Arinya Morning Star

April 10, 2005  Arinya went to her first show, and not only did all go well, she seems to be free of the symptoms of an ulcer.  Her appetite bounced back as well as her feisty attitude, and she is not laying flat out in discomfort lately.  She, of course, loves the comfort of her stall, and I have also modified her diet somewhat to increase fiber and fat content as well as reduce readily-fermentable starches.

March 25, 2005  Arinya has been acting "off" lately, and she was down again this morning flat out with her belly gurgling so loud I could hear it from 20 feet away.  The vet came out, and after much examination and questioning me diagnosed Arinya with an ulcer (which was what I thought, based on observations of friends' horses with ulcers).  We started her on Gastroguard, then an antacid when that is finished as well as some natural treatments like yogurt and aloe juice.  The barn roof had come down again in a severe thunderstorm, and she REALLY likes her stall, so perhaps that was the source of the stress that might have brought on the ulcer.  It has been raining a LOT lately, and my driveway is so muddy that the vet got stuck as well as the 4-wheel-drive truck that came to help (the tow truck was successful).  I have friends coming tomorrow morning to help me fix the barn yet again.

November 22, 2004  Arinya is now getting turned out twice a day in her new paddock, and she loves the outside time.  Also, Stormy is now officially 30 days post-surgery, and she got a little outside free time this morning.  But then Arinya pestered her into trotting some, and I had to catch her so she did not put too much stress on the healing incision.  Arinya is getting very assertive again, and her new trick is to kick out at me when she is outside and doesn't want to cooperate.  We will be discussing that issue more this week!  We are doing some training exercises, such as tying for grooming and foot work, leading over poles, backing up on cue, moving away from pressure, etc, and she learns easily.  It's just that she is truly an "alpha" filly and has a such a strong mind--but then again, it is that strong will that pulled her through all of this.  She is definitely growing again and filling out to almost her pre-illness condition.  Her feces are still too soft and not completely normal, and she gets gassy very easily.  We continue the probiotics and paste electrolytes along with free-choice T&A hay, a beet-pulp based grain ration, and minerals.  The fecal cultures for salmonella should start soon, and she will need 5 consecutive negative cultures to be considered past the part of shedding it in her feces.

November 10, 2004  Arinya is now acting "bratty" again most of the time--and I am glad to see it!  Today when I was working in the stall, she was all over me and the stuff, biting and investigating everything.  Later, she almost made a dash out the stall door!  It is so good to see her attitude come back.  She really needs that paddock for some turnout!  She and Stormy continue to gain weight, and their diet seems to be agreeing with them.  Our only concern is that Arinya's feces are still too loose, but I wonder if the "laxative" diet with lots of alfalfa in the T&A hay plus the beet pulp could be part of it.  Stormy's incision infection seems to be clearing up, and it does not look like she will have a hernia from it.  I have added a good vitamin/mineral supplement to their diets, and I am having to tie Stormy at mealtimes so that Arinya can get her fair share.

November 7, 2004  They continue to improve day by day.  Stormy is noticeably gaining weight, but it seems slower to notice weight gain on Arinya.  I have the feeling she may be trying to grow as much as gain weight.  She is brighter every day, and her hydration remains good as well as "output" consistent.  Today, we tried for a little outing.  I cleaned and disinfected her feet as best as I could, then we attempted to walk over to some grass in the yard.  If I had any doubts about the improvement in her strength, they were settled in our "walk"!  She ran and bucked and kicked and was generally a brat (after standing so well tied to get her feet done both inside and outside of the stall).  I was so glad to have a bratty baby kicking up on the end of the lead line!  She was only out about 15-20 minutes since I did not want to overdo it on the first day, but it did us both good.  Tomorrow we will try for another outing, then this week I'll build a temporary paddock so she can frolic a little.  I am replacing fencing, and her pasture is without a fence on the east side so I can't just turn her loose right now.   Currently, I am feeding them three times a day with a soaked beet pulp based meal plus free choice T&A hay.  Arinya is still getting paste probiotics, Gastroguard, and electrolytes, and Stormy continues on her antibiotics.

November 2, 2004  it has been a hectic, chaotic time since they got home.  They did not adjust well at first to the non-climate-controlled environment.  Arinya heat stressed and dehydrated on Oct 31 and I called the vet out just to make sure she didn't go downhill.  She drank and we got paste electrolytes in her.  Then she had a mild gas colic that started in the night and I discovered about 1 am on Nov 1.  I used some banamine and was up with her all night, but she passed the gas and recovered from that, too.  She was still not drinking right on Nov 1 and her urine was scanty and concentrated.  One problem I think is that Stormy her mom had almost dried up her milk after the colic surgery and feed reduction.  The vet, same practice but different vet, came out on Nov 1 and pulled blood on Arinya to check her hydration and protein levels.  Both came up not too bad.  But the bad news was that Stormy's incision from the colic surgery is now infected, and the vet wanted to take action on that based on his experience of infections leading to hernias and also based on the advice of the vet school.  So on Nov 2, he came out to get a sample for antibiotic sensitivity culture, to flush up under the skin, and to start her on antibiotics.  However, the good news is that today their attitudes are great, and they are ravenously eating as well as "outputting".  They are on almost free-choice T&A hay with some grain, now half soaked beet pulp, with probiotics and electrolytes.  Surprisingly, today we noticed that Stormy's udder is greatly developed again and she is producing a significant amount of milk again.  Arinya loves that!

