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Many of you asked for an update on the necropsy
results.
Preliminary findings show botulism as the cause.
The vet said she had a pretty advanced case by the time we got her to the
clinic. But even if we had gotten her there sooner, the survival rate is less
than 30%.
They think it was probably from our hay. We feed
round bales. Sometimes, small animals get baled up in the hay and the
by-products of their decomposition contaminates just that little bit of hay and
the one horse that ate it gets sick.
We'll be watching the rest for
symptoms:
decreased tongue and tail tone
difficulty eating after the first two or three
bites
unsteady gait progressing to an inability to
stand
Their mind is not affected, like in WNV. Z was
fully alert until the very end.
Well, I'll be moving out to the pasture for a few
days. I hope I don't freeze to death.....
Maggie
PS If anyone has a stallion by Baskiro, I am
considering rebreeding Z's dam to a stallion of similar breeding to her sire.
Not that we really need another horse, or could ever replace our precious Z
Baby.
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