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Post by jodycat on Dec 24, 2008 8:57:58 GMT -5
It is now 5am.....We found Whisper down at about 2:00am and her body temp was dropping again. Called Dr Hannah (who I think was thrilled to hear from us again ) She jumped in her truck and was here pretty quickly. It was time to try out the newly installed hoist system. Whisper was not bothered at all by the commotion of getting the sling under her body, the noise of the electric hoist and even seemed fairly calm as she was being lifted. Once she was to her feet she immediately began eating again. I took a few pictures with a cell phone and will post those later. It really was quite a sight....the hoist worked great and Whisper is up again. Thankfully this can be done with 2-3 people instead of the 8 or 9 people it takes to lift her manually. Hopefully she will start to gain some strength soon and will be able to get up on her own. Bless her heart, she's so good about all this. She must know how hard you folks are trying to help her get through this. I'm so glad the hoist and sling were there!
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Post by ecaitlynn on Dec 24, 2008 14:40:33 GMT -5
I'm thinking about Whisper . . . . . and all of you folks trying so hard to help her. Bless you all.
Beth Thompson
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Post by clearlybluebreeze on Dec 24, 2008 15:48:07 GMT -5
Well, we found Whisper down again at about 8:00am - her temp was dropping and she was shivering. Poor girl - she had only been up about 4 hours since the last time. So (again) we called Dr Hannah to come out. In the meantime Kier had to go to work - so Valerie came and stayed with me and Whisper. My husband and Valerie got the sling in place before Hannah got here and we were all ready. This time Whisper was not putting any weight on her hind end and was just "hanging" being supported by the sling (and Hannah and Valerie) It took a bit more work this time to get her up, but once she was up she was ready to eat and acting much better. The sling is incredibly helpful - but still a bit unnerving to me, especially if she is scampering when trying to get to her feet and get balanced. Dr Hannah will be back in the late afternoon to give Whisper her next injection. In the meantime it is every couple hours to check on her and make sure she has plenty of food and water in front of her. We are hoping to get her out for a brief walk later today - she needs to build up her muscles. (If only the weather would cooperate)
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Post by schwung on Dec 24, 2008 16:36:13 GMT -5
Lisa I am so incredibly frustrated that I am stranded today and unable to help thanks to my truck breaking down. As soon as Mike comes home with our only snow-friendly vehicle I can come and help. Thank you so much to you, Kier, Valerie, Hannah, and everyone else that has been pulling "night duty" and dropping everything to come and help Whisper. I know we have all come to love that little filly and her incredible spirit and want nothing more for her to recover. I have had at least 4 people now that want to adopt her, but all I can tell them is that its going to be a while before Whisper is ready for a new home. But do tell her that she has a HUGE fan base and hundreds of people are rooting for her (my phone has been ringing off the hook for days now) and willing her to pull through this.
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Post by schwung on Dec 24, 2008 21:44:02 GMT -5
Here are the photos that Lisa took of Whisper getting lifted up with the sling: Getting her ready: Up she goes...she does not help at all but just hangs there limply:
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Buena
SAFE Volunteer
No horse will ever teach you as much as your first horse.
Posts: 1,929
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Post by Buena on Dec 24, 2008 21:46:51 GMT -5
Is there any reason why she can't stay hug up in the sling until she's stronger? I don't know anything about slings and how they work, but on Animal Planet last night they showed a horse that was staying in a sling until it was out of the critical stage.
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Post by schwung on Dec 24, 2008 22:50:04 GMT -5
This particular sling is not designed to stay on them. It is rubber and will rub and irritate her. Also, we didn't think we needed that kind because she is fine when she is up, able to walk and bear her own weight just fine - the issue is she gets tired, lays down, and then is too weak to get herself up. We actually want her to be able to lay down for short periods so she can get the REM sleep she needs, but not for hours and not when her body temperature starts dropping to dangerous levels.
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Post by kbwetherell on Dec 24, 2008 23:14:48 GMT -5
Whisper just got some more of her mash buffet style. If she is not pawing at her bowl to knock it over, she is swirling her nose around in it....you know just incase we didn't mix it well enough. She was very good for her IV antibiotics and seems very bright eyed, awake, and as energetic as she can be considering her situation. I was sure to tell her of her fanbase and let her know everyone is pulling for her this xmas eve. She sends her xmas wished to you all with a big thank you!
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Post by jodycat on Dec 25, 2008 7:10:39 GMT -5
....the issue is she gets tired, lays down, and then is too weak to get herself up. We actually want her to be able to lay down for short periods so she can get the REM sleep she needs, but not for hours and not when her body temperature starts dropping to dangerous levels. Ahh, thanks for this explanation, Jaime. I have been worried about Whisper not being able to lay down once in a while when she's very tired and needs to rest (and remembering how often Phoenix and Sinatra did this while they were recovering......)
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Post by mytwoponies on Dec 25, 2008 11:31:30 GMT -5
I know this is a totally different case but might be worth any thoughts...
