Update on Belle

We had a little scare with Belle yesterday.  I went up to the barn in the morning and she was fine.  Had a lesson on Tommy and she still seemed fine.  Went down to the house for about 20 minutes and when I came back, she had slipped her halter off and looked as though she had rolled in her stall (which is very bad with her fractured tibia).  I put the halter back on after making sure her leg didn't seem worse.  She seemed fine so I got her grain and supplements ready and put it in her trough.  She didn't touch it.  That was when I become concerned.  Belle never leaves her grain. I hand walked her outside for awhile.  She put her nose to the grass and smelled but wouldn't eat. She tried to lay down while we were outside and I was becoming increasingly worried.  


I took her temp (96.5 degrees - low for horses) and checked her respiratory rate (25 breaths per minute - on the high side of normal) and decided to call the vet.  He felt concerned and that she was probably trying to colic.  No surprise based on how she was acting.  He told me to give her 10 cc's of banamine, take her outside in the sun to hand walk her, and make sure there was water nearby if she wanted to drink.  


After giving her the banamine, I hand walked her about 2 hours total.  (1 hour at first, another hour later in the day).  She drank a little but by 5 pm, still no bowel movements and she wasn't drinking much.  Called the vet again and he said to give her a dose of electrolytes that come in a syringe.  If she hadn't gone to the bathroom by 8, give her another 10 cc's of banamine.  Ran to the feed store and came back.  Gave her the dose at 6 pm, by 8 pm she had gone to the bathroom!  Success!  


So, I felt a little bit better about going to bed last night!  Although I did wake up at 2:30 and go up to check on her again.  She's still doing well this morning so she's on limited hay today and if everything is still going well, back to regular feeding tomorrow.  


As my vet said, the actual fracture isn't our biggest concern in a horse of Belle's age.  Founder and colic are big risks.  Being that we're only 1 week into her 6 week stall rest, I'm hoping the rest of the time is uneventful!!


Until next time...