Funds are needed to start her rehab!
Meet Babee. A seven year old quarter horse mare. She is standing this way because the pain in her feet from laminitis will not allow her to stand upright. After 3 long months the owner finally agreed to let us intervene on Babee's behalf. Originally contacted by Dr. Christianson (Dr. C) in January to see if we had room for Babee, both of us made many attempts with the owner to get her help. He finally agreed to let us come and do xrays of her feet to she if the rotation of her coffin bones (bottommost bone encased by the hoof capsule) were beyond rehabilitation on 4-17-14.
What he hadn't told either of us was that Babee could barely walk and spent much of her day laying down. Her grass founder (laminitis) was diagnosed 2 years ago by another vet and at that time the owner was told she needed to lose weight. That didn't happen. He kept her on irrigated pasture and fed alfalfa as a supplement. Nothing any of us said caused him to change her diet.
He started giving her Bute for the pain, fed in a coffee can amount of sweet feed, but the additional sugars only added to the problem. As of yesterday he had been giving her 1-2 grams of Bute a day for many months. That sort of long-term use causes ulcers and those were not being treated.
It wasn't until we arrived at his house that we realized she was in much worse shape than he had lead us to believe. So much so that when we walked up, he said it was too late for her, meaning she should be euthanized. Well he may have thought so, but Dr. C and I weren't ready do give up on Babee yet. No body puts Babee in the corner.....
Taking xrays was difficult because we could not get her hoof on a 2x4 block, off the ground to have the xray show to the bottom of the hoof, but we were able to get diagnostic level xrays that showed mild rotation on the left front foot and moderate rotation on the right front along with an abscess that will also need treatment.
Dr. C and I discussed the prognosis and needed treatment in privacy and we also spoke with our farrier. All agreed that for this mare who is just barely 7 years old, we would give it a go. The owner still seemed shocked that anyone would spend money on her but agreed to giver her up and let us try.
I have the best husband in the world because I called him and told him as soon as he got home from a 10 hour day at work, he needed to hook up the horse trailer and I would meet him for the 150 mile round trip to pick up this mare. When we arrived the sun was going down. Thankfully Dr. C hung around her office after it closed because for us to get Babee in the trailer, we needed to give her nerve blocks that would numb her two front feet. She could barely walk even then. With prayers, coaxing, and brute strength we were able to move her 25 feet and into the trailer.
Arriving home at 9pm, we filled her stall with wood shavings (as we had the trailer) and got her unloaded and settled in for the evening. This morning started her first day of rehab. She is going to need a long term diet change. At only 14.2 hands high, she is over 1300 pounds, which is more than 300 pounds overweight. That is a huge contributing factor to her pain. A low starch and low sugar diet, she has been switched to grass hay and a small amount of
Nutrena's Special Care Horse Feed which is designed specifically for horse with her needs.
We need the pelleted feed to administer the powder Bute pain reliever and the ulcer medicine, Ranitidine. Because she needs so much Ranitidine at her weight to be effective, we will be feeding 13 - 300mg tablets in the morning and 13 more in the evening which is not cheap. If we got the tablets for Costco, we would need to feed her over 50 a day and that would be difficult at best. She will need this treatment up to 60 days beyond the end of her needing Bute for pain relief.
Our farrier will be out first thing to start the long process of correcting her angles. Her feet will need to be trimmed so the angle of the bottom of her hoof mirror the angle of her coffin bone as it heals and returns to a normal position. This will take months. Special trims will be needed every six weeks to keep pain at a minimum. We are researching boots to help pad her feet. In the meantime we have padded them.
In a few weeks we would like to do blood tests to see if she has either a thyroid issue or insulin resistance issue which may also require some treatment or specific diet. As she loses weight this may resolve itself too, but testing will be the best way to see what her long-term needs may be.
We brought in 7 loads of sand to spread throughout her stall to keep it softer for her to walk, stand or lie down. We also bought straw and shavings for her interior barn stall to keep it soft. When she is able to move around more freely, she can then join the herd of oldsters for the duration of her rehab.
Babee is a trained saddle horse so once her weight is down, ulcer resolved, laminitis healed and she is given the ok by Dr. C., she can be adopted to someone who will maintain her dietary needs and enjoy this lovely horse. While her prior owner could see, but would not accept that his feeding behavior was killing this sweet mare, it is a HUGE lesson for us all that emaciation is not the only thing that can be so deadly to a horse.
PLEASE help us give Babee a chance to live a healthy life. At seven years old and sweet as can be, she deserves a chance. We need donations to help with her rehabilitation.
So far we owe Dr. C approximately $250 for xrays, drugs for transport and ulcer medication, we will need more pain and ulcer meds soon. Farrier costs will be several hundred dollars for the pads, EquiPak and special shoes every six weeks over the next several months and the work needed to relieve the abscess she has now. Straw is $8 a bale, shavings $8 bag and she will need several of each over the next several weeks till she is comfortable. The Nutrena feed is $18.99 bag, timothy grass hay is $12 for a 60lb (small) bale. And if we can raise the funds, we would like to do the blood tests for thyroid and insulin issues with will be approx. $300.
Any funds that you can spare would be so greatly appreciated. Checks can be mailed to 8369 Buckskin Trail, Snowflake, AZ 85937 and PayPal accepts credit card payments, just click this link.
Equine WellBeing Rescue Inc.
A 501c3 Public Charity
760-703-4860
Checks can be sent to PO Box 2722, Snowflake, AZ 85937.
We are a 501c3 Public Charity #45-2835562 so your donations are tax-deductible.
Members of: Unwanted Horse Coalition, Homes for Horses Coalition, A Home for Every Horse program, Humane Society Veterinary Medical Assoc., Fleet of Angels and many more.
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Recipient of $2000 food grant in 2013.
