oh my it's been such a long past 2 days. all having to do with animals too (what else is new?) yesterday evening i thought i lost my kitten - i thought he had gotten outdoors. being gimpy and all i was sooo worried about him, since he'd never been out on his own and we live pretty close to a very busy street - i was terrified that he'd get hit by a car or attacked by a raccoon, three large ones of which i'd seen that very night. i was so worried i started to feel sick to my stomach. finally, after about an hour and a half of me and my friends searching everywhere, he appears in the upstairs hallway. apparently he'd been sleeping in my housemate's closet, and since she was asleep i didn't search her room thoroughly.
once we finally all got settled down in the living room, conversation and events passed without incident - until our second cat got stuck INSIDE our armchair. there's a hole in the upholstry in the back, and she climbed in and couldn't get back out again, since there's a very complex wooden frame underneath. my lord is she fat, and i had a hell of a time getting her out . . .
then today all went well at my kennel job, with the dogs, but then i got to the behavior job. after luca's psych evaluation - she's gonna get all drugged up on kitty prozac for her intracat agression, for FREE since it's part of a study - i'd been watching horses eat on videotape for about 2 hours when one of my coworkers (the cute aussie boy) asked me to go out to the barn and take a picture of him. he's working on a study about cribbing and possible methods to curb it, and he's presenting this coming wednesday and wanted a funny picture of him cribbing next to one of the horses. cribbing is when a horse bites down on a horizontal object, usually the wall of his stall or trough, and burps in air. it's really destructive to both the horse's teeth and the stall/whatever surface the horse is biting on, and it can become a really addictive habit. my lab is working on both finding both causes and cures for cribbing.
anyways so once we get into the barn we notice that one of the horses is lying down. this isn't unusual, and it was also about 90 degrees today so the fact that he was sweating wasn't that unusual either. but then he started rolling. and he wouldn't get up when we got close to him, which is definately unusual for a horse - they'll usually get up as soon as they see you.
so yeah to cut it short this horse (stoney) had colic and he had a BAD case of it. colic is an all-encompasing term for any type of gastrointestinal illness in a horse. with stoney, it was caused by gas blockage in his (probably) large colon. it was so bad that it was a very visible bulge on his right side by his flank. and with horses, this can be very, very dangerous, and all too often it can kill them. he'd already had it happen 2x previously last month alone. walking is one of the only things that helps usually, aside from surgery. so what it comes down to is this: i had to walk a horse that was streaming with sweat for about 2 hours, barefoot (i'd gone up to the barn to take pictures without shoes cause i'm a dirty hippy) on asphalt, all the while trying to make sure he didn't lie down and my god did he want to. he made it to the ground twice, all 1500 odd pounds of him just smacking the pavement like you wouldn't believe. the first time, i had to get him up by myself. his nose was running, he was drooling, and i just had to keep him going . . . when he got his first dose of painkillers (while walking) he started lightly seizing, and all three of us could barely keep him upright. i finally got home at 9:30, covered in dried horse hair, sweat and mucus, with blisters the size of half dollars on each heel. i haven't had such a harrowing experience in a long long time. as i write this it doesn't sound that bad, but to see it, a horse, a 1500 pound animal, my head up to his shoulders, just have his feet give way out from under him and SLAM down onto pavement and then try to yank the poor boy up again, having 2 people pull on his head and a 3rd push his hindquarters, eyes white ringed and ears laid back because he's in so much pain but us trying so hard because we're trying to save his life . . . it's an experience i wont' soon forget.
right now he should be ok. he started passing gas while he was being walked, and the pain killers ended up helping a lot. when they wear off around 5am . . . i don't know then. he might be fine. he might have to go in to surgery. he might not make it. i'll find out tomorrow.
heh you should see me trying to walk.
in other (happy!) news, bobby's coming out east the 23rd. i have butterflies just thinking about it. all it means is that i won't be able to afford to eat for about a month or so . . .
once we finally all got settled down in the living room, conversation and events passed without incident - until our second cat got stuck INSIDE our armchair. there's a hole in the upholstry in the back, and she climbed in and couldn't get back out again, since there's a very complex wooden frame underneath. my lord is she fat, and i had a hell of a time getting her out . . .
