Saturday, May 31, 2014

The Ice Chronicles: Turning the Corner?

Photo copyright Wings, 2014; all rights reserved.
UPDATE: Just checked him again, and it's official. It's him.

Fair warning: If frank discussions of equine colic and its effects and byproducts will disgust you, you may want to skip this post entirely.

From Ice's perspective, yesterday was probably the worst day yet in this whole process. It was certainly his most uncomfortable.

The bloating was obvious, and clearly painful — the kind of bloat that resembles ordinary colic much more than it does the sand colic that he actually has. Inability to pass more than a little of the usual liquid diarrhea, although with a slight change to the consistency, finally. Not precisely loss of appetite, since he badly wanted eat; simply that after a couple of mouthfuls, he felt too sick to eat anything more. Lots of posturing, lots of lying down (which is fine, provided that he doesn't thrash or roll), lots of plain old misery.

And the hell of it was, I was actually pretty sure that all of this was, in the long run, a GOOD thing.

Because all of this is a direct byproduct of the psyllium I'd finally, through various machinations, managed to get into his system over the past few days. That and the flaxseed powder. And they were both working exactly as intended, which is to say, the psyllium works just like it does in humans: It causes peristalsis, causes the lower intestine to spasm, and that action moves what's in the gut along to where it's supposed to go (which is to say, OUT of the body). Unfortunately, also just like it does in humans, it causes gas to build up, hence the bloating and extreme discomfort. The flaxseed, on the other hand, turns gelatinous when wet, and it coats both the inside of the intestine and what's in it, helping to grab onto bits of sand that have loosened from the impaction and carry them on out.

Yesterday afternoon, the vet said that he didn't sound like he was making enough progress, and that she'd be out to tube him again this morning.

Last evening, Wings went out to check on him, and promptly yelled for me to come outside — and, of course, my first thought was, Oh, God, what's wrong with him now?

And there's Wings, bent over a pile in the pen.  A pile, not a puddle.  Still lots of liquid, but also a few small clumps of the usual shape and size mixed in.  For the first time in more than two weeks.

Now, we did not see it happen, so there's an outside chance (very, very outside) that it might not be his. But Spock was shut in the stall; only Ice and Harmony were together in that pen, and we'd already seen what Harmony had produced yesterday evening. This was  an entirely different consistency, brilliant green (from the pasture grass), and, yes, loaded with sand. I walked across the pen and found a couple more small piles that were entirely normal-looking but for the brilliant green color and presence of sand in them. I checked on him early this morning, and there's much more out there that appears to be his.

The vet is checking in with us in a while. I think it's a safe bet that she will not be tubing him today.

So here's yet another heart-felt thank-you to everyone who has been with us along the way over the past two weeks.

5 comments:

  1. Huzzah for Ice and huzzah for natural healing methods! It looks like combining those with more traditional veterinary medicine is working really well. May it continue to be so!

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    1. Yes! Fortunately, he's getting both - our vet has had personal experiences very similar to some of mine WRT medical issues, and she has a healthy respect for not overdoing the pharmacological approach, whether in humans or four-leggeds. She also listens to us, and is good about giving weight to what we want. And frankly, although the IVs are "Western medicine," as are the sedation and the antibiotics, most of what he's been getting are natural substances and remedies, coupled with lots of walking and grazing. So much better for him and less harsh on his system than something more invasive.

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    2. hey ((((((( River )))))))

      hope all's well

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  2. you did good. real good. still tearing up here, and so thankful. here's to many more days of sand-filled stools, so green now, soon, more earthy, less sandy, until you wake up to gleaming dark piles of drops - and the only grains you'll find inside are from his feed! keep going Ice!!!

    I guess you can tell that I don't have a problem with Ice's byproducts :) still sending warm healing wishes
    first I'm crying over Ice's poop, and now I'm waxing all poetic about Ice's poop. just commit me, please :)

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  3. and now I notice your update! so happy for all of you

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