Down horse- the saga continues

[Bette Lamore <woa@stormnet.com>]

Hi all and thanks to so many who have e-mailed with good suggestions and
support!
Hal's son is still holding his own. Every time I leave for work thinking
he will be gone upon my return, he rallies and neither the vet nor my
husband can give him "THE SHOT." He has an army of people who have seen
him from the freeway who now bring him carrots and apples (he was peeing
orange for a while until we cut back) and all the massage therapists
from Sycamore Springs Resort now make almost daily visits to give him
massages and energy work. Our previous vet gave me hope when he spoke of
a race horse he knew who foundered, lost his hooves and was down for a
year. He got up when they grew back, was reconditioned, and won his
race! I'll just be happy if Hal's son can just walk around and keep the
grass mowed. Although the body can frequently recuperate from injuries,
I found out the reason the vets say to put a horse down after 3 days of
not getting up is that they usually die of pneumonia, or ulcers which
become infected and affect the joints, etc., or stop eating and drinking
or atrophy and are never able to rise again.... and on.. and on... He
has had an incredible attitude and improves daily.
Update, he sits up much of the time now with his front legs stretched
out in front of him. He also frequently now "half-stands" with his front
legs supporting the front of his body with his back butt still planted
on the ground; however, he circles using his front end and rotates sides
sometimes--- we flip him when he doesn't--- he has a favorite side.
His ulcers are almost all healed on his flanks and hips. The pink
bandage medicine works great as well as the Alumspray (liquid aluminum
bandage). If anyone needs wound care info, I can now tell you of
medicines, bandages (some $7 a pop) etc. which seem to help. The only
real sores he has now are on his elbows, where he has ulcers on the
front ones from the pressure of laying there. They drain and are not
infected--- we have him on SMZ's and Maalox. we had him on bute but have
tapered him off some--- worried about stomach ulcers. He is in good
spirits most of the time, only getting a little pissy at night when he
is tired (like us!)
It is now the beginning of the rainy season. Mark has been sleeping in
the van parked by him at night in case the resident mountain lion,
bobcats or coyotes got a taste for horse meat. We moved him yesterday to
a paddock by the barn with the aid of plywood, PVC "rollers" and a wench
by getting him in our stock trailer after tranq'ing. He tried to get up
after he woke up but only got a few feet--- his back end is still weak
and uncoordinated, although we saw less spasticity this time. Our vets
both said that nerves can regenerate; obviously his spinal cord is not
severed or he would not be able to get up at all. He seems to know he
needs to give his back time to heal and just exercises his front end---
more and more each day. He still has good strength in his back legs (can
kick out if he doesn't want to roll so we use a rope around his
fetlock--- the boy is strong) so if we keep doing Ttouch work as Bobbie
suggested (thank-you again, Bobbie) and keep him dry, he really doesn't
require much now. He will be bombproof when he recovers, though. We have
a cheap canopy over him with plastic tarp--- tied down with stakes but
it wouldn't hurt him if he crashes into it, it is so flimsy. He was
afraid of the plastic tarp wafting in the wind and the loud noise it
made until he realized it was that or the rain. He rotated his body
until he was completely under the tarp. Last night was the first night
we didn't sleep with him as our van leaks by the sunroof and both Mark
and I are borderline colds. We checked on him frequently until midnight
when we both slept through, exhausted. I awoke at 4:30 and drove down to
the barn only to find him laying in the center under the tarp-- the
winds had been so bad they pulled the eyelet out of it where we had tied
down one side. It must have really been blowing, but there he was, dry
in the middle. We're thinking "search and rescue horse" eventually!  ;-)
If anyone has any suggestions for the elbow ulcers, we'd appreciate
them. Those are the only sores we haven't been able to get rid of-- big
holes. We've been shooting a cephalasporin into them (Today for
lactating cows) so far. Also, not sure how long he can be on SMZ's
without problems. So far he is pooping regularly and peeing clear now
(brief time of blood in urine---he had refused water that day-- we added
minerals and salt to his medicine and when he drank more, the urine
cleared--- could have been little ulcer). He is on older horse feed
(minimal molasses in it) and a little alfalfa just so he can chew and so
his stays unconstipated and immune booster pellets, bran mashes, and of
course, LOTS of carrots and apples.
Thanks again to all who have given us suggestions and well wishes.
Bette
-- 
Bette Lamore
Whispering Oaks Arabians, Home of 16.2hh TLA Halynov	
(Yes, really 16.2!)
http://www.arabiansporthorse.com