then today all went well at my kennel job, with the dogs, but then i got to the behavior job. after luca's psych evaluation - she's gonna get all drugged up on kitty prozac for her intracat agression, for FREE since it's part of a study - i'd been watching horses eat on videotape for about 2 hours when one of my coworkers (the cute aussie boy) asked me to go out to the barn and take a picture of him. he's working on a study about cribbing and possible methods to curb it, and he's presenting this coming wednesday and wanted a funny picture of him cribbing next to one of the horses. cribbing is when a horse bites down on a horizontal object, usually the wall of his stall or trough, and burps in air. it's really destructive to both the horse's teeth and the stall/whatever surface the horse is biting on, and it can become a really addictive habit. my lab is working on both finding both causes and cures for cribbing.
anyways so once we get into the barn we notice that one of the horses is lying down. this isn't unusual, and it was also about 90 degrees today so the fact that he was sweating wasn't that unusual either. but then he started rolling. and he wouldn't get up when we got close to him, which is definately unusual for a horse - they'll usually get up as soon as they see you.
so yeah to cut it short this horse (stoney) had colic and he had a BAD case of it. colic is an all-encompasing term for any type of gastrointestinal illness in a horse. with stoney, it was caused by gas blockage in his (probably) large colon. it was so bad that it was a very visible bulge on his right side by his flank. and with horses, this can be very, very dangerous, and all too often it can kill them. he'd already had it happen 2x previously last month alone. walking is one of the only things that helps usually, aside from surgery. so what it comes down to is this: i had to walk a horse that was streaming with sweat for about 2 hours, barefoot (i'd gone up to the barn to take pictures without shoes cause i'm a dirty hippy) on asphalt, all the while trying to make sure he didn't lie down and my god did he want to. he made it to the ground twice, all 1500 odd pounds of him just smacking the pavement like you wouldn't believe. the first time, i had to get him up by myself. his nose was running, he was drooling, and i just had to keep him going . . . when he got his first dose of painkillers (while walking) he started lightly seizing, and all three of us could barely keep him upright. i finally got home at 9:30, covered in dried horse hair, sweat and mucus, with blisters the size of half dollars on each heel. i haven't had such a harrowing experience in a long long time. as i write this it doesn't sound that bad, but to see it, a horse, a 1500 pound animal, my head up to his shoulders, just have his feet give way out from under him and SLAM down onto pavement and then try to yank the poor boy up again, having 2 people pull on his head and a 3rd push his hindquarters, eyes white ringed and ears laid back because he's in so much pain but us trying so hard because we're trying to save his life . . . it's an experience i wont' soon forget.
right now he should be ok. he started passing gas while he was being walked, and the pain killers ended up helping a lot. when they wear off around 5am . . . i don't know then. he might be fine. he might have to go in to surgery. he might not make it. i'll find out tomorrow.
heh you should see me trying to walk.
in other (happy!) news, bobby's coming out east the 23rd. i have butterflies just thinking about it. all it means is that i won't be able to afford to eat for about a month or so . . .
VIEW 7 of 7 COMMENTS
I couldn't ride but I used to like them, and run about he field with them and they'd go 'pherpppp' (how do you spell that?)and run round with me but jesus, one day out out nowhere
this (a bit cranky) mare bit her while she was feeding it, like right on her tit,
and lifted her up, she's still having flashbacks in her sleep now and that was 2 years back.
but anyway I was just answering cos I'm glad you found your cat/kitten/catypuss
cos mines been gone for 2 weeks now. I found her as a feral kitten who had made a kind of cat-nest in my best friends garden which she slept in
with her brother. But he got killed, well he disappeared, so we guess he was dead, and she was just on her own in this nest made of grass, and she
was so weak she was walking on her backward-knees. She came into the house and rolled about in front of me as well as she could and even
was purring, so I had to have her. But now she's just gone and left, like
completely. Anyway., I'll shut up now, you're probably thinking 'why's
this guy talking to me on and on' well it's just I like horses and cats and
stuff and I'm in a talking mood and all my friend are totally in bed
(it's early morning here) and I was 'trying out' ' some cheap c0caine my friend got (not really my cup of tea), and I woke up late today anyway.
really hope horse is ok, and if he is, it's 1/2 down to you, you sound cool
anyway., enough, thanks for reading my rubbish on this odd night
-rjsomeythingsomething
Once my kitty kat got stuck in my couch and I looked for him for hours and I cried and flipped out. Eventually it occurred to me that he might be in the couch and I ripped it apart (literally). When I found him, he was hanging by his neck from a spring, his eyes were glazed over, his whole body was cold, and he wasn't breathing. I thought he was dead. I pulled him out hysterically, screaming and crying and put my mouth over his and started giving him CPR. After two puffs he shook his head, blinked his eyes and licked my nose.
I have never been so relieved in all my life.