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Sun 5/30, Noon: Stacey [another boarder] was here when I got here. Red was sore today as well - not really on any one particular leg or foot. She called the vet & Visser called back, said to give a dose of Banamine & keep him in. He was just trimmed Friday, so @ this point we're thinking that's it (not related to Leo). Leo seems happy today. Gave 2 grams Bute @ 12:30. Took it just fine. Expression is very good. Cleaned the entire stall & put 3 new bags of shavings in. Very thick bedding. Eating hay. Drank a decent amount of water last night. I hung a milk jug in the stall & cut holes in the bottom & put baby carrots in it; when you shake it the carrots fall out the bottom. She doesn't seem interested - shocker. Stacey said she was laying down when she got here - good girl! Sam just got here - has Cooper in the cross ties & he & Leo were saying hello :).
Mon 5/31, 10:00 am: [Rick] Gave 2 grams Bute. She was standing & in good spirits. LOVED the attention. Hay was gone, gave her 4 flakes, filled water & cleaned stall. 9:00 pm: She's been doing pretty well & is in a good mood consistently (and seems comfortable). She is picking up both front feet pretty easily for me to look @ the bandaging. I think her feet itch - sometimes she bites @ the cotton (just @ the top). Most of her hay was gone. I gave her 3 more flakes in her manger & 3 more in the hay bag. Should last her a while. Took quite a bit of old sawdust/shavings out & put new in. Generally seems very good. Poop has been a little runny for a couple of days???
Tues 6/1, morning: [Rebecca] 2 grams Bute. Stall not cleaned & 2 water buckets empty, but some hay left. She seemed okay. Just pooped in front of me - perfect consistency, but peew! 8:50 pm: Very good spirits. Still seems pretty happy. All hay was gone (I fed tonight). 1.5 buckets of 3 was gone. Still moving around stall pretty well. Tied a hay bag to corner/outside of the stall & tied Cooper by it so they could share. They both seemed to ejnoy - Leo's by herself in a stall & Cooper's in the pasture by himself & they're normally together, so they're used to each other. Cooper was biting @ her halter & pulling on it with his teeth, but she didn't seem to mind because she just stood there. They'd eat a little hay, then nibble @ each other, then eat a little more hay, etc. Hopefully it's a good mental thing for both of them. Talked to Dr. Nelson; he said it sounds like she's doing well. He agreed that we should bring her down to 1 gram of Bute @ night & stay with 2 in the morning. I started working with her on "down" for carrots - to try to teach her to pick stuff up off the ground. :)
Wed 6/2, 10:00 am: [Rebecca] 2 grams of Bute. Definitely good spirits, upbeat, eating her hay like it's going out of style. Cheyene cleaned/picked stall. One piece of Elastikon was found in stall. Filled water, 4 flakes hay, was laying down when Cheyene came in but has been up and not showing signs of discomfort. I need to take lessons from her! 8:30 pm: Only 1 gm Bute tonight. Doing very well. Still seems very happy. Eating hay VERY quickly. Gave 2 flakes when I got here, then she & Cooper shared 3 flakes, and I left her with another 3 flakes in her manger. Water was 1/2 gone (1.5 buckets out of 3). Filled/cleaned all 3 buckets, cleaned stall & put 2 new bags of shavings. Poop looks good.
Thurs 6/3: [Rebecca] All good.
Fri 6/4: [Rebecca] Vet day (2nd set of x-rays taken). 1 gram bute am & pm & 8 more weeks of stall rest - UGH. We need to stimulate her brain! Brush her & talk to her!
Sat 6/5: [Rebecca] 1 gram Bute am. She's such a trooper! She just looks longingly at you. She and I have been having "talks." She agreed with me that I needed to go check the new plants I put at my brother's grave site. I'm glad she did because they needed watering. She's so smart! 1 gram Bute pm.
Sun 6/6: [Rebecca] 1 gram Bute am. She's great & Ezekiel (Rebecca's 11-year old son) has been bonding with her. He pressed his face in the side of her neck & stroked her gently while he said "It's okay girl." He's now picking up the poop in her stall! Like I said - she is a very unique horse. Cleaned her stall & put in fresh shavings. Z gave her 3 very soft flakes of hay so she was more interested in that. We also refreshed 2 buckets of water. She was happy! Z gave her a few small carrots.
Wed 6/9, evening: She seems to be holding up pretty well. She's actually gaining weight, so we'll have to keep an eye on her hay feedings as we don't want her to gain too much. X-rays from last week (6/4) show no rotation or sinking :)! Still a little instability & inflammation, so it's important to keep her as immobile as much as possible. Blood work was good - infection is gone. Some sole growth - about as much as Dr. Nelson expected/hoped to see. Good probability that means good circulation in the feet. Dr. Nelson wants x-rays in another 4 weeks. 1 gram Bute am & pm now. He'd like to have her off Bute @ least 2 weeks prior to x-rays. That gives us 2 weeks from now to wean her off. Personality seems pretty good. Seems a little sad, but I understand why. Hopefully this weekend we can get her moved to Orion's stall which we opened up the top door in tonight & Adam will work on tomorrow. That'll give her access to fresh air & the other horses, which hopefully will take her mind off being inside so much. Still laying down at night, which is great. Starting to poop a lot more, like normal. :). Still drinking well also. All in all doing well, just worry about her mental state.
