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Posted by TIER
on 11/1/2009, 8:37 am
71.95.55.27
DOLLY
Dolly Before
Dolly After
10/28/09
The chiropractor was out this morning to see if he could help Dolly with her hip problem. She had rolled, had difficulty getting up and was then moving awkwardly. Sadly, he doesn't feel that he can help her and recommended euthanasia. I've been back and forth on this for sometime as she was experiencing other complications beside her hips being out. I have a call in to the vet to see if he can come out tomorrow afternoon. Breaks my heart, but doing the right thing for the right reasons is not always easy. We owe it to her to allow her to leave with dignity, grace & respect. Her quality of life will only deteriorate and it would not be fair to her to ask her to keep on going.
The chiropractor noted that she was spirited & spunky, but that does not deter from the fact that her problems will only get worse. She has given so much to TIER, groups of children, volunTIERS, that it is only right that we extend to her the final gift.
10/28/09
I should have gone into more detail in my original post, but I was a bit shocky about finally making the decision.
Dolly has a ruptured flexor tendon in her left fore. She came to us that way. This, coupled with her new problem of moving after she had rolled led me to believe that her hips were out.
Prior to that, she had been rubbing her tail quite a bit. I cleaned her rear end & teats and moisturized. She continued to rub. Although she had been wormed recently, I wormed her with Panacur. She continued to rub and began causing rawness/swelling around her vaginal area. Vet was called, she was checked....and nothing. She continued to rub despite continued use of aloe type lotion. One day I walked out and saw a protrusion from her vagina. Round, soft, not an open sore. Vet came out and thought perhaps it was caused from her continual rubbing/aggravation of the vagina and we tried using preparation H, Derma Gel, and Biozide Ointment at different times.
We had begun to think she was rubbing due to her hip/tail being out and scheduled the chiropractor to come out. In the meantime, another protrusion appeared and she had rubbed so hard that she was bleeding. The protrusions weren't bleeding...she was bleeding from her vagina.
She had found a rough spot in her corral where she vigorously rubbed when she was not being observed. I moved her to another pen without any rough spots, yet she continued her antics. It wasn't until about 2-3 days ago that the other protrusion appeared (I can't remember what they are called).
When the chiropractor came out he felt that there was something going on inside (perhaps tumor growth) that had had an explosion of growth...most likely aggravated by her rubbing. Chiropractic would not help as she would continue to rub because of the internal discomfort. She is in her late 20's I would think (if not older). Surgery really isn't an option due to her age & her difficulty with her right fore foot.
I spoke to our vet who will be coming out tomorrow. As he is aware of her situation/health status, he will have the final say. But just from talking to him he indicated that he is leaning toward agreeing with the Chiropractor as to quality of life. If he concurs after examining her in the morning, we will allow her the grace, dignity and respect she deserves and help her to cross the Rainbow Bridge.
My head is still spinning with how quickly this escalated into something like this.
10/29/09
Thank you ALL for helping us assist Dolly across the Rainbow Bridge. I had hoped she would leave us differently, but we cannot always have our hopes realized exactly as we wish. She crossed quickly with diginity and grace. I cannot say I handled it as well as she did. My computer won't recognize my floppy drive for some reason, so it will be a bit before I am able to post her last pictures.
Vet was delayed due to an emergency surgery so he didn't get out here until later in the day. Because of the hour, her body will be picked up this morning. In fact, they are on the way as I type
Nope, it apparently wasn't just a hip out. Vet thinks maybe she had a tumor for a long time that eventually attached to her spine. We didn't see any problems until recently. He thinks the rolling and then subsequent problems with her gait were basically a coincidence that caught my attention. I thought she was rubbing herself to try to adjust herself, when in fact, she was rubbing because of internal irritation. He doesn't believe she was in pain.
Yesterday morning and afternoon she was galunking around, bucking and being really feisty. One of those things that makes you think you made the wrong decision and she was going to be okay. Hope is what it gives me and then reality sets in.
Dolly played hard to catch and then settled down. Our vet adminstered a tranquilizer and that silly, "done with humans!" mare began to snooze. He administered the final injection and she passed very quickly. Grace, Dignity & Respect were all apparent.
I let her buddy Honey (Reg AQHA Name: Golden Lashes) who is 34 yrs. old out to say her goodbyes. Annabelle the Donkey also went out to say goodbye. I left Honey out over night so she could be with Dolly's remains if that was her choice.
I know that after they remove her remains is when I will have a hard time. Looking at her empty stall and remembering her huge expressive eyes, her Saucy little swish of the tail, her "Leave me alone I've had enough from you Humans .....unless you have a Graham Cracker of course" attitude.
Dolly, Honey & Annabelle shared a whole box of Cinnamon flavored Graham crackers yesterday. The other horses got plain Graham Crackers.
So, all in all it was a terribly sad day, but I know we did the right thing for the right reasons.
Again, THANK YOU!
Funds received over & above the cost of euthanasia & removal will be placed in the Emergency Fund.
P.S. A few pictures will be on Dolly's page soon. I am awaiting the rest of the pictures from Friend Bonnie who is going to email them to me because my computer is being fussy.
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True Innocents Equine Rescue (T.I.E.R)
8920 Limonite Ave, #123
Riverside, CA 92509
