Well, this is a tough one to report… I heard about this at the last minute from Alaqua our May Bucket Fund Charity who saved Champ.
Meet Angel.
She has a wry mouth and a cleft palate. Not good. (To learn more about wry mouth, read an earlier post linked here.) Note: This filly isn’t skinny and unkempt due to her wry mouth. She is skinny and unkempt because she was tied to a stake for the last two months… More on that later…
Meet Angel. She has a wry mouth... and was tied out on a stake for two months with no shelter.
If Angel just had the wry mouth, her prognosis would be fairly positive. But, she has hard and soft palate involvement which isn’t good . Vets have been consulted however the specialists are far away and this is a holiday weekend…
Poor Angel had rainrot all over he skinny little body.
You gotta give it to this little filly. She has survived for 6-8 months (age being verified) without any help from any humans. In fact, the humans seem to have made her situation worse… Angel’s first owner gave her to another person who had never had a horse before – let alone one with a severe disability – and simply staked the filly out in her yard.
Angel is safe at Alaqua
ANGEL’S STORY
Angel was given to Alaqua Animal Refuge this week by that first time horse owner who had acquired the filly through the original owner. This young girl did her best – which wasn’t so good. Angel was staked outside without shelter. If she caught herself up in her chain, she couldn’t reach the water. She was malnourished and her coat was full of mats and rainrot.
Yup.
At least this young girl figured she needed help with Angel which is why she called Alaqua. Unfortunately, by this time, the filly had been in these conditions for over 2 months.
Her coat was matted and full of rainrot.
Alaqua rushed out to retrieve Angel and much to their surprise, saw the wry mouth. Yikes. This filly must have a very strong will to survive!
As soon as Angel was brought home to the Refuge, their vet determined that little Angel’s palate was compromised and some of her liquid food could leak out of her nose. This is bad because the food can then be aspirated back into the lungs which can cause infection… which leads to pneumonia.
Angel needed help – fast! So, Laurie from Alaqua got on the phone and called every specialist in the 4 nearest equine hospitals. The doctors couldn’t diagnose over the phone, of course. They need radiographs and a scoping to determine her prognosis.
Sadly, no vet with a scope and a radiograph machine has been able to get out there over this weekend.
Angel on her first day at Alaqua was a bit timid... but is now so sweet!
TINY BIT OF GOOD NEWS
However, the fact that this filly has remained alive, virtually on her own in very unsavory conditions for all these months – is a good sign. And, if Angel has a chance, Alaqua wants to give it to her. But, first, they have to get tiny Angel stronger so they can travel her to the specialists for a thorough diagnosis.
I am asking that we support Laurie and Alaqua so they can have proper diagnostics done on this baby and thus create the best plan for her future.
Please, let us help Alaqua, who did such a great job with Champ/JR/Gypsy/The Trailer Accident Horses, help this filly.
ANGEL, GYPSY, JR, CHAMP AND ALL THE OTHER ALAQUA ANIMALS IN NEED…
Alaqua does a great job, for sure.
They survive on donations.
Thank you everyone for all that you have donated this month… If you feel the pang to help Angel receive her diagnosis from the specialists, we would be very grateful. The Bucket Fund donates every penny that you give. So, if you only have $1, don’t feel badly, that’s awesome! The whole idea is to drop any amount into the Bucket Fund. It all goes together!
Thank you!
HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Wry mouths can be surgically corrected with fantastic results. Theresa, at BHFR, had great success with a young foal she rescued. However, this is not an inexpensive procedure. As soon as I secure a tenant for my flat, I will send a donation to help Angel financially qualify as a candidate for this treatment. I will say, Angel’s deformity appears only half as severe as the foal Theresa had corrected.
The rescue where I once volunteered had a Peruvian Passo filly born with a wry mouth. It effected not only her ability to chew, but also restricted her breathing. Ironically, she was also named Angel! The vet decided to take her on as a personal project and covered all her expenses, because he had never done this surgery before. This amazing man fell in love with her … which he always vows not to do, but often does.
He contacted several experienced equine surgeons and dentists and, together, they mapped out a strategy … an initial operation, and a follow up a few months later. I think he was working with the folks at the University of Colorado. They even loaned him the very expensive equipment required ($15,000!!!), and a surgeon came to assist.
They had to wait for Angel to have enough bone to hold the screws and plates. She had the first surgery at about 7 months, the second at about 9 months, and came through both with flying colors. She’s now at the vet’s ranch. Her nose still has a bit of a twist, but her teeth meet fine and she breathes normally. Little Angel has grown into a fine, healthy young lady, and is a delight to be around.