PONY!

[SandyG]

He is rolling and no air or poop coming out of him. Not eating. So I have given him bantimine and am walking him. Right now we both need a rest so he is in the pasture with his girls. He is resting but standing. Still not eating.

PONY! is in trouble. Please raise him up. Please. I'll keep you posted. Heading out now to walk with him in an attempt to get his guts to work.

[SandyG]

When I left PONY! at 3:30am, he was calm, sleeping, and had an IV with bags of saline and meds attached. His heartrate was down from 60 to 52 and his gut sounds for his large intestines were good. His small intestines on his left side were good. The gut sounds on the right side of the small intestines were still very quiet.

The ultrasound shows a pocket in the small intestines on his right side. The entire stretch of small intestines is flacid or quiet. Hence, the colic symptoms because PONY! has a colic.

He is being given IV meds to "kick start" the smooth muscle of that right side small intestines and then we will re-ultrasound tomorrow at 2pm. No food until then. They have a muzzle on him so he doesn't eat the shavings of his bedding.

PONY! behaved brilliantly. Needles, tubes, and arms stuck in him and he stood like a giant. No belly fluids. No overpacked stomach. No fluid in the lungs. Kidneys, liver, glucose levels are all good. No manure in the intestines, though. And no gas out of PONY!. That alone tells us something is amiss.

He is a strong horse. It is now up to PONY! and the Powers that guide him.

[cc459]

Poor PONY!! Colic is such a a witch. PONY is so fortunate that you have a quick eye and a logical mind. I'll be thinking of you guys today. Keep us posted when you find the time. I'll check back after work today.

[SandyG]

Tears of joy and relief are rolling off my cheeks!

PONY! did not go down or roll once in the night (or the wee hours of this morning). He has good gut sounds (which he had last night) but has also produced 2 small piles of manure. BRAVO!!!!!

He heartbeat is in the 40's and he is off all meds - sedatives and pain relievers as of 6am - so that is a great sign that the pain has passed with the manure.

PONY! is alert and responsive and his attitude is better - he is more engaged where last night he was just a bystander in it all. He's a tough ole' coot! I am so very hopeful!

The ultrasound today will tell us if he can begin eating again. If that right side no longer has the pocket, then PONY! is on the recovery route and he'll manage that just fine.

OH, the relief!!!!!

[SandyG]

Somewhere in here I should have clarified that I started cares of PONY! last night with the on-call service recommended in Dr. Brian's absence. It was okay but I was uneasy that no one had been out to see the horse and he was still rolling at 9pm. So my mind started working on where else to draw on to support our PONY!.

The hole at the U of M left by Dr. Anne is enormous for us and for so many. Dr. Alex Draper stepped up, however, and worked wonders with both PONY! and me last night. Dr. Alex is the opthamology specialist that has been in charge of Hollie and Helen and Alexius and Gracie and even PONY!'s eye removals. She did a fine job and I'm happy to say PONY! agrees.

So PONY! is at the U of M Equine Center under the watchful (but tired) eyes of Dr. Alex Draper.

[SandyG]

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get to the computer tonight. Upon returning home from PONY! this evening, I needed to move two loads of round bales and that is just now completed.

PONY! is well.

The ultrasound showed a huge difference in the activity of the small intestines on both sides. Even his good side last night was slow and moving quite minimally. However, last night the intestines on his right side were just sitting there. No movement at all. Almost like a still photo. Not good.

Today's scan showed pulsing and almost a massaging of the tissue. AND no packet of white stuff sitting in the middle of his intestines.

So, we finished draining the fluids through his catheter and then tomorrow, if he eats and poops well, we will remove the catheter. His food today consists of soaked hay cubes and water - easy goes it on a tummy that has been empty for 24 hours.

He is being watched like a hawk for any signs of recurrence - increased heartbeat, rolling, dropping head, and hind legs kicking. If anything like this happens, he is right back into the colic treatment. However, we all are very hopeful that he is healing and will be coming home on Thursday.

We floated his teeth while he was sedated for the ultrasound. Not too many left to float. His teeth are like marble countertops - no grinding surfaces left. So he is heading into the "old man's mouth" stage and it will be a pleasure to get back into the soaked beet pulp and "hot oatmeal" treats as we did for Ole' Man Cole.

And, while he was sleeping, we bathed him to get the mud and dust and blood off of him. We dressed his wounds from his rolling around last night and PONY! never moved a muscle! He loves the attention and was like an old lady getting her hair fixed. PONY! is a character. And I am so grateful and relieved that he will be coming home to join his ladies once again. All will be good here at Refuge Farms when the old man returns home to us.

With that, I'm heading up to bed and some sleep! G'nite, all! And g'nite, PONY!

[cc459]

Never mind an old lady getting her hair fixed. Sounds like an old man in a nursing home getting a sponge bath!! Come home soon ol' man!

[SandyG]

Here's how we know PONY! is healing:

He farts (sorry people, but that's what a healthy PONY! does!).
He poops (yup, that too!).
He head butts the people trying to take his pulse.
And he hollers for his women!

He is eating soaked feed with hay cubes and this afternoon he had about 3 minutes of grass. No increased heartbeat and no signs of pain or stress.

His catheter is removed and tonight and tomorrow morning he will have increased grazing and regular pelleted food. Since we expect he will do well, I am retrieving the guy at about 2:30pm tomorrow. HURRAY!!!
Then, I am planting myself here to watch and monitor him. This one was way, way too close!!!

Oh, PONY! I'll be so happy to hear your toots in the barn again!

[cc459]

He is a tooter!!!

[SandyG]

Please go to the Refuge Farms blog for the latest on Our Beloved PONY!.

[SandyG]

So happy that he is home, Sandy! Those photos show exactly what a gorgeous guy he is. Notice those great muscles! He is quite the looker.

Linda

[SandyG]

Yahoo, girl!

Like you said.....there is so much more behind the scene, but gosh, that pony looks happy!

Things are looking good!

S(herri)

[SandyG]

PONY! has been doing very well. And then tonight, he showed us signs of discomfort again. Not colic, though. There is no rolling, no pawing, and there is gas and manure being produced. But no urine.

He extends but does not urinate. Repeatedly. Dr. Brian was here this evening (even though he was not on call, bless his heart!) and administered some Ace to try to relax his urinary tract and help the urine pass. So far, no evidence of urine in the box stall.

PONY! is up and is poking at his food and has swallowed about a good quart of water. However, without producing urine he's in trouble.

Just put a call into our Dr. Anne and am now in a holding pattern. Oh, this horse! He's getting to be a bit touchy in his old age! Gotta love him, though! Just went in to feel if he is sweaty again and what did he do? He head butted me!!!

[cc459]

Cautiously good news on Pony. Oh, I do pray he urinates! Please keep the updates coming as I've gotten quite attached to this guy.

[SandyG]

Well, we know one thing for certain - he isn't experiencing a colic. THAT is great news! Another colic so quickly and I would start to suspect a tumor or something along that line. But nope! I just came in from picking up fresh poop from the boy!

Way to go, PONY!!!

I cannot see evidence of urine however he seems comfortable. I'll continue to check him throughout the night to see if I see anything. And as I told him when I hugged him (to his dismay!!): "Pee us a river, PONY!"