Another Short Blog

Tucker mule and Breezy Summer got sick and are in. Pearl, Jet, Amira, and Tess are in the turnout. Pico seems a little better. In fact he took the hay out of my hands tonight. Lacey seems OK and Babe is eating well.
HOT HOT HOT and more flies.
Did it again. Said to the ponies tonight, "You two eat like horses." It's a good thing equines can't make faces.

Busy Sunday

The sky this morning was beautiful.

The clouds were so colorful.

Couldn't get enough of them.Then the day got started and there was no time for pictures.

We met some wonderful folks today, Nancy and her dad, Orvil and Phyliss, all who wanted to see the sanctuary. Of course, they could only view it from the outside, but I think they liked it.

Brandie's abcess healed enough that she could go out. She was her spunky self as she cantered all over.

Jet's abcess broke open so we will watch her.

Stuart is still eating, but the antibiotic may have slowed down his outbreak.

Lucky, and Tess are still mucusy but eating and drinking.

Tucker came in because he was having trouble swallowing.

The biggest surprise was Breezy Summer who seemed a little lethargic, but never stopped eating or drinking. Tonight when she rubbed on Jake her abcess (that we didn't know she had) popped open. She's still eating so we left her out.

Quincy has started coughing.

Pico is probably the sickest. His one abcess is open but he has another swollen node. He eats but not enthusiastically.

Bobbie has a swollen node and Quest coughs occasionally, but is still very thin.

Belle is not getting any relief from her pain.

Juan has a swollen node.

Then there was stall cleaning. At the beginning of summer I smugly thought that I wouldn't have to clean stalls til winter. Certainly everyone could enjoy the warm weather outdoors. WRONG. Now there are 16 horses in and that's a lot of poop.

Oh, and feeding regular and special feed. Watering. Then there are dogs, cats, goats, calves, and birds. Sometimes we even eat, do dishes and laundry. Maybe a little gardening, too.

After feeding tonight there was time to take a couple of moon shots.

Good night, all. Tomorrow will be here soon.

Afternoon Blog

Tonight promises to be a busy one so the blog is a little early. Here is our friend Art who is always willing to help Home At Last. He and Jim share a laugh and an iced tea.Tory has not shown any signs of strangles. It is unusual that so many of our middle aged horses are getting it.

Stuart responded well to his shots, but that doesn't mean he won't continue the course that the other horses have faced. The shots will just prolong the abcess outbreak, but at least he can eat and drink now.
Brandie's abcess opened yesterday. Believe it or not she is feeling much better. In fact she is her spunky old self. We'll keep her in until her abcess heals or until Dr D sees her on Wed.

Juan was very lame yesterday. Whether or not he's coming down with the strangles is yet to be seen.

Pico's abcess broke open this morning. He's still not feeling very good.

Stoney has been staying close to the barn. He seems OK. I think he just wants the grain, but we'll watch him.

Little Gracie is fine.

So is Lexi.

Tess is mucusy, but still is eating. She gets Bute twice a day to keep her pain and fever down.

Amira is better, too.
Rosie came in to eat in peace. She's a timid girl and the others will keep her from the food. She's thin, but putting on some weight. Her feet don't hurt her any more.

Jet still has a cough and a couple of lumps on her throat, but she is eating and drinking.

Molly mule isn't sure what all the fuss is about, but she loves the fact that there is extra grain in the barn with all the sick horses.

Callie is so very sweet. She loves grain, loves pets and tolerates Tory pushing her around. She'd rather be out eating the roses. Because of her knee she will never be part of the big herd.

Strangles often affects the young horses, like Leeso, who have not been exposed to it before. So far Leeso, Jake, Lady Bug, and Sweetie Pie have not shown any signs of illness.

Rico and his herd are next to the big herd, but don't have close contact with them. So far none of them have shown any signs of illness.

Rico and Navajo enjoy the beardless wheat hay that Lyle grows for us.

My old Quest is still thin despite 2 grainings a day, supplements and all the hay he can eat. He had a cough yesterday, but the Bute seemed to relieve it some. He is eating and drinking.

