Last week started out great! It was the day before Thanksgiving, and I was rockin' through my work day. I was finishing my fourth of 6 appointments, and everyone on my table was someone I really liked! While finishing up Ol' Missy, I noticed a voicemail from an unknown Tucson number. I checked it, thinking it was probably just the GOOD NEWS that I was qualified for an upgrade to cable tv!!!
Missy might be older than time itself,
but she's the best girl
Noooo....it was another boarder. He said Truby was laying down and hadn't eaten any hay maybe. He didn't want to be an alarmist, but it didn't feel right. Luckily, I was ahead of schedule, and the barn is only about 10 minutes from my work. I told my manager I was going to run over and check on Truby - I was sure it was a false alarm, but I wanted to check. She told me to GO - everyone at work knows all about Truby - and let her know if there was a problem. No way, I assured her, it was a false alarm!
So I bopped off to the barn, still light hearted and looking forward to having the next day off. The sun was shining and it was a glorious Tucson day. I got to the barn, and sure enough, Truby hadn't touched her hay. Well, not too unusual. She must be getting ulcer-y and that always puts her off her hay. But she was laying down...and stayed down instead of bouncing up to say hi.
She seemed happy enough, and I checked her belly noises and gums, and that looked okay. She got up and walked over to pin her ears at her mare neighbor. So...that's not too bad. But then, she stretched out in her Truby Pain Position. Fuuuuuckkkkkkk....
It didn't seem like a colic though. I did something I don't normally do, and give her a couple grams of Bute paste. Maybe I could head off whatever was making her feel bad? She didn't have the normal colic symptoms she's had before. Maybe just a little ouchy? I wasn't sure, but after 30 minutes, when I'd expect to see the Bute kicking in, she started getting worse. I gave in and called the vet, and my manager. Cancel my last two appointments - Truby needs me!
Please call doctor, Truby dying
My vet was at least half an hour away, but we've done colic A LOT this summer, so I settled in and waited. After a bit, Truby got up and looked like maybe she wanted to go move around. I put on her halter and let her putter around the ranch. She seemed to enjoy walking and looking around, but then would also stop and park out. After a slow loop around, she headed back to her stall. I was hoping maybe she wanted a drink - but nope. She hurried in and immediately laid down. I know she wasn't feeling good, but it was really cute.
When you don't feel good and just need your bed
Not long after, Dr E arrived. It's been awhile since she's been out, and her first comment was on how skinny Truby still is. We took a quick detour to talk about how much I'm feeding this horse (and what!) and how could she still be barely holding her weight/loosing weight. (Oh yes, there will be a post about that issue later.)
We convinced Truby to stand up, and did the usual colic things. I hadn't taken her temperature, having gotten lazy with so many colics this year, but she did have a little bit of a fever. Dr E said the rectal exam was unremarkable, but that her poop did have some mucus, as did her earlier poo. That meant it was taking too long to move through her body, but she wasn't sure why. But, hey, pooping is always good!
Truby had actually drunk well that morning, but she still got her belly pumped with water and medicine, which always makes her feel better. Afterwards, we talked about her post exam care. Depending on what the bloodwork said, we might do a round of antibiotics, but with no other symptoms, it was hard to say what was causing the fever.
We also discussed feeding, further testing, and wtf is going on with Truby. Because obviously, something is up.
Dr E headed off to run the blood, and thank goodness she stopped to put up a flyer on the bulletin board, because instead of being bright eyed, begging for cookies and yelling for her dinner, which is Truby's usual routine after having the vet out to fix her ouchie tummy, she just...laid back down.
Did I mention Fuuuuuckkkkkkk....?
Dr E nudged Truby's bum to get her to stand up, but she wasn't having it
We got the stress-giggles and Truby thought we were weird
She's probably right
She ended up testing positive for a bacterial infection, so as soon as she was awake enough, I was to start her on the antibiotics that were left with me. Again, with the lack of secondary symptoms, we didn't really know what was causing it.
My husband stopped by with dinner, a sweatshirt, and a book to read while I waited. It was kinda nice. Just sitting in Truby's stall, reading a book, listening to the other horses eating. A little chilly, but not bad with a sweatshirt and a picnic blanket. It was around 10 pm before Truby started to wake up, and she was pretty miserable. Another hour of getting up, laying down, getting up....laying back down again. She was just so uncomfortable. I felt so bad, there was nothing I could do to help her feel better. I could only stay with her and talk soothingly.
Super Sleepies
Finally, she was awake and staying up. I offered her what is usually a tasty snack, her soaked hay pellets. She didn't even look at it. I tried her low starch pellets. Nope. Ration balancer? Fat supplement? Cookies? Nope, nope nope. And of course, no interest in her bermuda hay.
It was time to check in with the vet, and I ended up talking to Dr H, who was on call. She had gotten the scoop from Dr E, and we chatted about what they had talked about, and what Dr H remembered from her own visits this year. One of the things I love about the practice we use is that all the vets are excellent, and they all talk and discuss cases with each other. It's especially great with weird stuff, like Truby. Dr H agreed with E, in that I needed to feed Truby WHATEVER she would eat. Anything. Time to stop worrying about possible metabolic issues or laminitis. At this point, they weren't going to be concerns, just get some meat on her bones!
Dr H wasn't thrilled Truby wasn't eating, and suggested mixing the antibiotic powder with water and syringing it into her mouth. That was a great idea, and while Truby wasn't a fan, she let me squirt it in her mouth. Afterwards, I offered her half a flake of forbidden alfalfa. Her eyes just lit up and she dug in! YAAASSSSS, girl, eat!
She got halfway through, but then had to lay back down. After a few minutes, I brought the hay over and she happily ate more of it while laying down. She was still getting up, and laying back down a few minutes later. Then she'd get up again. She clearly was uncomfortable, but it was less intense than before.
I had a couple instances of kidney stones this year, and this was exactly how I felt. Couldn't lay down. Couldn't sit. Got tired of standing. Lay back down. Nope, let's try walking around. Gosh, I'm tired. I'm going to sit down. Nope, that hurts. Back up. Etc.
So I recognized the discomfort pattern she was in. I knew how terrible it felt, and how exhausting. Truby seemed to be moving into a less painful phase. Still couldn't get comfortable, but the edge was off the pain. She was almost annoyed, but past the point of being panicky or frantic. Just kinda "oh god, not this again. Guess I'll stand up. Or lay down. Whatever".
It was just after midnight, twelve hours after I first stopped by to check on my hopeful 'false alarm'. Truby had gotten her first dose of antibiotics, eaten some hay, and was looking okay enough. I knew there was nothing more I could do for her, and that she was well enough to leave. I planned to be back out before dawn, but a hot shower and a couple hours of sleep sounded good to me. .
Ugh poor Truby girl can't catch a break
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