Emergency!

I said I would post about my experience with taking Allie to Pilchuck.  Really, the most important things to take away from that experience are:

1) be prepared to transport your horse to another facility for care.  This means having your own trailer, or access to one immediately.  I could not imagine the additional stress of having to locate and secure a trailer on top of what I was already dealing with.  Time is of the essence in these situations, be prepared.

2) be prepared to make some tough decisions.  The vet that was on call has been in practice for many years and has seen some dire situations.  She told me some tough things that brought me to tears immediately.  She warned me about the cost of surgery if there was an obstruction and also let me know if I didn't want to spend that, I should think about putting her down.  It brought me to my knees.  Surgery can range between $5k to $20k or more.

3) be prepared to spend a lot of time in a barn.  When Allie was released from Pilchuck, I then had to watch her carefully.  I still count her poop piles in the morning and monitor her water intake.  I know exactly what "healthy" manure looks like and take a look at it everyday.

4) be prepared for a LARGE vet bill.  Not only did I have the vet bill from the emergency visit, I then had the hospital bill and medication.  I will be honest, vet expenses are one of the things that keeps me from taking in every lonely, sad horse.  I don't ever want to be in a position where I cannot afford the care my horse needs.

5) be prepared for a vague diagnosis on what caused the issue.  Over the last few years of the sudden sickness, colic, transient lameness, I've realized that there is a lot that is unknown in the equine medical field and a solid "this is what caused this, stop doing this" answers are really hard to come by.  Allie's hospital visit they think was a result of a bacterial infection that resulted in colitis. She was tested for the 3 major bacterias, all resulted in negative.  The vet said there are millions of different bacteria, and that we will never know what tipped her over into the colitis.  This was hard to hear as I never wanted to repeat this experience.  When she went slightly lame in her front right, we did xrays, lameness tests, never anything conclusive.  After we returned from the hospital, she then started to colic around the same time everyday.  We ended up doing an endoscopy looking for ulcers, again nothing conclusive just 1 tiny spot that could of been the start of an ulcer.  My point is, rarely do  you get the pin point diagnosis you are looking for in order to stop what is happening, for people like me who want to know exactly what it is so they can take action this is frustrating.

In the end Allie was ok, I am so thankful.  Like I mentioned, I still monitor her poop and water intake.  I am hypersensitive to when she itches her sides and her mood.  I am very cautious about any changes to her feed or routine.

Learnings: Have the income necessary to handle large vet bills, if you never have one consider yourself very lucky. Have the means to transport your horse within 30 minutes or less. This does not include renting a trailer and asking someone to borrow their truck.  Have Banamine or Bute handy, but do not administer without your vets approval.  Dosage and when to give it are best left to a professional, they will let you know over the phone on their way in if you should give it to your horse.  People have killed their horses thinking they were doing them good.

Be prepared and hopefully nothing like this will ever happen to you!

Happy Riding!

Next Phase

Wow time flies, I can't believe it's been a year since I've updated this.  A lot has happened, I got to the point where I wanted Allie home with me, so we started looking for a place where that could happen.  Viola! I have moved to Gig Harbor, have a 2 stall barn, 4 acres of pasture and am loving it.   I am exhausted, go to bed around 8 every night but looking out my back window and seeing her, hearing her nicker at me when I walk in, security in when and what she is being fed is definitely worth the work and the lack of night life.  I do miss the covered arena......someday I'll have one. I found this plaque and hung it in my barn, it really summed up the last couple of years for me.

Keep believing in your dreams!

Happy Riding!