"I'm sorry, Sue...we have no idea why your pony is suddenly sick and might die."
Idiopathic. Pony. Syndrome.
Of course the Mother of all IPS Episodes is sweet Chloe's kidney failure-we have no idea why her kidneys are failing. Kidney failure is very rare in horses and even more rare in young horses.
Chloe the Wiiiiild Mustang
But the past week has seen an unusually large number of IPS incidents even for DVR...First we had Snappie's colic (she is fine thank goodness).
Snapdragon
Then Star Twinkle Flower started battling a flare up of laminitis (we will be drawing blood this coming Monday to see if we can find an underlying condition to try to fix).
Star Twinkle Flower
Next came King Tangleberry Pie who had a choke episode (talk about scary!). It only lasted about 10 minutes thank goodness and he was fine after that. From now on his Senior Equine and hay pellets will always be soaked well.
King Tangleberry Pie
And this evening Miss Lily Bear Guppie Lips is colicking. She is responding to banamine but I won't relax until she has made it through the night safely.
Lily Bear Guppie Lips
The colics and laminitis do not make sense to me...nothing has changed in my management and my horses are all healthy, are fed good quality grass hay 4 times/day, get very little or no grain, and have lots of room to move around. Those who are big boned do not have access to grain or pasture and the seniors have roomy paddocks and access to their fluffy stalls all day.
But, as with All Things Horse, on any given day or hour they may simply breathe wrong and suddenly they are at risk of DYING. It's something that non-horse people don't quite understand. When we get tummy aches we feel icky and that's about it. When a horse gets a tummy ache there is a significant risk that the day will end in death or surgery. Okay-perhaps I am overstating the real risk-but not by much unfortunately.
To add to the excitement we have also had a nice dose of IGS: Idiopathic Guppie Syndrome. Two nights ago we woke up at midnight to a seizing Bear Guppie. And a BIG seizure at that. In his case we think it was a result of a change in the ingredients in the special treats we give him. The bag had a tiny notice saying it was a new recipe. Unfortunately that new recipe includes rosemary extract - a neurotoxin that should be avoided by people or animals with epilepsy. Lesson learned: always read the label-even when it is the same food you have given for years!
Bear Guppie
The thing that I always keep in mind is that things can ALWAYS be worse. So...we count our blessings, take deep breaths, know that we are lucky things are not worse, and I go to bed each night grateful that nobody died. Seems a bit overdramatic I suppose. But not really.
On the bright side: we are all enjoying the beautiful summer weather and I am grateful that I get to spend so much time spoiling our little band of monsters every day because you just never know when IPS/IGS is going to hit again.
12 comments:
Oh Sue! I hope this episode passes quickly, and everybody is healthy and happy very soon. You must be stressed to the max. Hang in there. xxx
I'd say that's just about enough! Hopefully all these critters are doing well right now. Question...what do you mean no grass or grain for "the big boned" horses? Why is that? have they foundered?
Hope the rest of the summer gives you smooth sailing.
I've sent a special request to the IPS gods to leave DVR alone! I don't have any special pull with them, but I threatened them with the wrath of an x postal worker going postal!
Happy, Waggin' Tails, FUREVER!
Stumpy and me
I think it's the time of year. I had to take two of mine off the pasture because they started to show signs of gimpiness. They've improved under stall rest. I don't understand the colics except if for some reason they are not drinking as much. Do you have lots and lots of salt blocks available? One year out here (summertime) I saw my horses licking their water and I couldn't figure it out--finally, a friend asked if the water could be getting an electric shock and come to find out, the metal water tank was touching a hot wire. :/
Hoping you get past this so you don't have to worry anymore.
Oh my, you've got your hands full with all this. I hope they all recover quickly. It's so hard to figure out what can cause all these symptoms. And I don't think you're being overly dramatic I think you're right about how sensitive horses systems are.
I've decided since this is the second year Dusty foundered after her vaccinations that next year we're not using the same brand and also they are not getting all the shots they usually get. Our vet agreed that we would take blood tests first to see what they need and what they don't.
It sounds like you're handling all of this in very good stride, but I can imagine that it's still very stressful, scary & frustrating for you. May all get better with everyone very soon! Lots of love to them all. <3
"The thing that I always keep in mind is that things can ALWAYS be worse"
very well said.
best of luck from the north of Ontario. :)
Oh my... I had no idea all of this was going on. Fingers crossed that things have calmed down. I hope that the ponies are happier and that Bear has had no more seizures. I cannot believe that there was a neurotoxin in his regular treats out of the blue...
My thoughts are with your pack/herd.
I was hoping things were getting better! This doesn't sound better. I'm glad you're able to roll with the punches. Maybe it's something as simple as changes in the weather that are causing the problems. Hopefully things will be better soon. Hugs to the DVR clan!
how awful to live with the fear that someone might now make it through the night especially when you have so many ips's/igs going on at once. i suppose that's why you have so much gratitude for every morsel of time you have with each of your critters.
so glad you're enjoying your beautiful summer with the monsters!
Oh my gosh! I sincerely hope things are better now.
That's a lot to deal with. I hope everyone is hanging on and pulling through. It never ceases to amaze me how these big, powerful horses can be so delicate and fragile.
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