Slim
8/6/01
- Blair saw him at an auction and couldn't get him out of his
mind. He had told the horse that he would be okay. I went to the
feedlot that bought him, paid much more than what they paid at
the auction of course and hurried home to call Jerry & June
to see if they could haul him home the next day. Next thing I
know, the feedlot owner is in front of our gate with this beautiful
Palamino inside his trailer. Cost another pretty penny, but we
are grateful that he is with us.
Update
11/01/01 - Slim is doing very well. Although he is still getting
abcesses in his feet everytime he is trimmed due to the angle
change, (which will be ongoing until his feet are at the correct
angle), he is putting on weight and enjoys cruising around.
Update
12/19/02 - Most of the time Slim is just a Teddy bear. But......he
has some fire in that stove still! He is picky about which horses
he likes and doesn't like. If he doesn't like them and is turned
out with them, he corners them, chases them, etc. He's pretty
quick on his feet and I'm sure he was used to cut cows at one
time or another because has the moves!! After bullying one of
the horses on his "not my favorite" list, he is pretty
sore and tired. Not every time, but generally. He is great with
kids and people unless he is pretty certain he doesn't want to
do something. Then......he is very strong minded and tough. Slim
was probably VERY good at whatever he did in his past life. Sigh.....that
is why he is so damaged, they used him up. His rear legs will
still stock up and he gets pretty sore in the front at times.
But, when he's at his bestest, it is a sight to behold!!
09/2004
- A
Veterinarian is coming out for Slim. Over a period of two days
his sheath began to really swell (he has a huge summer sore on
it that he keeps ripping open) and the swelling has gone back
to where his testicles used to be. Our regular vet AND our backup
vet are out of town until Monday. I have called 4 vets last night!
Two of which are out of town and one didn't even bother to call
back AFTER 2 calls!! The one that is coming out will have to make
a special trip (their office is in San Dimas). She cautioned me
that the charges would be quite steep. When I asked for a ballpark
figure, she apologized and said for her step out of her truck
and onto the property would cost $90!! From there we go to treatment,
etc. Can you sing CHA-CHING in a high hysterical voice????? She
intially said they treat these sores by injecting Lydocaine/Ivermectrine/steroids
directly into the lesion. She is concerned about the amount of
steroids due to Mr. Slim having Cushings. Grrrrrrr!
We’ve
double dosed with Ivermectrine, cold hosed, applied Derma Gel,
Wound Relief, Swat, and adminstered antibiotics, ad infinitum.
But, everytime it begins to heal and starts to itch, he rips it
open. He's done major reconstructive surgery on his sheath twice.
Both times ripping off a chunk of skin the size of a walnut!!
I noticed the swelling (who could miss it??), washed with Benzal,
applied triple antibiotic, covered in SWAT and gave him the last
20 of the SMZ's. The next morning. I again cleaned it up, turned
him out in the arena in hopes that a full day of walking around
would help the swelling (he is turned out every night with Princess
Dot). When I got back from various errands/appointments,I noticed
the swelling had progressed to the area behind his sheath and
began calling vets.
This year
has been quite a struggle financially. We would very much appreciate
your assistance in paying Slims’ vet bill. An update on
Slim’s visit with the vet will be sent out as soon as possible.
Thank you
for being there for the TIER residents!!
9/22/04
- The vet has come and gone......to the tune of $260.00!!!!!!!
Arghhhhhh! But, Slim is doing so much better!
The vet arrived
and promptly went to work on Slim. She bathed his sheath with
antiseptic soap and cleaned the area. A “cocktail”
(I believe it was a combination of Ace & Rompum) was administered
so that Slim’s penis would drop and she could examine it
to see if the swelling, etc. involved this part of his anatomy.
Thankfully, all is well in this department. Whew!
I had wanted
to take pictures so that folks would be able to see what it was
that we were so concerned about. The vet was insistent that I
hold Slim so that she would be safe and also because he was pretty
groggy and I needed to hold his head up. So.... no pictures of
the hugely swollen problem. Sorry. That boy's head sure did get
heavy!! By the time she was done my arms felt like they were going
to fall off! HAA!
