Opal
Thanks to
Becky, Opal arrived at TIER on Tuesday, 11/8/01. She seemed to
be breathing a little hard and was somewhat lethargic. Opal is
about half the size of Pearl and probably in the same age group!
HA.......that means "elderly". She does have some previous
muscle damage to her left shoulder.....an old injury. Her feet
and legs seem fine. Becky gave her alot of attention and care
in trying to make her comfortable prior to her trip to TIER.
11/9/01 -
The vet was out this morning to check over Opal. I had called
him prior to her arrival at TIER. He was unable to come immediately
and thought he would be here after dark. After observing her that
evening, I called him and said it might be better to come the
next morning as she was moving around, etc. She is not interested
in Hay or Pellets, but she does drink plenty of water.
The vet arrived
and listened to her heart (heart rate was up...60), gut sounds
were normal, temperature was normal. I had noticed when she urinated
that it was rather dark and thick, but thought that might be attributed
to being in heat? Our vet took a blood sample and gave her a shot
of Banamine in case she was sore or uncomfortable. It was thought
she might have been kicked as she was moving badly when she arrived.
But, when I moved her around for the vet the next morning, she
moved fine.
A blood panel
was done and indicated a very high white count. Infection. So,
right now Ms. Opal is on 8 SMZ's (anibiotics) twice a day to combat
the infection. At this point, we are unsure as to the cause of
the infection, but she will be monitored. I did get her to eat
a little Evergreene Revive that we use for horses that arrive
in a debilatated state. Opal is not thin by any means! She's a
very "round" pony! HA! I did get her to eat part of
a carrot and Volunteer Gail M. got her to eat a bite of apple.
I also gave her some Minature Horse Feed mixed with a little water
last night. She ate some of that.
More updates
as she progresses.
Update
11/10/01 - Sad news my friends. Sigh. After picking Pepper
up from the vet's yesterday, (He is doing VERY well!), I arrived
home to find Opal in distress. She was breathing heavily and her
legs were shaking uncontrollably. Blair had called the vet and
he was on his way. That morning I had administered 2 cc's of Banamine
to make her a little more comfortable and had also given her the
antibiotics prescribed. I did not want to give her anything else
until the vet arrived in order not to compromise whatever treatment
he deemed necessary to help her.
The vet gave
her a shot to ease pain. Due to her very high white count (1,700
as of the day before), her obvious distress, unable to get up
even with assistance, gums were white with dark pink around the
front teeth only, tongue was very white, heavy breathing, etc.,
the vet did a belly tap. He obtained a dark yellowish-red fluid
that had a decaying odor to it. It was thought that perhaps a
bowel had ruptured, peritonitis or the bladder had ruptured. Because
of her age and obvious distress, the decision was made to assist
Opal across the Rainbow Bridge where she would suffer no more
pain.
The vet did
a field necropsy and found that she had advanced colitis. He also
found a grouping of walnut sized growths that looked like large
grapes. The growths had twisted around several times, thus hindering
blood flow to her bowl. He thought they were tumors and opened
one up. Sigh. They were not tumors, but very large abcesses. Cause
unknown. The vet also indicated that she had been well taken care
of until she became sick. Apparently, when she became sick is
when she was sent to an auction. The vet said her problem had
been going on for awhile and had escalated within the last week.
IF she had been given antibiotics at the onset, she would have
stood a better chance of survival.
Although Opal
was only with us a short time, she was deeply loved and will be
missed. We are grateful that we were able to help her cross the
Rainbow Bridge rather than die in agony within a few days.
Opal, run
free!
Gail
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