Frankie and Moon Dancer enjoy the shade. Frankie gets cortisone shots to help his itchiness where his surgery was. He would itch, then rub it, then open the wound again. It's been quite a time having that heal.

Belle and Charles are peaceful. The Bute helps Belle a little, but she is still in pain. They are getting lots of extra food and love.

Just a plain old branch but pretty.

There are clouds and wind coming from the south. Earlier there were spotter planes and tankers. We were told there was a fire near Lake Oroville. We are near Lake Oroville, but didn't see the fire. Supposedly it's out.

Haven't seen clouds for a while. Couldn't resist a second picture.

The goats bring joy by their very being.

Speaking of joy here is my Beloved Bedraggled Hat- forevermore known as BBH. She posed on the table with the ceramic chickens. Note her special air vents and lovely blue duct tape decoration. The cats had a great time with her as you can see.

This is the side view. I'm taking these pictures so that if she ever disappears again I'll have pictures to post on telephones poles, etc. to get her back.

Love dog models BBH on the bridge by the pond. She truly is a wonderful and versatile hat. You can see why she is my favorite.

Quest is coughing again and Lacey looks like she's feeling ill. Back to work.

Thank you for all your kind thoughts and offers of help.

More Sick Horses

While Brandie, Jet, Pearl (still coughing), and Amira are recovering more horses became sick today. Tess has yellow mucus but is eating. Quest has a cough, Juan is lame and not feeling well and Stuart got hit hard. He could hardly move. He got an antibiotic shot because he couldn't swallow and a pain shot. That was about 5 PM. By dinnertime at 7 he was ready to eat some. We'll see how he is in the morning.
Belle is not responding to the pain meds. Poor sweet girl is not feeling good.
We are watching Breezy Summer, Tiger Lily and Skittles. They seem to be OK.
We are unable to take any horses at this time and Calieph needs a loving forever home. He is in the mountains and his arthritis cannot take the cold. He would make a great pasture mate. If you can help him please, call Phyliss at 530-362-6705.
Thank you to Art today who helped medicate the various horses who needed treatment- Frankie, Bobbie, Charles, Brandie and Pico.
My beloved hat returned. Pictures tomorrow if she stays put. I may keep her in bed with me tonight just to make sure she's not hatnapped again.

Escapes, Missing Hat and Continuing Treatments

We awakened to Maggie B's frantic whinnies. She was missing someone. Looking out the back door there were two escapees- Lacey and Babe- wandering around having a great time. But Maggie wouldn't have been calling to them, so who else was missing? Sugar was in her pen but Posey was gone.
It didn't take more than a bucket of grain to put Babe and Lacey back in the big turnout. Apparently, they had had enough of barn life and wanted to be free. They are eating well. Lacey shows no sign of the strangles yet.

Where was Posey? Oh my goodness. She had closed herself in Babe's stall. How she did that I don't know. She's not one to be touched or even caught so I encouraged her to move on out.

Out she goes. A bucket of grain helped her back in the pen with Maggie and Sugar.

Calli mule is one we watch closely for quality of life. Her poor knee is going to cause her problems as she gets older. Her leg will eventually turn causing her a great deal of pain. We'll watch closely to make sure her quality of life stays good. Now she is a happy girl with very little pain.

Brandie is still "off" a little. She is eating and drinking, but listless.

Lucky is checking to make sure that we know he is OK. Cricket started sneezing today. Jet is doing better.

Pearl is eating and drinking but will stay in for special treatment a while longer. Pico, in the background will stay in a while, too.

Jim and I put up panels so we have more hospital rooms. Tess started to cough and Amira is listless so they came in.

Breezey Summer looks like she doesn't feel well, so we'll watch her. Dr D thinks we may be going at this for 3 or 4 more weeks.

Quincy came by to see how everyone is doing. So far so good with him.

Smoke came to the barn, too, but I think he was just looking for a treat. He seems OK for now.

