 |
| Jon Michael give love to Dixie Kitten. |
It has been 11 months since we agreed to bring in Thoroughbred Dixie Kitten, a former race horse and long time brood mare. She didn't have any value to most people because she was in poor shape nutritionally and had severe founder. Her owner was paying board to keep her at a local farm but he moved out of state for his job. The local farm told him of Dixie's condition and wanted to have her euthanized. After all, she was used up. She had a 3 year old baby at her side and had lost a baby not long before we were called.
She is a very sweet mare. She is one of everyone's favorites. She is also a heart breaker. We have worked so hard trying to keep her comfortable. There are days when she is down more than she is up. There are days when she walks around and seems like we are helping her get better, then she lays down and seems like it is hopeless.
 |
| You can see the crack where frequent abscesses break out |
 |
| Same on this foot, asbcesses often. |
We had a few sets of radio graphs done to compare if our time and efforts, along with very tender loving care, have helped. Dr Ken Marcella, Dr Kerri Porter and Dr Christine Murray have seen her, blocked her feet and made great suggestions as to how to help Dixie. Farrier John Stikes and barefoot trimmer Jan Hester have trimmed Dixie's feet. We have wrapped her feet, soaked them, cleaned them, picked them and put on numerous products to help.
She gets well, or at least seems better then gets such terrible abscesses she goes down again.
Are we making her suffer? Do we value life so much that we block seeing the suffering? It is such a hard decision to make. We want the best for Dixie. Want her comfortable. Believe me, this is a serious discussion at the barn and a serious discussion with myself at 3 am when I lay there weighing the options. Euthanasia is a serious choice, no turning back.
After 11 months, we had hoped for more progress. We are not giving up yet. We have spoken with the Vetrixinc company, provider of extracellular matrix (ECM) technologies about injection Dixie's feet with the matrix. They helped SaveTheHorses rescue horse, Chevelle, who we brought in from Louisianna after he was hot by a car and was at animal control in need of help. The Vetrix people are consulting with veterinarians and we are hoping she may be a good candidate and that is provides us the miracle we are hoping for! Say a Prayer for Dixie.
3 comments:
She feels like a bunny rabbit.. so soft and her temperament is the same, gentle and calm. We all love her.. Thank you for doing all you can for her.
My horse lost his hoof early this spring. We have been using DMSO and thermazine and wrapped it up to keep out dirt. About the first of July we noticed a big improvement. Which gave us hope by mid July we stopped wrapping it and started an epsom salt and DMSO soak every evening. Thee weeks ago the farrier trimmed his other three hooves and stopped. He was not sure the horse would let him trim the hurt hoof. I told him I had been picking that hoof up for almost a year everyday. So he started trimming. About half way thru he stopped and told me to take a look at the new growth. He was totally blown away. He finished the hoof taking care not to trim to much. Looked at my wife and I and said : whatever you have been doing keep it up. He had previously told me he had never seen a horse regrow a hoof. After 9 years of faithful service to me I could not bring myself to put him down without trying everything. I thank God for answering my prayers and my horse for letting me try to help him. Dennis Drummond
Thank you Dennis. I don't know your formula bu I will start soaking her foot today.
THANK YOU!
Post a Comment