Vent about old age and favorite animals

[bkreugar]

I have a 21 yr old Khemosabi grandaughter arab. I have had her since she was 3.She has always been on the thin side as she was stunted.She was in a stall with her dam until I bougght her as a 3 yr old from a LARGE arab farm.

Anyway I broke her and my now 11 yr old dd rode her from the time dd was 3 till dd was 9. The mare became a total babysitter and is the SWEETEST little mare (she is 13.3).

When the mare was about 7 I had her boarded as I did not have my own place yet and she was kicked directly IN the knee by a horse that had shoes on behind. I had the vet see her who told me to take her to the sport medicine vet who then told me to take her to state for orthoscopic surgery.

Keep in mind this was 14 years ago.So I raised the 1500.00 it was then and went to state.They said they could do the surgery but her chances of being sound were 50/50 at BEST.

SO I took her back and pastured her and she had a few foals.Then I had my DD and she turned up SOUND.Sound w/t/c.SO when my DD was 3 she started riding her and eventually showing her.Many ribbons followed.I took her back to state when she was sound and they said that sometimes a long turnout WILL make a difference and she would be fine until arthritis set in.

When my daughter was 7 I could see the begining of a mis step in the mare and we had bought our own place a few years before.So I told me DD she had 2 years and then she would have to move off the mare to retire her and I would breed her.

DD did move off her 2 years ago and I tried breeding my mare but she is a VERY hard keeper and my plumbing bit the dist so I had to wait.I tried again this spring and had my ducks in a row (mare cultured and the shot to bring her into heat) and saw the mare take a few REALLY bad steps so I asked the vet for another set of xrays to be sure the knee would hold up to the added weight of a foal.

After xrays were taken (it had been about 10 years since they had been taken last)we were DEVESTATED. Mare is losing all the joint space in the knee and it is crumbling.2 of the small bones ont he left side of the knee are already fused.

As of last month mare is lame all the time AND now started to have a "limp" diagonally behind.Due to age or compensating for the knee I am not sure. Upon the xrays vet said I give you at teh outside 3 years maybe as little as one.

She says that as the knee continues to disintegrate eventaully the canon or fore bone will break from not being able to take the torque of movement.This is all awful of course but I am alarmed at how quickly the mare seems to be declining.I do know I will have to put her down eventaully.

Here is my vent.This last few days the mare has not wanted to finish her grain and I know that is because she doesn't feel good.I have asked the vet about how best to manage her pain and she wants to use legends to help with the daigonal rear and hopefully give her some releif for the front knee.

I CAN NOT do this until I go back to recieving a paycheck in about 30 days.I am off for the summer.Our budget for the summer was based on just dh's pay.NO extras. I am already scrimping to manage everything. I have paste bute and the doc says don't use that on more than a once a week basis unless I also use ulcer guard because it will eat up her stomach.

So I am going to give her bute today to see if it helps her feel better,If I can't get her to finish eating I am going to be in a real fight because she is 13.3 and 725 pounds on the lean side as she has always been picky and a hard keeper. I actually had her scoped to see if she had ulcers and she doesn't.I had that done in the spring when i was still getting a paycheck.

Vet says I can try aspirin but I will have to get that from her and she is reluctant to do it. I am calling in the morning to push for that because I have to change something.

I guess this is a vent unless anyone has any ideas I missed. SOOO hard to see your special pets suffer!!!Sorry this was so long!

 

[ranchhand]

I can't offer any help, but I can say that I am so sorry for you all.

 

[Slightly Cracked]

You have been granted the very special privilege of caring for such a wonderful animal. In this privilege sometimes we have to make tough decisions, decisions that nobody wants to make.

I have had some very special friends in my lifetime that listened to me when no one else would, took me to places that I would not have gotten to see without them, gave me beautiful foals that carried on their legacy and told me when they was ready to go.
When the joy is gone from their step and sparkle is no longer present in their eyes it maybe time to let go, for their sake.

It was the hardest thing I have ever done telling my friends good-bye, but keeping them around for me was not fair on them. To see them in pain and not themselves was hard to watch.

I will keep you in my prayers.

