First, many of you may know that Judy Glore of “Heart of Tuscon” rescue passed away on Mother’s Day from Lung Cancer.  She was diagnosed in September.  Here is a news story about her passing.

Judy was an avid rescuer and did much good.  If you would like to help her husband and son care for the horses, please click here (the donate button is in the upper right corner of their website).

BIO SPONGE.  HAVE YOU HEARD OF IT?  I HADN’T.

MamaTess had a setback today…

But, it turned out OK.

Let me tell you about it…

WHAT HAPPENED

I had hay delivered and the boys loaded it into the haybarn yesterday.

They stack the excess bales in the middle stall of the barn.  That stall stays locked.

Unfortunately, somehow, the stall door to the middle stall – where I also store a few bales of alfalfa – was left in such a way that Tess could push her way into that stall.

And, she did.

I DECIDED TO CHECK ON HER LAST NIGHT… FOR SOME REASON.

Tess has been doing well… not great, but much, much better.

But, I decided to check on her last night…

When I found her, she had waded into the food stall and couldn’t get out.  Not only that, she had her face in the alfalfa and had eaten two flakes.  By the time I found her, she had not had any water for probably several hours judging by the two, large piles and urine she had left there…

I freaked.

I jumped the stall, backed her out and brought her to water.  She drank.  And drank and drank…  I’m sure she was parched – eating all that alfalfa must have been like eating a whole bowl of peanuts without water.

Oy.

We had come so far…

I thought of my cousin’s horse who had passed from founder after gorging on alfalfa.

WHAT DO I DO?

I immediately gave Tess Colic Relief to make sure she had no impaction from the lack of fluids.  I also administered Previcox to help with the sudden spike in sugars which was sure to trigger inflammation and another laminitis flare.

I also gave her a very wet, bran mash.

It was very late…so I decided to wait until the morning to worry.

THE VETS

I emailed Dr. Reilly in the wee hours.   I knew he would be awake in his part of the country.

Dr. Reilly told me to start the protocol all over again with IV Equioxx to stop the onslaught of inflammation.

I went to the barn to check her.  It had been a few hours…

She was laying down.  Oy.  She hadn’t been down in weeks.

When she got up, I could tell she was very sore to turn but OK on the straights.

A huge set back…

When it was daylight, I called my local vet to come over and administer the IV Equioxx.

LOCAL VET

My local vet came to the barn after I had left for work.  I trusted her to administer to Tess while I was gone.

Upon observation, she called me and asked if she could give Tess a dose of Bio Sponge.

I asked what it was…

She told me it was like giving a poisoned dog some charcoal.  “The bad stuff adheres to it and it moves out of the system – fast.  If she has built up toxins from the alfalfa, this will help.”

“Sure,” I said, “Why not…?”

The vet gave Tess her IV Equioxx, the Bio Sponge – and a lot of fluids to make certain she was hydrated.

She also drew blood to test Tess’ kidney function.

WHEN I CAME HOME

When I arrived home around 2pm, Tess was much, much better.

She met me at the gate and was walking around more comfortably.  She could turn and she was happy and bright.

Something worked – and it worked faster than last time…

So, I can only think…

–We hit the flare earlier with the Equioxx

–We helped her by cleaning out the toxins in her gut created by the over-indulgence of alfalfa on her sensitive gut via the Bio Sponge.

–The Colic Relief/bran mash I gave her helped keep her system moving after being stuck in a hot stall with no water and too much sugary/carby food.   At least I think it did.

NOT ONE TREATMENT WORKS FOR ALL HORSES

Not any one thing works for sure with all horses…

But, if any of you can learn from what I am going through, Yay!  If this helps one horse, it is worth it.

We can only do our best with the knowledge we acquire.

For me with Tess, I now know that she is very sensitive and grass (of course), heat, her cycle and alfalfa are triggers.

I know to stop the inflammation from these triggers as quickly as humanly possible.

I know that her gut cannot handle alfalfa and carbs/sugars so the Bio Sponge aided absorbing the excess toxins created by that deluge, instead of asking her already compromised system to filter it.

I know that colic was a major concern under the circumstances where I found her.  Just the act of giving her the Colic Relief with the soupy bran mash helped me… and her, I think.

A SETBACK BUT WE CAUGHT IT.

Timing is everything…

Thank horsegod I went to check on her last night to find her trapped in the food stall.

Thank horsegod.