Lucky after 2 months & Babee needs xrays

Well I was going to try to send out two separate blogs, but my time just seems to be so short these days and there are two important updates to share with you so I am combining them.

First is the 2 month anniversary of saving Lucky (formerly Frosty) from a very neglectful situation that was putting his life at risk.  On July 4th, 2014, we drove over 300 miles round trip to rescue an emaciated elderly horse and his pasture mate.   Here are a few of the intake pictures of Lucky, said to be in his 30's and that was why he was so thin:

Considered a body condition score of 1 (out of 9) and extremely emaciated at 15 hands high (60 inches at the top of his shoulder) he weighed only 835 pounds.   He is also blind in his left eye.  We started him with small, frequent meals of hay and Equine Senior round the clock and now he gets Equine Senior feed twice a day along with soaked hay pellets and free feed grass hay.   Thank you so much to Purina and the A Home for Every Horse program for the 10 bags of senior feed donated to us (he goes through almost 3 bags a week).

It has been two months and this is what Lucky looked like on that anniversary date:

Lucky's current weight is 1015 pounds, that is almost 200 pounds in the last 2 months.  All this guy needed was to be fed!  His mood is great, he flirts with the girls and based on his teeth, he is in his early 20's not his thirties.   He has about 50 more pounds to go to fill out his hips and top line and he should be the perfect weight for his height and age.

We will draw blood to create a base line and check for any organ malfunction and if his health changes in the future we will have that baseline as a comparison.  We didn't draw blood before because we knew it wouldn't be within normal limits.  With weight gain, deworming and good nutrition he shouldn't be anemic and readings should be normal.  If not, now we can pursue that further.  Duncan, his pasture mate, is doing awesome and is in love with Gwen our Tennessee Walking Horse rescued in 2007.     I hope you are as excited as we are at his recovery so far.

Babee was rescued at a vets request on April 17, 2014 and saved from being euthanized due to her owners unwillingness to feed her properly and causing severe founder and bouts of laminits for two years.   She was unable to put weight on her front feet and couldn't walk.  We needed to give her nerve blocks in her feet just to transport her here.

Working closely with Dr. Kari Christianson of North Country Veterinary Clinic and our friend and farrier Justin Burt, she has been constantly monitored as she grows out new hoof replacing the severe foundered hoof.  She was extremely over weight and has lost close to 150 pounds on a low-starch, grass hay only diet.  She also gets Purina's Enrich Plus low starch, low sugar, no grain complete vitamin, mineral & amino acid supplement to support healthy hoof growth and balanced nutrition (sorry to sound like a commercial, but I LOVE this supplement it has helped SO many of our horses).

In May we drew blood to check for any insulin resistance or equine metabolic syndrome.  Her glucose insulin ratio was high, but not unexpected and her pancreas is compensating for the excess fat from her prior poor diet.  She is not able to exercise like the other horses so weight loss has been very slow.

Babee after two weeks in her sand filled stall

Her diet also includes a variety of herbs designed to reduce inflammation, swelling, pain and help with digestion recommended by Poppy Phillips, long time friend and health care practitioner for our horses and ourselves. She has also been on Previcox for pain relief.  Her hoof growth has been slow, but steady, even though their condition is the worst our farrier has ever seen.

We have needed monthly conservative trims to shape her foot, and remove old sole and hoof as new growth comes in.   Her sole are very thin and crumbly so we have used boots from Easy Care to cushion and protect her feet giving her the ability to be out in the pasture and walk freely.

Old Macs to support her front feet and cushion her walk

As her new hoof growth continues, she has been prone to abscesses and has been moving slower these last few days.  Her most recent trim revealed very soft sole tissue with fluid underneath and two abscess spots on her left front foot.  The fluid could be one of two things, it could be detached sole ready to shed and there is a fluid build up between it and her new growth sole, or with all the rehab we have done so far, it hasn't stopped the rotation of her coffin bone and the bone could be trying to poke through the sole and the fluid could be infection.  We have started her on antibiotics just in case.

This photo taken at the beginning of the trim on 9-8-14

We have Babee scheduled for x-rays tomorrow with Dr. Christianson to determine exactly what is going on with her feet, how her recovery is going and if we were able to start her rehab in time to save her foot bones from going through her hoof.  We are hoping for the best, but the reality is if there has been further rotation and the coffin bone (the end structure to her entire leg) has dropped and is close to breaking through her sole, we may have to consider humane euthanasia.

I am trying to be brave and optimistic, but my friend's my heart is very heavy right now.   So I ask you to please keep her in your prayers and God willing this is just sole that needs to be trimmed off because there is good, new sole underneath.

We appreciate your continued support more than you will ever know.  Your support carries me through the good times and the difficult times and I feel like we are team working to help horses in need and give them a chance at a happy and loving life.   No matter how long it may be.

I will let everyone know how things go tomorrow and in the meantime please say a prayer for Babee!

Thank you all,

Christine
760-703-4860