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Day 5- 6/22/02: Today is Saturday. Chance has been here for 5 days. We built the sling for her, but it got too late, and we were too tired to try it out. Dave got about 125 ton of hay brought in today. I don't know where he finds all the energy. Chance is only urinating a couple of times a day. It is cloudy and very thick- like honey. Add to the list of questions for the vet. I bought Foal-Lac pellets today. Chance can't stand them. I tried soaking them in her milk, but she doesn't like the flavor. Chance does wants to eat grain though. Ours is a custom blend of whole grains, so I hate to put the strain on her system to digest them. I do let her nibble a little, just as a treat. And I hope to slowly introduce the pellets, at some point, with the grain. I laid down for a minute and two hours later hubby woke me up to a fabulous dinner. I am sooo spoiled, hehehe... Fed Chance real quick then enjoyed my first real meal in days. We put Chance on the mattress today. Wrapped it in a tarp, then put a sheet over it (too hot to have her lay on a blanket), and put pads under her bottom to have waste run off instead of puddling around her. But the little poophead wouldn't stay on it! Will have to think about that one too. News of Chance has spread across the internet like wildfire. I'm trying to keep up with 40-50 emails a day that are now coming in from all over the world. People have been so concerned and generous, we have been getting donations of Foal-Lac milk replacer, aloe creams, fly spray and cards and letters of encouragement. The human spirit is alive and well. I sure never dreamed all this would be happening. I just felt sorry for a sick little filly.
Day 6- 6/23/02: We're still trying to get Chance to stay on the mattress as much as possible. Have her pen shaded with a tarp, and a fan blowing on her constantly. Since day one I am still giving the filly full-body deep muscle messages twice a day, rubbing down her whole body and flexing tendon/joints slowly several times a day. I worry about them atrophying from lack of use. We put Chance in her sling, and lifted it with the borrowed engine hoist. She just hung like a sack of potatoes. The vet says a sling is to be used as an aid. So if she isn't at least holding her head up, then she's not ready. So we'll try it again when Chance's is stronger. The dairy farmer let us have 3 gallons of milk 2 days ago but said he wouldn't be able to continue. Chance is now getting Foal-Lac powdered milk replacer, nursing the goats, and still getting the bottled water with MSM and corn syrup. She is drinking 6 cups of replacer, plus what the goats provide, every couple of hours now.
One week!- 6/24/02: Chance WILL NOT stay on a mattress. have given up on that idea. But the big news is she is now drinking replacer out of a feed pan. Chance must be feeling better. Today during her massage, she nipped me hard enough to bruise, hehehe. She got popped back and hasn't tried it since. Even though she's a spoiled little bottle baby, I can't let her get away with stuff that will get someone hurt someday. Got her moved out into the big yard. There's a couple of shade trees and thick grass. Chance is so content. Her fever is still going up and down, from 102.1 to 103.6. Frustrating. I still haven't met the owner. His uncle, our neighbor, left a message that I want to talk with him but said it may be a few days, as the boy is haying right now. I hope he'll sign Chance over to me.
6/25/02: Chance isn't wanting to sit up. I talked to the vet, and he said it's common for horses, under these circumstances, to get somewhat lazy. So I am making her sit up on her own to eat. Was really hard to see Chance miss a meal, but I was determined that she could at least sit up for that. She figured it out the next time, and is now sitting up when she sees me coming. And as usual she whinnies like crazy. *smile* I've decided to go with an old wound remedy for the pressure sores. The furozone ointment was keeping them so moist that they were oozy. Must not have felt good to sit up on her raw wet elbows.
The owner came by tonight, and it's official! When I asked if I could have her, and started floundering with everything that's being done and will need to be, and how it will be sooo time consuming, he just smiled and said, "Sure, she's yours." WooHoo! Perfect ending to the day....
6/26/02: The pressures sores are staying dry without cracking. Chance must be feeling some relief there. Temp is still up there, and she's not drinking well today. But she is still eating grass as she lies on her side. I'm hoping it's because of the extreme heat and humidity, and that she'll drink better tonight when it cools a bit. Chance now has several new buddies. The geese and one of the chickens have adopted her, and they stay right with her a lot of the time. Dave went to help friends get hay up after he got off work, and my son went to his Wednesday youth church get together, so I was home alone when the sudden storm blew in. Went from no breeze to gusts of over 60 miles an hour. Aslo, there was a lot of cloud to ground lightning. I don't know how I did it, but I used a couple of wide cinches, got them around Chance's barrel, tied the ends with a lead rope, and got her over to and into the shed. The floor of the shed is about 10-12 inches up off the ground, and I managed to lift her in. It's a 3-sided shed, with the open side facing east. Though the wind was coming from the north, the air was really swirling around. Chance still has the fever, and she began shaking like a leaf. So I got a large stable coat, laid it over her, hung the drop light in the shed, and settled in. The rain hit all at once, sounding like hail on the tin roof. Chance laid her head in my lap, the dog cuddled on the blanket between her legs, and we just waited out the worst of it. The main storm was north, so we just caught the edge. It lasted maybe 45 minutes then was gone.
6/27/02: I went out and fed at midnight, then slept until 4am. tended to Chance again, answered a bunch of emails, and I went back to bed from 5am until about 8am. She drank 1 1/2 qts per feeding. Now back to every two hours throughout the day. We went ahead and moved the goats back in with the herd. I'm just running out of steam and have to budget my energy so carefully. Chance has a long way to go, and I can't wear out now. Will feed Foal-Lac, in the feed pan, exclusively. Tonight we helped Chance up, to see how she would do. She wouldn't put any effort into supporting her weight. Guess we're still not there yet. The mouth ulsers are looking better finally!
6/28/02: Tonight I talked to the vet about Chance's persistent fever. We decided to start her on aspirin. I hate to do it because, like BUTE, prolonged use leads to stomach ulcers, as well as possible other side effects. But at this point we don't have much of a choice. I'll start her on 2-3 plain adult aspirin, 3-4 times a day. Will crush and add to her milk. It's gotta taste funny, with all that's being added to it, but Chance doesn't seem to mind. The geese have become the filly's best friends. They hardly leave her side. And that one little hen. The chicken has a deformed beak (I know, I'm a sucker for the underdog everytime, hehehe). Seems like different knows different. Funny-looking chicken and gimpy horse- what a pair.
6/29/02: Started the aspirin this morning. Within 2 hours Chance's temp was coming down. Has stayed down all day, and I'm finding out that this is one perky little girl. She wiggled all over the yard today, was sitting up and whinnying everytime I went out, and just has a spark in her eyes. Tonight Chance's temperature is so close to within the normal range, it's 100.6! Normal is 99.5 to 100.5, so we're right there!
6/30/02: Well, we had our ups and downs today. Chance's temp is holding in the normal range, but now it looks like the septicaemia is moving into a hind fetlock, the one on the good leg. I'm not sure if it will be possible for her to get up on her own if both hind legs have bad joints, even before the fusing happens. Chance's whole back end just isn't right. I've read that septicaemia can go into the spine, which would explain this. I'm depressed about that thought. One day at a time, right? Continue to page 3...
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