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Post by schwung on Mar 17, 2007 16:19:14 GMT -5
Heidi is a 12-17 year old (Chelsea, any better idea on this?) gray Arabian mare. Heidi was with a group of 3 other arabians who were owned by an older woman. When her health deteriorated, the woman relied on her son to feed them, but apparantly, he wasn't doing it, and they have not had any care for the last several years. Heidi was by far the worst of the bunch, so thin it was thought she might not make it. She was loaded with worms and also had a terrible case of diarrhea. Chelsea (winterlakesfarm) has taken her on as a foster and SAFE will be helping with Heidi's expenses and rehabilitation, and hopefully eventual adoption when she is healthy again. The other 3 arabians were also rescued by a kind individual. Heidi's been seen by Chelsea's vet who looked her over and felt that thankfully, she will make it. Her diarrhea has cleared up and she is on a worming program. Her teeth however are some of the worst he had seen, and she was too weak to try and do them at that time. Heidi will be coming out to my place next weekend and Dr. Hannah is going to see if she can do anything for her teeth (not sure yet if we will be able to sedate her or not). Heidi has had her front feet trimmed but was too weak to have her hind feet done yet. Heidi is going to be quite expensive to rehabilitate, so any contributions towards her care are greatly appreciated! Heidi is located at Winter Lakes Farm in Graham, WA. Photos of Heidi when she was first rescued: And at Winterslakefarm in early March:
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Post by Angel62197 on Mar 17, 2007 16:27:42 GMT -5
That's horrible... Poor girl. No animal deserves that. Good for her for fighting back. I hope everything works out okay.
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Post by fancyherd@gala's on Mar 21, 2007 13:15:19 GMT -5
but of course - going to paypal right now
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Post by fancyherd@gala's on Mar 21, 2007 13:31:06 GMT -5
Transaction ID: 4KU57464W6955462V Placed on Mar. 21, 2007 Payment For Quantity Price Heidi 1 $50.00 USD Subtotal: $50.00 USD Shipping & Handling: $0.00 USD Sales Tax: $0.00 USD Total Amount: $50.00
Donation received 3/21/2007 Net Amount after paypal fees: $48.25 Thank you for your contribution![/b]
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Post by schwung on Mar 21, 2007 13:36:19 GMT -5
Thank you Gala! We are still working on her teeth issue - Chelsea who is fostering her is going to try to get her local vet to give her a break on the costs as the gas to get her to me will be expensive and the trip hard on Heidi right now.
Chelsea, do you have any updates on Miss Heidi?
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Post by winterlakesfarm on Mar 21, 2007 14:23:29 GMT -5
Well we have had a bit of a setback, kind of a good news/bad news thing. The good news is she is eating better(more volume) and is perky and bright. The bad news is I fed her hay from an earlier load I got this year and even though the hay is higher quality, she is back to having diarrhea. She was doing sooooo well and it is just not resolving even though I put her back on the other hay. She is on probiotics, Sand clear and Yeasacc so I am hoping she will get back to normal in the next couple of days. It is no where near as bad as what she had before but still is making cow pies.
As far as her behavior goes she is very sweet. She had never been without her mother or her aunt before coming to my place so she has had a lot of adjusting. She likes the other horses but is too weak to get out of their way if they are mean to her. I have tried turning her out with them one at a time and have decided she will just have to be on her own until she is strong enough to dish some attitude back! She is very content in her own space as long as she can see another horse. She has been virtually unhandled for years but has allowed me to blanket her(I am sure for the first time), wash her poopy tail and hind end, get her front feet trimmed(she was too weak to do her rears), and deworm her. She will occasionally protest by taking a 1/2 hearted kick but has not offered to do that for weeks and she was so weak it was easy to avoid. She also has displayed a very nice tendency after protesting to calm right back down and become her usual reasonable self. She is not very affectionate but will quietly allow you to pet her head and neck although it breaks my heart to do so as you can feel every bone in her little body under her rough coat. She is very fragile still and a heartbreaker but I am still very optimistic about her eventual recovery.
