doing a rectal, she felt a large impaction in his large colon area. The weird thing is that he was so stoic and showed no colic signs at all. We went ahead and had him tubed with water and oil. As we were standing there as she finished up, he suddenly started to shake and pant, it was obvious that something very bad had just happened. Dr. Schur thought that he had ruptured his intestine right there in front of us, and because of his great pain, we had to have him euthanised immediately. He was put down with all of us talking to him and he passed quickly. Afterwards, we went ahead and had Dr. Schur open him up to see just what had happened and we found that his cecum had ruptured. Thankfully all of this occurred with Dr. Schur standing right there, otherwise, if he had ruptured at night for example, he would have died in incredible pain and stress. It was very sad for us as Pioneer had been with us for about three years and was well known at the rescue.

Sadly, we had to have another Sanctuary horse euthanised as well. Fremont had an advanced neurological condition that made him very uncoordinated and unsteady. It has progressed over the years that he has been with us at Shiloh, and had gotten to the point where he was falling down and injuring himself. He had become a danger to himself, his herd mates, and to people. We could no longer have his feet trimmed, the last time he had to be laid out by the vet and he had a very hard time getting up afterwards. We just could not let him suffer like that anymore and we were afraid that he would possibly break a leg and then be in even worse pain. He was put to sleep in his pasture where he lived while we comforted and talked to him and he passed away very quickly.

Losing these two horses made it a difficult day. In rescue, hard decision have to be made, and it just doesn't get any easier.

6 comments:

gentlereins said...

Hello, I have been meaning to start doing this horse blogging thing more. and so now I am. We too have a rescue. Although this winter I'm calling us a shelter instead of a rescue. I had so much sadness last winter I just did some self-preservation this winter and have left my horse population all the same this winter. no ones in, nobody out. Last winter we had 5 euthanasias. That was a lot for us. We're not very big. anyway, I do feel your sadness. How fortunate for everyone that the Vet was right there. I am watching American Idol, and then I'm heading out to the barn to tuck everyone in for another cold night. this has been a tough winter indeed. oh, I almost forgot. We are having a little drawing through our blogspot. Just leave a comment and you might win a nice little Equine Valentine gift. hope to get better at this blogging thing. Darci, South Dakota.

the 4 D's said...

We all loved Fremont. When Rookie used to live in his pasture he would always get his share of treats. Going to miss him! So Sorry about Pioneer as well. I am glad I was able to give her some love on Saturday.
Deonna

Mikey said...

oh dang, I'm so sorry. But I'm so glad the vet was there, that's such a blessing. Prayers for you and all of yours on such a sad day :(

Beanie Mouse said...

Oh I'm so sorry......

Mom said...

I was so sorry to read about Pioneer and Fremont. Bless you and all at Shiloh for giving them the best life possible. They had all their physical needs met as well as friends to comfort them.

Cward said...

This news was particularly difficult for me. I had a strong suspicion that Pioneer may have once been a horse of mine in Las Vegas. I sold him many years ago and moved to Los Angeles. When I saw his picture on this site, the resemblance was eerie. I planned to come and see him this March - I am sorry that I will not have that opportunity. I cannot thank Shiloh enough for all of the comfort and support provided to Pioneer in his old age. What a marvelous horse.