Almost 6 months after rescue!

(BROOKE & IRIS)

From BROOKE's Mom-Debbie R:  Woo hoo!   Just had vet check on Brooke.  She is looking great and weight taped almost 1000 lbs.!

Did a recheck on her teeth -did not need to float again. They are good now.   We have her shots now.  Been wormed   Her feet are freshly trimmed today!

1/10/2022 BROOKE had her appointment with the Equine Dentist/Veterinarian.  Hopefully she will now be able to eat easier and gain some needed weight.  Dentist/Vet aged her at about 25 yrs. old.  So glad that Debbie R. was willing for BROOKE to come to her place for a bit instead of having to make the long journey to CA.  I really think the additional miles would have been really hard on her and recovery/rehab would have been really difficult.

BROOKE was a good patient.  She had to have another tooth removed (she had some removed when she was in Texas at Kathy's), some smoothing out of rough edges and points.  She has ulcers in her mouth on her cheeks & tongue also.  Hard to know if this is from her teeth or from the BUTE & Antibiotics she has been on.  We also got her a Tetanus shot.

She will continue on antibiotics for 5 days plus gradually decreasing the amount of Bute she is receiving.  Of course, her diet will mainly consist of soaked hay pellets and senior as she just doesn't have enough teeth to grind hay properly.  The vet felt that BROOKE has had quite a few babies in the past.  Debbie will be taking excellent care of this girl for us.  In the meantime, IRIS has taken over as Den Mother for BROOKE even though she is the younger of the two!  Thank you Debbie & IRIS!

12/17/2021:  BROOKE hade her dental appointment and the veterinarian found some missing teeth. He had to extract a couple where there wasn't an opposing tooth on top.

Based on molars she’s mid 20s maybe.  Not really a surprise about her age because horses from the killpens are not always the age approximated in their descriptions.  We also had a Coggins test run so she will be able to be transported at the end of the month.  Once she has settled in at TIER, we will have Dr. Jacob Johnson, our Equine Dentist, do a thorough dental on her.  In the meantime, she will be able to eat better and process her food without the pain she was having.

12/18/2021:  BROOKE morning QT Update:  So Brooke is as perky this morning as I’ve ever seen her.   She ate all her mash last night and hunting for it this morning.  I’m putting the loose alfalfa leaves in her feeder and she cleaned those up as well.  I also threw a flake of coastal out for her to give her something to do during the day.  Her mash is alfalfa/Timothy pellets, senior, rice bran and her meds.  She’s getting both uniprim (at night) and bute.

12-4-2021 Morning QT Update-BROOKE:  Morning update. She didn’t do as well last night as I had hoped.  Only about half of dinner eaten.  Obvious mouth discomfort so I’ll start her on bute. Mild interest in mash so second dose of uniprim given.  I’ll let her eat that and then early afternoon offer her a little more with the bute. I didn’t want to mess with the mix much as she really wasn’t enthusiastic about eating.  She drank well, around 5 gallons.  Good gut sounds, particularly in the hind half.  Nose still snotty but not the faucet it was yesterday.  She didn’t move around much last night but there were 4 piles and one small wet spot.  Last night her manure stank, stank, stank, but this morning there weren’t any weird odors to any of it.

12-6-2021 Vet Visit-BROOKE:  On 12/5/2021 Kathy took Brooke for a short walk.  She had to stop quite a few times.  She did try to call to the other horses, but her voice was weak and raspy.  Kind of like when a donkey is getting ready to bray and they make that squeaky sound.  We don’t know if that is her regular voice or if it is just her tired/sick voice.  Lots of mucous and she has diarrhea (most likely from the antibiotics and finally getting regular meals). At her Vet check, they prescribed an antihistamine to be included with her daily doses of antibiotics & pain/inflammation reducer.  She was also stocking up in her hind legs.  Vet will do her teeth on Friday, 12/17/2021 if she is doing better.

12-7-2021 QT UPDATE-BROOKE (After 12/6/2021 Vet Visit):  Morning update.  She heard me come around the end of the shop and her head shot up!  I hadn’t seen anything that quick since she’s been here.  Her eyes were brighter this morning, nose goop seems to be drying up.  No new eye discharge.  Everything that wasn’t soiled was eaten and she was hunting the grain.  Looks like her piles are trying to solidify but still more like cow piles than horse piles. At least they are identifiable as piles this morning.  She drank very well last night.  24 degrees here this morning. I’ll wait for a bit then take her for a walk.  Not as stocked up this morning. Suppose to be warmer by thursday so I’m shooting for that to turn her out if this progress continues.  

