Sick Pony

Warning... Disturbing (but also sweet) pictures to follow.

We've been fairly lucky that our livestock have remained relatively healthy over the years. Chris used to say that horses get expensive when they're accompanied with vet bills. So imagine my thoughts when we received a call from the neighbor saying "you've got to come home, Cocoa is sick, he needs a vet."

Dollar signs started adding up in my head.

But what other choice do you have?  Continued suffering for animals you love is not an option, so a call was placed to the local vet who makes house calls.  Upon arriving, and doing a quick exam on Cocoa, it was determined that Cocoa had a mild "impaction" which is common this time of year.  I learned that when temps are low, horses drink a lot less water than normal, which will lead to blockages in their intestines.  Normally, getting them moving and drinking water will usually help, but worst case scenario, they have to be put down.

Lucky for us, it was caught early enough we could treat it. But before we could treat it, Cocoa needed to be sedated.

 

I was worried that Cocoa would go down. He wobbled on his feet, kept his head low and couldn't seem to keep his balance.  The vet told us that the sedative was not enough to take him down, but enough to make him not feel right in his head.  The poor horse looked drunk.

The sedative was necessary because a tube needed to be stuffed up his nose and into his stomach, where mineral oil would be pumped.  From what I learned on HolisticHorse.com...


Mineral oil is precisely what you think it is: liquid petrolatum. It's not a laxative as such, but it's sometimes used by veterinarians when a horse presents with a case of impaction colic. The veterinarian will typically add a liter of mineral oil to a bucket of water and use a nasogastric tube and a pump to send the contents of the bucket directly into the horse's stomach.

Since mineral oil cannot be digested, it will travel through the stomach and intestines and eventually find its way out the other end of the horse - it's the veterinarian's (and owner's) hope that administering this mixture will do away with the impaction and bring the colic episode to an end. 


This method doesn't come without its side effects, however.

 

Once the tube is pulled out, bloody noses occur.  And when a horses nose bleeds??? Let's just say it looked as though a small animal was massacred out there.

The vet left, and told us to watch for signs of improvement.  We couldn't feed him or Dandy until the impaction had passed.  This had us particularly worried because of the extremely cold temps.  Horses need food to burn energy and stay warm.

 

For some time after we released the horses, Cocoa stayed close by. The poor thing still was sedated and leaned on me for support, resting his giant cute face in my arms. It wasn't long before Dandy was nearby, pushing him around as usual.  At first, this ticked me off, but in reality, it was probably good that Dandy kept him moving.

A week later and Cocoa-Ca-Cho is back to normal. Eating, pooping and being extremely lazy.