Old Horse Casting In Field? Question and Rant

He went down again last evening. He had gotten up earlier in the day alone after a snooze.

I called the vet and he said to go ahead and try fortified B Vitamins I have on hand for the goats; may give him an extra boost while we struggle to get weight back on him.

I will try for a couple of weeks and see if I can get weight on him and if it makes a difference; the winter has been really mild and we are heading to warmer spring weather so he won't be laying on snow until found; people are in and out of the lane all day and night and will be looking out for him. If nothing helps, then that is an answer unto itself. I will give him a few weeks to see first.

__________________
Becky

I'm sorry, Becky. It's a crappy situation to be in, regardless.

__________________
" It's better to ride even if you get thrown, than to wind up just wishin' ya had."

Chris Ledoux

Make the feed changes and see if getting some weight on him will work. In the meantime you'll just have to be keep an eye on him and help him up when he needs it.

Good luck

When my mare had cancer, she couldn't keep weight on no matter how much she was fed and she laid down alot. Vet said at her age, she was 34.5 years old, that she was spending so much time sleeping as her feed was "going right through her" and she was getting no energy from it.

Many times that is one sign of cancer of the stomach or intestines is that they get no nutrition from the feed, lose weight, are "tired" looking, get down and don't have the energy to get up. I know you feel devastated about Buddy but perhaps he couldn't get up because like my old mare, he just didn't have the energy to do so. Cancer is so devastating especially if a horse is stoic as they sure try to act like nothing is wrong.

So sorry about Buddy, but you didn't let him suffer and that speaks volumes for you.

__________________
Be yourself - no one can tell you that you're doing it wrong!