One of my lesson students took this picture of Nash before her lesson on him.
Day 13/14: Positive progress continues
December 1, 2013
Farm Horses equine, farm horse, fever, horse, hospital, rescue, SaveNash, surgery Leave a comment
Things are continuing along the positive path, Nash’s temperature remains to be normal. On Saturday they stopped one of the 2 antibiotics that he was receiving via IV. Then on Sunday morning they were please to find the fever didn’t return, they have kept him on the one Antibiotic (Gentamicin). The good news is that if he remains fever free tomorrow they will discuss with me having him come home early next! YES, finally talking about my boy coming home.
Fingers crossed and positive thoughts for Nash. Thanks for all your kind words and support!
Day 12 The fever broke!
November 29, 2013
Farm Horses equine, fever, horse, hospital, SaveNash 1 Comment
Went to see Nash today and finally met Dr Parente. At that point he had been back on the iv antibiotics for 2 days. He said his fever went from 104 last night down to 101 this morning. The lung fluid culture grew gram positive bacteria. So that means he does have pneumonia.
What we still dont know is when he can come home. Dr P. said he has to talk to the specialist to ask his thoughts. Maybe a couple more days.
I have to say Nash didn’t look good. He lost weight and the swelling in his legs was really bad. He didn’t even move to say hi. We went in and petted and brushed him, still he didn’t move. Then as we went to leave he gave us the said eyes. He walked to the door gave me the “don’t leave me look”. Oh my gosh, broke my heart.
Can’t wait to get my boy home!
They shaved his chest for the ultra sound.
He licked my face.
Smile Nash!
Day 10: back to square one
November 27, 2013
Farm Horses equine, horse, hospital, rescue, SaveNash, surgery Leave a comment
Dr Parente said today that there are no bacteria growing in the cultures, which indicates no lung infection or pneumonia. The new antibiotics are not working and he still has a fever. They decided to put him back on the IV antibiotics, with the thought that he didn’t start the fever till they switched him to oral. He indicated he might be able to go home this weekend.
The bill so far for Nash is $5,000. Luckily and thankfully the donations went over my goal and we have about $700 more. Dr P. said that with the IV ABX we will be looking at about $200 per day. It will be close but I think we will be ok.
Day 9: No change
November 26, 2013
Farm Horses equine, fever, horse, horses, hospital, SaveNash, surgery 2 Comments
I wish I had better news but there really is no change.
They performed the tracheal wash to obtain a sample of the fluid in the lungs. Then set up the culture, yesterday. As of today nothing is growing, which is not a surprise as sometime it take 2 days for bacteria to grow. So they are keeping him on the current antibiotics (SMZs) and added Metronidazole (yesterday). The second ABX is one that is commonly used for pneumonia.
This morning his fever spiked over 104 but again responded to the bute and came back down to 101. He said that high of a temperature is usually viral and only lasts 2 – 3 days. Also he doesn’t look or act like a horse with a 104 temperature caused by pneumonia. He does have slightly and occasionally elevated heart rate and respiratory rate but if it was true pneumonia he would look and act sick. He would be coughing, but instead he is still eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom all normally.
With the additional ABX they were really hoping for improvement this morning and are really not sure as to the cause of the high fever. They are starting to think something else is causing the fever. Maybe something related to the swelling in his legs.
So we wait some more for them to figure this out.
Nash update Day 8 – Running tests
November 25, 2013
Farm Horses farm horse, hospital, rescue, SaveNash, surgery 1 Comment
Spoke to Dr Parente this morning, he was concerned. Nash still has the fever. He was saying it is at 104 still which is considered a high grade fever. So today they are looking into the cause of the fever. They are running his blood work and checking it against when the blood work from when he was admitted. They are also going to do a fecal sample, to look for bacteria. Lastly he talked about the chance of infection at the incision site. He noticed a little more swelling but said that if there was an infection there it would be very painful to touch. Yet Nash is not indicating that it is very painful. Hopefully they will get to the bottom of this soon so my boy can come home.
Picture from last year.
Day 7: Nash update – fever
November 24, 2013
Farm Horses equine, farm horse, hay, hospital, rescue, SaveNash, surgery Leave a comment
Wow, I can’t believe it has been a week.
I spoke to Dr Stuart to get an update on Nash. He still has the fever but it appears to be responsive to bute. So this morning it was at 104.1. Then he received his morning does of bute and it went down to 102. He is still doing fine, eating and all the rest. They have all his legs wrapped now because since the fever started they stopped hand walking him. They really don’t want to release him until the fever breaks, so hopefully that is soon. The pics are from my visit with him yesterday.
Day 6: Nash update – Fever
November 23, 2013
Farm Horses equine, fever, horse, horse farm, horses, hospital, hugs and kisses, rescue, SaveNash, surgery 1 Comment
I woke up this morning to a phone call from the vet helping Dr Parente. She had not so good news… Nash has developed a fever. His temperature is 104. Normal body temperature for horses is 98 – 101 F. They think it is is viral infection but would like to keep him in the hospital over the weekend. She said he can probably go home Monday. While this is very disappointing, I understand it is best for him to stay in the hospital where they can monitor him closely and react quickly should he worsen. She did say he is eating a drinking as normal, which is why it is probably a viral infection.
Lover boy
Day 3 post surgery
November 20, 2013
Farm Horses horse, hospital, SaveNash, surgery Leave a comment
Came to visit my handsome man on the first day after surgery. He saw me picked his head up and went right back to munching on his hay, but Glad to see he is eating. When I came in to his stall he gave my hand a good sniff to say hello oh yeah I know you.
He has a massive bandage around his belly so I can’t see the incision site. When I approached his side he moved away quickly like a fear of being touched pain reaction. But that does not surprise me.
Then I sat down in the hay and hung out. Helping him find the good bits of hay and letting him know I am here with a little scratch on the head every once in a while.
The nurses stopped by and they were pleased to see he has a visitor. One of them said “oh I love him”. Guess that means he has been a good boy.
A different vet called me today with an update. Saying his recovery is going well with him eating and going to the bathroom as normal.
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