Since we don't have medical histories on most of the equines we don't know which ones may have already dealt with strangles and therefore are immune. Our young horses are most at risk.
Losing things is one of my talents. I can loose shoes, cameras, phones, dustpans and just about anything else. However, I know where I left my bedraggled but beloved hat and it is gone. I think there is a human, equine and bovine conspiracy that has led to the disappearance of said hat. Don't those three look guilty to you? Jim just shrugs when I ask him where it is. I had to wear another not so grand hat. Where is my hat?
Come on, guys. I promise not to wear it in public- only when I'm feeding.

Many people ask us how we can make a decision about euthanasia. Some are very nice about it. Isn't it hard? How do you decide about each animal? Do we cry? And some ask us how we like being horse killers and aren't we ashamed to just kill an animal? Our answer is always the same. It's not about us. It is about the animal. We are dedicated to seeing that each animal has the best life we can give it. When the quality of that life is gone, it is time to help the animal. We don't focus on death. We focus on life. If a horse can have a few good years, a few months or even a few good days that is what we are about. When there is no longer a way to sustain that good life, then with the help of our dedicated veterinarian we make the choice for the animal. That is humane. We don't keep it around just because it is hard to let it go. That is how we show the ultimate respect for that animal.

It's Official- The Horses Have Strangles

Patches started our morning by an attack on a plastic bag. The poor bag never had a chance. It was pounced on, drug, kicked and carried through out the house. We had to hold our coffee and tea cups in the air to keep from getting splashed as this little cat rampaged.

Watch out!! Alien cat.Dr. Darling came today. The lab at Davis said we definitely have strangles. The symptoms are fever, poor appetite, depression or listlessness, and a thin watery discharge from the nose that turns thick and yellow.

Strangles is a lot like strep throat in people. It is streptococcus equi bacteria that affects the upper respiratory lymph nodes. The nodes become enlarged and can abcess.
Most horses ages 1-5 are at risk, but any age horse can get it. Most horses show symptoms 2-6 days after being exposed. If the nodes rupture and drain, the drainage is highly contagious.

20% of horses remain contagious for a month after their symptoms disappear. For that reason Home At Last will remain closed for one month after the last horse's symptoms disappear. We do not want any other horse to get this from us.

Lacey is in with Babe. She has no symptoms. She was distraught when we put Babe in. We thought she might hurt herself if we kept them apart.

Babe has lost weight because she was not hungry. She's doing much better, but we are going to keep her in to keep an eye on her.

She thought you might like to see a Pony of the Americas' nose up close. Her Appy blood sure shows.

Pearl is probably the sickest horse we have at present. She has remained fevery with a lot of nasal discharge. Her appetite is improving.
Her nodes under her neck are swelling.

Jet is sick, too. Bute helps lower the fever and helps with the pain from the swelling.

Brandie's lymph node has broken a little but there is no discharge yet. Just a sore point.

Pico has been telling us for days that he doesn't feel good. He's in now, getting Bute, too. His appetite is a little better.

It's so hard to see these grand animals feeling badly.

The hardest part of the day came when Belle and Charles were evaluated. You can see Charles in the background. He had lost Belle and was calling and calling to her becoming more frantic every second. He cannot be without her.

When Belle came to us she was lame. She was supposed to be young but is in her late teens. Dr D feels she has an autoimmune disease similar to rheumatoid arthritis. We are going to try her on pain meds for another week, but if that doesn't work we will end her suffering. She is such a grand lady.

Dr D checked her front feet carefully.

Then her back feet. It was not good news.

If we have to put Belle down, then we will put Charles down, too. He showed us today that life without Belle would be torture for him. Dr D evaluated him, too. He said he knew he was getting plenty of good food, but Charles is not flourishing. In fact he is slipping week by week. Sometimes, blind horses cannot accept their blindness and life is not good for them.

Home At Last is about quality of life. We do not make euthanasia decisions lightly. We think and cry and think some more. We always choose what is best for the horse.

Charles and Belle have a special bond. They belong together. Belle chose Charles. She wanted to be his guide when other horses didn't want the job.
Sometimes at the end of the day this squash and I feel just the same- wilted.

We do not use euthanasia as a herd management technique. We value the life of every animal here (except flies and mosquitoes). We do not take the responsibility lightly. We try to do the best we can for every animals. Sometimes that is the final act of kindness.