12-7-2021 EVENING QT UPDATE-BROOKE:  Still no voice.  

My normal walking pace is fast. She kept up with me for 2/3rds of the driveway. Slowed it down a bit for the stroll back to the barn.

12/8/2021 MORNING QT UPDATE-BROOKE:  Quick morning update.  She did pretty well last night. Not cleaning up everything but eating 90% of it.  Stripped all the left overs out this morning to make sure there wasn’t anything soiled underneath and started fresh.  Piles still wet and heavy but indications that its firming up.  Found what looked like lumps among the cow piles.  Fingers crossed.

12/8/2021 EVENING QT UPDATE-BROOKE:  So piles tonight looked more like horse poop and less like cow piles.  Still isn’t cleaning every thing up that is put in front of her but eating the majority of it.  Always eager for the grain.  Headed to bed early tonight.  Didn’t sleep all that well last night.  She’ll get turn out time tomorrow.  Suppose to be 80 degrees.

12/9/2021 EVENING QT UPDATE-BROOKE:  Forgot to take phone when I turned her out but as expected she just wandered around sort of exploring.  Followed me around as I cleaned the run.  She actually left two large horse piles.  They don’t resemble anything but horse piles however her nose had a bit of discharge this evening and she was trying to blow her nose clear.  She’s still eating and drinking so I’m not worried about it.  Jasper thinks every time he gets a new space it’s the most exciting day ever.  Run buck play.  He’s in a smaller space now but can get nose to nose with the other boys and will always be able to see her.  She needs to be a week completely clean before I’ll let them next to each other.

12/11/2021 AFTERNOON QT UPDATE-BROOKE:  She is doing pretty well on cleaning up her feed.  Still leaves some, but perhaps after her teeth are done on Friday she will be able to clean everything up.  She’s pretty laid back.  She looks for Kathy at feeding time, but doesn’t nicker or run to the feed area.  Her runny nose and the stocking up of her hind legs seems to have leveled out.  Medications will be continued for a bit longer just to make sure.  She is finally putting on some weight.  She’s a sweet girl.

The Ad read:  Brooke; Breed: Quarter: Gender: Mare

 This is the sweetest mare yet!

Brooke is a living doll. She is approximately 16 years old and stands 14.2HH. Brooke wants to be with you everywhere you go and longs to be your shadow. Sweet girl has been in one place her entire life and now she is worried, confused and doesn't understand where she is, how she got there or why. Brooke deserves better! She is kind hearted and longs for the attention, love and companionship she once had. Brooke is broke to ride and has the manners of a saint.

 Well, with all that going for her she surely would find someone to come to her rescue before they shipped her to Mexico…right?  Not so.  We were made aware of Brooke less than 24 hours before she was due to ship out.  She was very thin and not feeling well.  The message we got was that the contributor would pay her bail if we would help her.  Although the price of bail being covered is quite helpful for saving this lovely girl, her transport to quarantine cost, quarantine board, veterinary care and eventual transport to TIER would really impact our remaining funds for the year.  

Just look at that sweet face!! BROOKE was picked up on 12/1/2021 and hauled to a short term quarantine facility to await our short haul transporter, Rikki, to pick her up and take her to Starburst Ranch with Kathy (and JASPER).  The short term quarantine operator let us know that she traveled well, but has a cough. (sigh, not unexpected).  Rikki was unable to pick her up until yesterday.

When BROOKE was unloaded at Starburst Ranch with Kathy on 12/3/2021, she had quite a bit of white to clear nasal mucus discharge.  Kathy checked her lungs with a stethoscope and did not note any crackling or heavy breathing.  Also, there were no lumps or inflammation under her jaw or other lymph nodes that might indicate something else going on.  

Kathy immediately started her on antibiotics (Uniprim) per vet’s advice via telephone conversation and she is schedule to see the vet on Monday for an overall health evaluation, teeth check (probably need to be floated), etc.

Kathy had the Uniprim ready in a dousing syringe because you never know if they will eat their pelleted feed when medication is mixed in.  Well, it was impossible to get to her mouth to administer the antibiotic because as soon as she got in the stall, BROOKE buried her head in the feed bucket and wasn’t coming up for air.  She then attacked the fresh hay that was provided for her.  Kathy just got some more pellets, mixed in the medicine and BROOKE sucked it down!  This girl is HUNGRY!  She drank well and it is hoped that her tummy fills up in the next day or so and she slows down her eating sprint.  Poor girl!