2014 was suppose to be a year of joy. The dream of having my own stables had come true. But it was the same year I lost Noah, the following year it was Onni's turn (My furry Bostonbabies). I was in bits.
Like that wasn't enough, few weeks later a great tragedy struck us again, young girl was lost in a riding accident at our stables. Dream turned into a nightmare.
A year later I got really sick. When I got diagnosed I felt it was my turn, my time had come. Little did I know, my grandfather decided otherwise. He took my place, so I believe.
It was spring when Vipsu got seriously ill. It wasn't in line with what had been happening past few falls. Vipsu pulled through. She got all clear last week. Hepatitis was history. It was too good to be true was it?
It was like any other morning. Horses had their breakfast and I took them out. Venda ate but seemed a bit tired. Few hours later it was ovious she wasn't right. She had colic.
She wasn't eating with the appetite she usually had. Her vitals were good but she seemed tired. She tried to pee but she couldn't. We went for a little walk.
After walking around for a while I took Venda and Vipsu back to their paddock for a little rest. My plan was to call the vet and give them something tasty to drink. Venda was standing still, looking disoriented. Suddenly she hopped and ran straight to a concrete feeding ring. Instead of dodging or stopping she decided to jump.
She landed on the ring. She was trying to get back on her feet, hurting herself in the process. Blood was everywhere. She managed to get herself up but she wasn't putting any weight on her left hind leg.
It took little over an hour for the vet to arrive. Venda was in pain, bleeding and tired. Insted of walking around (like you usually do when having a colic) I let her rest. Just in case the leg was badly hurt.
For some reason I was overly calm.
The vet checked Venda's vitals. Vitals were still ok. Venda wasn't looking all that painful but he admitted she seemed a bit tired. Her hind leg was shaven to see how bad the cuts were. Gladly they were superficial.
Since Venda's bowl movements began to slow down she had cannula inserted to her neck. She got pain relief and iv therapy just in case. She didn't resist the treatment which was a bit alarming. If she didn't manage to pee after the iv, we should get really worried.
The pee never came. After few hours we were once again heading to Hyvinkää Equine hospital in the middle of the night. The drive is about hour long. As we arrived we could here the little one peeing. And oh did she pee. Since we were already there we took her in.
Ultrasound showd the bladder was empty, what a surprise. Venda's bowl movements were still slow but she was gaining strength and getting annoyed. She had a muzzle on which made her particularly angry. When mother was given some hay she stomped and peed on them. If she wasn't getting any, no one was!
Since she was a mean little thing she was isolated into a little box in box system. These little boxes in boxes were designed for little foals. Venda was a foal but not a small one. She had hard time fitting inside the tiny box. The situation with pain and anger was getting worse every minute. Venda got really strong medication but nothing seemed to work. Around midnight the vet called for extra hands and we got to go home. It was a long drive.
Few hours later my phone rang. The extra help that arrived as we left the hospital had tried they're best but the foal was too strong and dangerous. Venda had treated the people like rag dolls and she even broke the box in box system. They had to give up on trying to treat and examine her. It was just too dangerous for everyone.
Luckily the pain seemed to pass. She was allowed to feed and drink again. What ever the cause we may never know. We could only hope it was a one off.
We were able to rule out most common causes like sand. I keep thinking maybe an ulcer. They are quite common..although they usually occur later in foals life. She never had diarrhea or anything. Just the sudden and extreme pain. But when the pain came it resembled those on ulcers.
Maybe the stress of her mother almost dying (and all the hospital visits) somehow did some damage. Maybe Vipsu's hepatitis did the damage. What ever it was, it came back.
Few weeks later she had a bad fit. The pain lasted only fifteen minutes though. Another few weeks and another fit. This time it took a bit longer.
This time her vitals were normal the whole time. But she seemed tired and painful. She was kicking herself and rolling over constantly. When the doctor arrived half an hour later she had no signs of pain what so ever. He gave her some painkillers just in case.
I'm scared. What is this and why is it happening?! She was de-wormed the morning the last pain episode occurred. I hope it had something to do with that..
I had planned to take her to another stables to be with other foals her age but do I dare? Will they notice if something is wrong. I wonder if her leg is strong enough. And I wonder if I dare to keep her home.
- J
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Thanks for your toughts!