I had a gelding years ago that had a weird issue when he was 7 months old. He would lay down and he could not get up. His legs would just dangle like Whispers. Once he was up he was fine, bright & happy. This went on for weeks. The vet found he had little or no feeling along his spine and hind end for no obvious reason. We ran every kind of test imaginable from testing his spine fluid, to blood work, full body x-rays, etc. I even used two different vets and had UC Davis look at the tests and they could not come up with any reason. Finally as a last ditch effort, my vet gave him a steroid, anti-inflammatory injections along his spine and the next day he was 100% fine. We all were shocked. He never had that issue ever again. The only thing we could think of is that the barn was feeding him a very high protein diet (straight alfalfa, calf manna & grain) and was getting no turn out as promised. He was very swollen all over. (Yes- once he was better and with the advise of the vet, I moved him. It's one of the reasons why I am so picky about feed now. I was young and trusted that they knew what they were doing).
Obviously we know what her case is different, but perhaps she has some spine swelling along with the muscle atrophy? She has swelling in her legs, so perhaps she also has the swelling in her spine. You can run a test down her spine with a pen and she should react. The vet was Paul Haffner.
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Post by jodycat on Dec 26, 2008 10:30:27 GMT -5
Any update on little Miss Whisper?
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Post by schwung on Dec 26, 2008 11:51:29 GMT -5
Christmas was a rough day for little Whisper. She went down around 3:30 in the afternoon, Lisa, Kier, Valerie and her husband got her up around 5:30. Then she went down again about 1:15am last night. What we are doing now is letting her stay down until her temperature falls to 98 or below, so this time she was able to stay down until 5am and then Lisa called Mike and I to have our turn at helping get her up to give Valerie and her husband a break. Unfortunately, Kier, Lisa, Mike and I got her in the sling and got her up but she dangled there and even when we got her feet under her would not stand, so we let her back down and called Geri and Doug to come and help. While we were waiting for them Whisper at least got herself into a sternal position and ate some of her mash before getting tired and lying flat again. With the extra help, we were able to first get her back to a sternal position, then lift her again and this time, thank goodness, she finally put her feet down and lifted herself to a standing position.
The sling is incredibly helpful but does have its drawbacks. For one it cannot be left on her so it has to be positioned underneath her first which is no small effort to get it out of the way of her front legs and not rubbing anywhere. Second, it has no hind end support so much of that has to be done by people. Thirdly, because she is lying flat when she is lifted she ends up being sideways (as you can see from the picture) and you have to physically try to position her vertical to get her feet under her and she will not help you at all. Lastly, it is not mounted high enough so even all the way up, she is only about 3 feet off the ground so while we can get her feet positioned underneath her, she has to not only bear weight but do a bit of lifting her own body weight that last little bit to get herself standing.
We have now used the sling 5 or 6 times and are getting the hang of it, but we are beginning to think she needs to be in a sling all the time, or get a different type that can stay on her so we can simply strap to it every time she is down.
And to top it all off, Mike and I got stuck in Lisa's driveway so at 7am we tried digging him out, then Kier tried to pull him out and almost got stuck herself, and finally Doug had to pull him out with his truck that has chains on.
Ugh.
Mytwoponies, we did talk about what you posted and did check her back and she seemed fine. The swelling in her legs I think is largely due to the fact that she has a very bad case of mud fever on all four legs. I will talk to Hannah (who is snowed in again) about it and see what she thinks - maybe she can even confer with Dr. Haffner about it if she thinks there is a possibility something similar is going on.
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Post by jodycat on Dec 26, 2008 12:35:12 GMT -5
Geesh, poor Whisper. You know, "back in the day," hospitals used to use sheepskin under bedridden people to prevent them from getting bed sores (before better options were invented). I am wondering whether a large piece of sheepskin (like used for seat covers) could be put under her blankets and belly so that the bottom part of the rubber sling could be left in place.
Glad you were able to get out and home, Jaime. What a mess this weather is. The parking lot at my complex is about 6 inches of ice, I've been watching someone trying to back out for 30 minutes with no luck. The rain can't get here fast enough.
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Post by schwung on Dec 26, 2008 12:40:52 GMT -5
I doubt it, its very heavy, stiff rubber, not very flexible at all and there is no way to attach it on her except by attaching the straps to the hoist, and leaving her attached to the hoist is not an option.
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Post by trillium on Dec 26, 2008 12:43:42 GMT -5
I was afraid to ask how she was doing. I see she is still hanging in there. You guys who are taking care of her deserve an award for all the dedication.
How is her spirit doing? If she is still eating I am guessing she still is fighting to survive.
What kink of sling do you need? A canvas one with attachments so you can just hook her up and pull her upright? Maybe someone could put a plea out on Craigslist for the use of one.
How are her legs under the wraps? If she has mud fever/scratches are you allowing some air to get to the skin occasionally. I know they need to be wrapped to support the tissue if they swell, but are you putting anything on the skin. There are several good ointments to fight the bacteria that causes scratches. One of the best things I ever used to wash Katies leg with though is Dawn dishwashing soap. I swear it works better than anything I have ever tried. I buy the Original Dawn, the blue one. I read about it on a dog forum as a cure for some skin related ailment. I have one of those soft rubber scrubbers, I think it is actually listed as a face curry at the feed store. It works well and is not abrasive to the skin.
You guys hang in there, my thoughts are with you all.
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