This message is from: "plumg...@pon.net" <plumg...@pon.net>
I have "killed" two dogs. In both cases, I did it too late, after the animals were suffering (which I was only able to admit after the fact). I have also walked a colicking horse until she fell down and died. A beautiful, gorgeous, young Fjord mare. I have never seen another with as beautiful a trot, as beautiful a head....she was an Anvil's Acres horse and her breeder has also told me that she was just special. She had a twisted gut. We tried to get vet help, but we were in a very small rural area where emergency help was an hour away. We paid $400 to the vet to come out on a holiday weekend, twice. He was not a competent horse vet and was unable to tube her and really did no examination. We were given some drugs and left to our own devices in a vacation area we were visiting (LIKE NOVA SCOTIA!) We walked her all night in the freezing cold, on a gravel driveway. She was throwing herself down. I whipped her mercilessly to get her up, on the idea that rolling is not a good idea. We put a fly mask on her to keep her from scratching her eyes when she went down...in agony. In desperation we went to the farm family that was hosting us and asked for a gun and ammunition to shoot her if we felt we needed to. They complied, and showed us how to aim correctly so as not to miss her brain. We never did shoot her. Eventually, I now know, her gut broke,and the pain was relieved. At about 4 AM she put her head on my husband's arm and pulled him away from the other horses. He followed her with the lead. She headed toward an arena she had been in and dropped. Then she got up again and went down again and started her death throes. We had already called the incompetent vet again to try to get help. He arrived a few minutes after she died, so we had him do an autopsy. Big portions of her intestines were clearly dead. During the course of the ordeal, I called our home vet in desperation, he did not get enough information from me to tell me to just get her to a vet clinic...and besides....the clinic was hours away. I e-mailed the Fjord list in the middle of the night, and got support from the early risers on the east coast....and condolences from Karen McCarthy later on the west. I say all this because it is clear that Jen has absolutely no idea what can happen to a horse in a rural area. My horse died in agony. Gjest was at risk of that. On another list, one of the caring moderators just lost a horse to a twisted gut...the same way. No vet help could come fast enough to spare the horse. I am 62 years old and have seen a fair amount of death. I nursed my mother through 7 1/2 years of dementia, and then cared for her after she had a major disabling stroke. We gave her no food and water after the first days in the hospital(she could take neither by mouth...and they kicked her out of the hospital as soon as we said we did not want her intubated. ). We had to turn her every four hours to prevent bed sores, at which time she screamed in pain....I presume from the muscle contracture of the stroke. We did that every four hours for 13 days until she died. Once you have seen some of these things, you recognize that a "loss of spirit" is the beginning of the end, and it is time to take action to spare your loved one. In the case of my mother, I could not do it legally, and just did not have the courage anyway. But I can do it for a horse. Jen...when you have nursed a few people and animals through their deaths, come back and make your accusations again. Gail Russell I say: don't kill an animal now for the reason that euthenising it later may be a hardship on you. Enough. Important FjordHorse List Links: Subscription Management: http://tinyurl.com/5msa7e FH-L Archives: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw Classified Ads: http://tinyurl.com/5b5g2f
