Merry Christmas Everyone!

I was so busy with Hottie's leg that I wanted to quickly post some of my

homes Christmas decorations

 

 

Sideboard in the dining area

 

 

Santa doll I made

 

 

Mantle in living room

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

All the best wishes to all of you!

 

More Animal Stress for me

On 2 Dec at around 1PM I got a call at work that Hottie had done something to her leg and couldn’t walk. She’s always been a very sound horse with no problems so this was very unusual. I called the vet and they said they could be out there by 3PM and I left work thinking, OK it wouldn’t be too big of a deal but still nervous. When I got there I burst into tears when I saw the size the upper inner thigh had swollen too and that she couldn’t put any weight on it. Plus she was in serious pain. Ugh! It just broke my heart she kept turning her head to look at her leg as if to tell me, it hurts there. The vet ultra sounded it and thought it was cellulitis – which is an infection under the skin that spreads rapidly from the tiniest poke or scrape. So she got, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory high dose pain meds, and steroids and then a diuretic to get some of the fluid out. I went out every night to give meds, ice her leg, taking her temperature to make sure she didn’t show a fever and slowly walk her around once she could put weight on it.

When the swelling wasn’t improving after a week I called the vet again and they came out. It was then determine she had a hematoma probably from a blunt force trauma. Hottie was sedated and several needles were inserted into the swollen inner thigh/buttock and a large bloody pocket of fluid was drained out. Poor baby was such a good patient. It was determined that she somehow tore a muscle. It could be she was kicked by another horse. Another possibility the vet thought for where the injury is, is that she could have got her foot caught in the fence and went to pull it and somehow did the splits with her hind legs.

So now she is recovering slowly. The vet said it would be a few months and we would keep her comfortable as it's very painful. She has moved down to a lower pain med of bute (Horse Aspirin). She is walking better now and not dragging her leg. It will just take time

In between all this Hottie drama, I notice Finnegan was breathing harder, panting when playing lightly – which uh oh had red flags go up for me for heart problems. He woke me up several times breathing hard on the pillow above my head and then the other night sneezing so I thought OK – Maybe he’s just got a respiratory infection. We discovered he does have a heart murmur. Sadly, it is very common in Maine Coons to have heart disease. Right now were at the wait and see stage. He’s taking antibiotics like a big baby for a possible respiratory infection and slight temperature. If he still has breathing problems after his medication I probably will have to have his heart ultra-sounded and that will determine if he definitely has it. He is such a big sweetie too. He’s my shadow and I love him to pieces!

What a way to approach the end of the year? It can only get better, right?