December 09a.
December 09, sad news.
We have a worrying situation over here at Creekyland - Cuddles went down with colic this afternoon. The vet has been,
sedated her and given her a pain killer with the hope that it is just an impaction further up her intestine than he can
feel.
We are doing visits every fifteen minutes and at the moment she is kneeling down and is quite calm but
the vet has said that it is quite likely that as the pain killers wear off she will become more restless.
It is at this point he will come again and giver her another dose.
We have put her in the sand school
with Deno as she is not allowed to eat and Deno was kicking up such a fuss when we tried to shut him out -
at the moment he is stood guard next to her.
Anyway off to check her again - please keep fingers etc crossed.
Latest update (10 pm) - she is very calm with Deno standing Guard - can use the stable if we want but the vet says she's probably best off in the sand school where she can move as she wants.
Gone 1 am and she's still calm - stood up afew times and walked around - doesn't seem to be in pain - fingers crossed
she makes it through the night calmly.
2:30 check done and latest - she's standing and looking calm if a little dopey.
5am and it's snowing again - she's kneeling down at the moment but still calm.
6 am, no change.
It's bad news I'm afraid - the vet has done all sorts of tests, Cuddles temperature and heart rate has shot up and
it appears Cuddles has peritonitis probably caused by a tumour
To save her any more suffering he is going to
put her to sleep now.
I can't even be there to support Coralie and Sam.
Deno is all settled in for the night, he's had lots of attention all day and he's now in the sand school so he can
at least communicate with our neighbours horses.
Coralie and Sam, (I couldn't be there at the time ),
let him see Cuddles' final moments so that hopefully he wouldn't fret that we had moved her somewhere else.
Who says animals don't have empathy - there is definitely an atmosphere of sadness around him at the moment.
Before moving on in the story, a pause to remember Cuddles & Deno together as Cuddles was a gentle and much loved girl
who was a huge help in settling Deno in to his new home, thank you Cuddles.
Next day and Deno has had his morning feed and is now fairly settled eating the hay we have put out for him -
he was agitated and crying out before we fed him though.
I hope this doesn't sound heartless after so recent a loss but we must find a "companion" for Deno as
soon as possible.
As well as being kinder to Deno I am very worried that now Cuddles is no longer with him he may
be even less inclined to stay within the boundaries laid out.
Amazing as it might seem none of the local rescue
centres have a horse that can be quickly loaned out by them and going through the bigger rescue centres takes time we
may not have.Our neighbours have three horses but they are show horses and have been clipped, as well as not
being hardy enough to turn out in this weather.
If anyone knows of a horse, or even a donkey, that needs rehoming
or could be loaned out for a few months until a more permanent solution is found then please let me know.
In the
meantime we are seriously considering buying one although it would be a shame to have to do so with so many animals out
there desparately looking for a good home.
Have been in touch with Blue Cross this morning and they are ringing me back as soon as they have had a look at Deno's
website.One rescue place in Essex looked ideal but unfortunately do not loan out horses to Surrey. Redwings have given
some further contact numbers to try.
Couple of hours later ( after much googling and ringing around ) looks like we have a solution - a neighbour of one of the
Deno Defenders, buys horses from horse sales to prevent them going for slaughter. They have a 16.2 11yo grey mare that
they are willing to loan to us for a couple of months and are willing to sell if we wish to keep her after that period
for a donation of just £500 to help them buy further horses.We can pick her up before Christmas - am trying to arrange
transport now.
3p m ... getting worried - no call back yet to confirm it will be OK to collect Deno's new lady friend tomorrow.
3.30 pm ... tremendous news - Deno's new companion will arrive tomorrow - She's called Posh.
Next day and Posh has arrived - she is beatiful pure white grey - very pretty. Deno is studiously ignoring her !!
Will post pictures soon.
As promised here are a few pictures of Posh - very little is known of her history other than she was "rescued" in the
autumn at a horse sale by outbidding the knackers man.
She is still underweight but is absolutely stunning - she has already had a small feed and Coralie and Sam are now
at Scats buying special feed for her to help try and put some weight on her.She is currently wearing Deno's pink rug
but it is too big for her. She has been measured up and hopefully will be wearing a smart new rug by the end of the
afternoon.
The understanding I have with the current owners is that we can keep her with Deno until the end of February then
assuming she and Deno have gelled we will make a donation of £500 and ownership will pass to us. This payment will
be used to care for the other horses the owners have rescued and/or allow them to rescue further horses from the
knackers yard.
One thing I haven't mentioned is the possibility that she may be in foal as she was running with a stallion !
Anyway these are a few pictures as promised - more are in Deno's photobucket and will add yet more as I take them.
Later that afternoon and Sam is putting Posh's new rug on her at the moment as well as a nice new head collar -
feed is all sorted and I am ashamed to say I fell asleep whilst Sam and Coralie were getting these.
Is it too early to think about suggesting people become "Posh Protectors" as well as being "Deno Defenders".
Posh in her new attire.
Deno was very quiet yesterday, spent most of the time in the shelter - looked very down - am hoping that he'll perk up
over the coming days.
We're not certain Posh is in foal so will have to wait for the vet examination in
January before we even think of names.
All checked and a Christmas treat of hay and karrits laid out. They were together in the shelter when we
first saw them and then Deno saw Coralie and me.
Deno immediately stepped between us and Posh as if to
indicate that we belonged to him. Every time I tried to approach Posh with a treat Deno would charge at her
and drive her away !!
Fooled him though when Coralie rattled an empty bag whilst I handed out the karrits to
Posh. When we left they were both happily grazing on the hay we'd spread out.
Dec09b