October 30, 2004  THEY'RE HOME!  I am ecstatic, but overwhelmed with getting set up for the isolation routine on top of coping with the abnormally hot temperatures--we can't afford heat stress right now on top of everything.  They have lost weight and look somewhat the worse for wear, but they're still here and will make a full recovery. 

October 26, 2004  Stormy continues to do well and is on normal feed.  However, Arinya had a mild gas colic yesterday (Monday) possibly from overeating mom's bran mash.  They passed a nasogastric tube and cleared out what they could from her stomach.  This morning, Tuesday, the report on Arinya is again very positive.  We are now talking again about them coming home by the end of the week.  Meanwhile, my car is in the shop and I can't get over to visit right now :(  soooooooooon I hope we are all together again!

October 25, 2004  Stormy is off the IV fluid therapy and reported to be very hungry and doing well.  She is passing lots of normal looking feces.  Arinya is also hungry, bright attitude, and normal feces.  However, her protein levels dropped again over the weekend, and she needed plasma/hetastarch therapy again.  She also had ventral and leg edema due to the low plasma protein levels, but Sunday evening she seemed a little better.  How I miss them!

October 23, 2004  Stormy (dam of Arinya) went to colic surgery yesterday late morning.  She came through very well, and they did not have to cut into her intestines or colon.  When I got there, she was back in the stall with Arinya and not looking too bad considering she just came out of major surgery.  Now Stormy is on IV and Arinya is not, although Arinya still has her catheter in.  Arinya looks good, and she was nursing like she was making up for lost time!  Arinya is now eating some solid food as well.

Stormy is ever the good mother!  Arinya seemed to be "stress nursing" as much as for nutrition.  The nursing process seemed to be comforting to both of them.  This picture was taken only a few hours post-surgery.

October 22, 2004  Arinya continues to improve, and she has been allowed half of her time to be loose with mom nursing and picking at hay while kept on IV fluids half of the time.  She is brighter also.  The bad news is that now mom has colicked, diagnosed as an ileal impaction and is not responding immediately to treatment.  She is on IV fluids as well as drugs, and there has been some mention of surgery.  I will be visiting them this afternoon, and I hope to find her much improved.

October 20, 2004  Arinya shows slow steady improvement.  Today she was offered a small amount of soaked alfalfa pellets, and was allowed to nurse more.  If all goes well, by tomorrow Thursday, the barrier between her and mom will come down and she will get to nurse free-choice plus pick at mom's hay and grain.  She is reported to be brighter in attitude.

October 19, 2004   Arinya continues to show some improvement, but she is still on IV fluids, nutrition, hetastarch (synthetic for replacing plasma proteins) and electolytes/bicarb replacement (this as needed).  She has been allowed to nurse for a few minutes every 2 hours.  When I visited her in isolation/quarantine, she still seems depressed but responsive.  She is in the same stall as mom, but separated most of the time by a removable barrier about human waist high. 

October 18, 2004 Arinya is improving somewhat but still very sick.  The diagnosis is now salmonella infection.

October 16, 2004  To paraphrase Arinya's vet "she is a very sick baby." 

October 15, 2004  The vet school report was very positive, and Arinya off the IV and allowed to free nurse.  Then, she started with major diarrhea late Friday evening, and went rapidly downhill. 

October 14, 2004  I drove over for a short visit in the evening.  Arinya was pretty bright and NOT happy that she was not allowed to freely roam with mom and nurse.  Her attitude was so typical "Arinya"--strong minded and outgoing.  She seemed to be stabilizing well, although her plasma proteins had dropped and she was started on plasma IV replacement therapy (along with the synthetic hetastarch).

October 13, 2004  I stayed up most of the night with Arinya in the stall-with-no-roof (damage from hurricane Frances).  Her temp just will not come down, she does not nurse well, but she is drinking.  I called the vet clinic again.  She went down just before 10 am in the pasture.  When the vet got here, she was slipping away.  They started an IV immediately, but her respiration got irregular, her heartbeat weak, her temp dropping, and her eye reflexes gone.  But she responded to the IV fluids, and we had her up about half an hour later.  We gave her about 2 liters IV, then more via nasogastric tube plus electrolytes.  She was now strong enough to make the 2 hour trip to the University of Florida Veterinary School equine clinic in Gainesville, FL.  She and mom loaded right up and rode well, so we arrived there about 4:30.  At the vet school, they started the diagnostic process with a physical, blood work, abdominal ultrasound, endoscope.  From that, they saw large amounts of fluid and gas in her colon, but were not able to reach a diagnosis.  She was restarted on the IV fluids.  Later she and mom were moved to the isolation area in anticipation of major diarrhea.

October 12, 2004  Arinya did not eat last night (nursing fine) and her temp was about 104 this morning plus she was a little depressed.  I called the vet clinic for someone to come out this afternoon.  Her temp was almost 107 when I got home at about 12:30 YIKES  so I started hosing her (on top of the banamine they told me to give her this morning).  The vet did not find much but prescribed antibiotics.

Mathom Farm is near Bunnell, FL, on the east coast of Florida in Flagler county

email me at saberibnaries@yahoo.com