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Our veterinarian called me Tuesday night and I had THE BEST news to share with her!!!! We raised enough money for Whiskey to pay for all his care to date and continued treatment and diagnostics as needed. She was so happy, our relief was palpable.
YOU MADE THE DIFFERENCE!!!! |
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Dr Laird, spoke with an internal medicine specialist at Chaparral Veterinary Medical Center about Whiskey's diagnositics and treatment to date. We were worried that perhaps cancer was a potential cause for him not recovering quicker or something else yet unknown. The specialist felt he was suffering from Dysbiosis (I had to look it up), " a profound imbalance in the intestinal microbiota which precipitates changes in the normal health and function of the gastrointestinal tract. In horses, this may manifest in colitis, laminitis and colic and other clinical situations." Having been treated for colitis with very strong antibiotics, this makes perfect sense.
Her recommondation is to do a fecal micobiota transplant, also referred to as fecal transfaunation, which is becoming a common practice for equines who suffer from long periods of diarrhea or loose manure. The procedure is done over 3 days, according to the Kentucky Equine Research, which states,“The process is straightforward. Fecal balls from a healthy horse are thoroughly mixed with water, and the mixture is then strained. The liquid fraction is tubed into the stomach of the sick horse with the assumption that some of the bacteria will make it all the way to the hindgut intact.” Reintroducing the good bacteria this way has been found to work much quicker than pre and probiotics which also help to balance intestinal microbiota.
We have the process scheduled for next week, starting December 5th. |
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More great news, we ran Whiskey's bloodwork on Wednesday and today I got a text that his bloodwork is within normal limits for everything. YAY!!!!! And to top that off, his second Salmonella text result was negative meaning he no longer needs to be in isolation/quarantine. YAY!!! We had been so worried he would not recover and be miserable with little quality of life being stuck in a stall 24 hours a day.
We still don't know the cause of his illness, the internal medicine specialist mentioned there were several cases of corona virus in the area during that time he first because sick and that is one of the causes of colitis, so we are leaning towards that being the most likely cause....but not definitive.
We moved Whiskey out of the stall he was in and next to Biscuit so they could have each others company. They both perked up right away. As a precaution we will totally sanitize Whiskey's old stall including the ground making it perfectly safe to be used by any of the horses and donkeys. Better to be safe than sorry.
On GivingTuesday a donor contacted us and said she would match up to $2500 in donations. Then we got a second $2500 donation which means that all donations we recieved on Tuesday and Wednesday were doubled!!!! Counting GivingTuesday donations made prior to Tuesday and a few we have received since then, we raised $13,924 and we feel so very blessed for every dollar donated. Whiskey will get all the care he needs and we can use any remaining funds for the health care of the others here at the rescue.
Our hearts are filled with joy and knowing we can provide what is needed is the best feeling, especailly going into the winter when weather makes daily care more difficult and we have bigger concerns with our older retirees. We simply cannot thank you all enough for your support, generosity and friendship. We were also very touched by the many people who donated in memory of someone they loved, a special person or animal, what a wonderful way to honor them. You simply are THE BEST!!!!!
Thank you all so very, very much, Christine and all of us at Equine WellBeing Rescue
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