SC

 

[jjthink]

If this med is believed to be something that could make a nice difference, I would see if I could work out a financial arrangement to get the product now and pay for it a little later, with a tad bit of interest if they insist. Only the cruelest would deny you this chance to help your friend in pain so I hope you would not be denied this small request. But if a financial arrangment to pay later is refused, and if I was off for the summer, I would get a little short term job to pay for it. Those are usually plentiful with immediate start dates. Credit card bills don't come for a month...may be another wya around this.....I hope something helps quickly for her, for you.....So sorry all the way around

JJ

 

[bkreugar]

Yes I am aware that this MAY be the time but I am not sure.I feel I need to do all I can to manage her pain before I make that final decision.

I am hoping that this is not a complete change to not feeling good , I am hoping it is temporary. But I am aware it may be. I hope not.

I have done this before, and for ones that were dear to me.But I admit NEVER for one I have had so long.Brings tears to my eyes to even think about it.

 

[bkreugar]

JJ you just gave me an idea. I have an extra saddle here.I think I will put it up on 3 day auction. It is a County so a good brand.That would give me enough to pay for it, pretty sure.It will be 135.00 for the shot AND the farm call Legends is intervinous so they will not let me give it.

I will call tommorow and talk about the aspirin again and tell her IF the bute makes any difference today.

ME personally I can NOT deal with the slowely starving because she doesn't feel good enough to eat.THAT is a big tip off that she is in pain.

 

[bkreugar]

Does ANYONE have any expereince with Aspirin as a long term help managing pain in horses?

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

I have a mare with a bad knee. She fell in a trailer when she was a few months old. She is 23 now and the knee is the size of a soccer ball. Plus she has a bad hip on the same side, probably from the same fall.

None of this bothered her until she hit about 18 or so, and then really got bad when we moved to Alabama, possibly because the pasture is sloping. Last winter I was lucky to get 2 scoops (about 6 lbs) of grain a day into her. She looked like a walking skeleton.

Now I feed 1 scoop of powdered bute a day plus 1 of an msm/glucosamine product PLUS a scoop of Farnam's Weightbuilder. This all gets added into her feed, which is Omolene 200. She's been on the bute for about a year now, with no signs yet of any ulcers. All of this plus a good grass hay free choice and pasture all day long.

She will never be back to her full weight and I know the knee will never get better, but she is cleaning up her feed now. I have always felt that as long as they are eating well and seem willing to go on, then that is what we will do. And she does seem content. If that ever changes, then I will make the hard choice. And it WILL be a hard choice. I delivered this girl myself; she has never known any hand but mine.

Two things I can tell you that might be helpful: (1) Jeffers carries aspirin in a paste and (2) banamine--if you can afford it--works way better than bute and without the side effects. When the vet does not have the powdered bute in stock, I opt for the banamine paste and she acts like a young horse again. However, the paste is $35 a pop and the tube only lasts a few days.

I just wanted to add that I am where you are, so I know it ain't easy. Hang in there. We can only do the best we can do.


Rusty

 

[bkreugar]

Rusty THANKS so much for your post! My mares knee is about the size of a grapefruit.

I can not get powder bute in her anymore.Only the paste. I was under the impression I had to get the asprin from the vet.Is is NOT prescription? As to the banamine the vet has urged me to keep some paste banamine on hand for possible colics.

SO I am certainly willing to try that.

I tried the magesty glucosine and chondroitin 2 years ago with no luck.Perhaps I just used an inneffective product?What do you use?

So yes obviosly the time has come for daily pain management.

WHEN did you start giving her daily pain meds?

Again I thank you for your very helpful post.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I'm not sure about the pain meds or anything like that. But, I did notice you wanted to breed her. If she cannot support the weight comfortably, have you looked into embyro transfer?

I knew a farm that was still breeding their world champion mare at the ripe old age of 30. They would take the eggs from the mare, combine them with the seed of the chosen stallion and then place the embryos in a surrogate mare and allow her to raise the young. The genetics were still there for the foal, it was just a different horse carrying and raising the colt. I think many registries will register a single foal done by this method a year. Many people use this option, so they can continue the mare's show career, while still raising offspring from her eggs. It's pretty neat really. Maybe it could be something for you to look into. It could be a way for you to raise a foal or two off your favorite horse before her time comes.

You can even buy sexed semen, which means if you want a daughter off your mare, you can have the stallion of choice's semen sexed to greatly improve the chances of getting a filly over a colt. I find it all fascinating. I'm not a big fan of cloning, but still the science behind genetic selection and whatnot is pretty darn cool.

-Kim