The vet injected
a combination of injectible ivermectrine, Lydocaine to localize
the treatment and Vetalog (steroid). Slim does have Cushings,
and she was concerned about the use of steroids so she kept the
amount used to a minimum. She did several small injections - mostly
done directly in the lesion. She called it a lesion and I called
it Slim’s attempt at Do-It-Yourself Sheath Reconstruction
since he had torn the sheath open as it began to heal and itch.
After sticking
it to Slim, she administered a mixture of Panalog and injectible
ivermectrine to the outside of the sheath and over the affected
area. This mixture, along with a tube of Bute paste will be used
in the coming days as his follow up treatment. Even though Slim
had been wormed with Ivermectrine the week before, the vet told
us to give him another tube and that was done. A pretty drowsy
Slim was placed back in his pen until the drugs wore off and he
could again be turned out to move around at will and keep the
circulation going.
Our fear of
infection spreading through Mr. Slim’s body has been put
to rest! Hallelujah!! The vet indicated that there was not any
infection and even told us that we had done a good job of keeping
it clean! I asked if we had over reacted in calling the vet out
for an emergency and she indicated that we hadn’t. Had the
swelling been allowed to continue, we might have had quite a different
update for everyone.
We did not
notice any huge reduction in swelling after Slim’s treatment
that day. But, the following day, the area behind the sheath and
the sheath itself has greatly reduced. As Slim is older, some
of the ‘swelling’ in his sheath will remain as the
skin has thickened. Because of this thickness, it was a bit difficult
for the vet to inject and she had to change needles.
Slim is getting
his Panacur/Ivermectrine ointment applied three or four times
a day. The great thing about this (other than the healing) it
that it also repels the flies. We don’t have to put SWAT
ointment on the area. The SWAT was keeping the area moist and
not allowing it to heal well even though it did keep the flies
off. Slim will also be receiving Bute paste twice a day for a
couple days. When I turned him out this morning he immediately
found a place in the arena to roll, got up, bucked, ran around
a bit and then turned to look at me as if to say......”See!
I still got it!!”
Thank you
all for your support, prayers, thoughts and caring. We appreciate
it very much. Slim thanks you more than you can know!!
Update
4/16/05 - Yak No Mo!
Whose idea
was this??
WHOEVER thought this was a good thing wasn't the one that had
to stand around for hours without having finished breakfast!
You're takin a break and I gotta just stand here looking like
this?
As my friend Pearl used to say........
Mutter, mutter, mutter, mutter
Not only did I have to stand there forever, I only got 3 breaks
to eat a little bit AND THEN they made me take a bath! Finally,
I was allowed to go back to my pen and have breakfast at lunchtime!
Grrrrrrrr
I'm so glad that is over! I think that Gail person was kinda shocked
to see how much my back had dropped and the muscle tone in my
butt is gone. This Cushings stuff can really wreak havoc on ya!
Update
7/13/05
- Whispering ‘You are going home’ into the ear of
a TIER resident is something we look forward to. Our dear Slim
came to TIER emaciated & broken. Feed, foot care, dental care
& love helped this sad boy to blossom into a stout, bright
eyed character that would chase The Amazing Grace http://www.tierrescue.org/Grace.htm
around the arena at full speed. When Slim was let out to roam
the property, you could usually find him getting into things,
knocking things over, opening bins, or hanging out with Panache!
Slim was placed on
supplements for Cushings and he had his feet trimmed every 5 weeks
by our barefoot trimmer Michael LeGrone. The Cushings took it’s
toll on this Old Soldier who was a favorite of youngsters. On
7/13/05 at 10:20 a.m. I was able to wrap my arms around Slim’s
neck & whisper ‘you are going home’ through my
tears as our vet helped him cross the Rainbow Bridge. Slim is
now pain free and running through the meadows & streams at
the Rainbow Bride. We miss him terribly and are so very grateful
for having the opportunity to have had him in our lives.
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