Yesterday I was very worried about Albie. He spent most of his day lying down, with his legs stuck out, shallow respirations and sweating. He had two doses of painkillers and I hoped for the best over night.
This morning, OH came in and said he thought Albie was dying. I frantically finished dressing and dashed into the stable to find Albie lying down again, though he did get up when he saw me and ate his breakfast, along with a very generous dose of painkillers.
Daisy suggested a “soft bed” so I split the group up – with Albie and Storm in the smaller stable leaving Tiddles and Waffle in the bigger one. Storm’s walking is not great either. I opened and spread out my last two bales of shavings into the Albie/Storm’s bedroom and that seemed to help hugely.
I put more hay onto soak. There are so many theories on how long to do this – too short and the sugar hasn’t left, too long and all the nutrients have leached out, too too long and it starts to fement! I keep buckets of water on top to weigh the nets down.
I spent time this morning trying to cheer up Albie so I gave him a lovely long brush, which he adored.
And then I thought I ought to brush everyone else too.
Storm and Waffle also appreciated this, but Tiddles walked away.
Tiddles’ walking is much better now. Not perfect, but better.
Anywho, Albie has had a much better day today. Phew! I can’t decide if he just has a very low pain threshold (he can talk himself into a misery) or that he is actually in real agony. It’s hard to say but he is responding to treatment, so that is all that matters.
Eating and drinking is good and has got better during the day. They are all on soaked hay in small hole haynets, so they have to work for it, along with fibre block.
Yes, I am in contact with the vet too about all this.