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Post by schwung on Mar 21, 2007 14:26:59 GMT -5
When my filly had a bad round of scours, the vet advised me to give her Pepto Bismol. Do you think maybe that would help the diarhhea?
Thank you for taking such good care of her! Let me know what you come up with as far as getting her teeth done.
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Post by winterlakesfarm on Mar 21, 2007 14:41:57 GMT -5
It is my pleasure as she is a real sweet little girl.
Yes I think that some kaopectate is in order for sure! I will pick up the livestock size jug at the feedstore tonite.
I am trying to coordinate getting a tumor taken off of Sarge's sheath with her dental so I will only miss work one day. I will let you know as soon as possible as to when she will be getting her teeth done, and if the weather permits I will get some new pictures. My husband swears she is gaining a bit of weight but it is hard for me to see it. I am really hoping the dental will speed up her recovery, it just seems the weight is coming back so slowly compared to my other emaciated horses I have rehabbed. I guess the main difference is that they were pigs from day one and it was me having to keep food from them to avoid founder, and she has taken quite a while to get her appetite to where she is cleaning up her hay and grain at every feeding. She still barely eats 2 flakes of hay a day as her teeth are so bad it takes a lot of energy and time for her to chew it. But boy howdy she has discovered the joy of Equine Senior and lets me know very politely with a low whinny if it is not coming fast enough!
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Post by schwung on Mar 21, 2007 14:53:25 GMT -5
What about some chop instead of straight hay, or replacing the hay with straight Senior (in a mash) until she gets her teeth done?
I will defer to your experience, you have more than I when dealing with these starvation cases, but just wondering out loud.
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Post by winterlakesfarm on Mar 21, 2007 17:16:58 GMT -5
Well - normally I do senior and hay pellets in mashes for the ones with bad teeth and they gain weight quickly. But the toughest thing about this little one is that even though she is emaciated she is PICKY! She was eating mashes for a while but now won't touch even straight senior in a mash. She likes it great dry though so that is what she is wolfing down with her fat and probiotics supplements. I think the Chopped hay is a good idea - the only stuff I have tried in the past has been pretty low quality of hay, almost like crappy local with molasses on it. Any ideas on where maybe I could get a better product than what my feed store offers? I heard a rumor that sheep farms will chop bales for you but have no idea where to even begin looking for that LOL
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Post by safehorses on Mar 21, 2007 17:20:23 GMT -5
What a sweet face this little one has...thank you so much for helping her Chelsea, you are a fantastic person!!
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Post by schwung on Mar 21, 2007 17:56:46 GMT -5
Actually, the chop was something that was suggested to me for another starvation case I am working on, but when I asked my feed store if they carried it, they said they didn't for the exact reason you just mentioned (low quality). So, maybe that is a good reason not to use it. What type of hay are you feeding? Last year I was getting some really good quality 2nd cutting orchard grass that was very soft and fine with almost no stem. Seems like a hay like that might be good for her?
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Post by winterlakesfarm on Mar 21, 2007 18:13:56 GMT -5
Yep she is getting Orchard grass....the last load I had delivered was okay but not great so I had a few bales of the good stuff I got last summer and tried that on her last weekend. She loved it but now has the diarrhea again. sigh. I think you are right though, and that the Kaopectate is where I should go next. I know a lot of times these ones that are so far gone get really twitchy tummy's and I probably just should have left her on the other hay and been happy. It is so hard when you want to see them all fat and happy "right now" not to try something that might help them get weight on.
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Post by jaybird on Mar 21, 2007 18:25:52 GMT -5
Chelsea, My TB Jay is really prone to diarrhea, and I found that the orchard grass I was buying from Dayville, which was lovely and green but made that way by adding nitrogen to the soil , was causing his loose stools. Switching him to timothy cleared him up. Just passing this along as it was a complete surprise to me. Heidi is so sweet looking. It really is heartbreaking to see her in that condition. Poor baby. Thank you so much for caring for her.
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Post by cardicorgi on Mar 21, 2007 18:34:25 GMT -5
I thank you too, Chelsea - I know she'll bloom in your care.
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