Festus

#298 Older (approximate age unknown) Palamino Pony Gelding. Wide blaze. Appx. 12 hands. This cute guy is quite underweight and quite fuzzy. His thick hair coat may be the result of poor nutrition and your "basic fuzzy pony coat" or, it could be indicative of Cushings disease. We do not know. He is somewhat lame in the front, but he did have an abcess which was opened and quite a bit of infection drained out. It is not known if the lameness is due to the abcess or other problems. He does have shoes on his front feet. He has been ridden recently by children.

Update 1/14/03 - The person who was going to take the pony is no longer able to. Due to the fact that the lot wanted him out of there quickly, he was recently brought to TIER. He is MUCH thinner than was originally thought, and we are piling on the groceries, vitamins, etc. TIER paid for the Coggins in anticipation of him going to the original interested party ($60). We also had to pay tax of $22.79 on the $300 ransom fee. Therefore, his adoption price will be $400.00.

Update 1/23/03 - The best info we have is that Festus is in his late 20's. This information came from the dentist who worked on his teeth.

He is very thin under all that hair. We are in the process of body clipping him. Vet is quite certain that he does have Cushings and we are also in the process of ordering product from A Drop In The Bucket that will help with some of the symptoms of Cushings, i.e. hair coat, etc.

The abcess in his left fore has not completely drained due to the fact that manure/dirt was packed in his foot from walking around. I have cleaned out his feet, soaked the abcessed foot in epsom salt, used some sugardine, packed it and wrapped the hoof in shiney duct tape. Our farrier had a death in the family which necessitated him going out of town. We have scheduled an appointment with him once he returns.

Festus is eating well, and has put on some weight, but still remains thin. At times, his breathing is a bit labored. We are hoping that clipping him and using the herbs from A Drop In The Bucket will help.

Also, there is a great yahoo group that deals with Equine Cushings:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EquineCushings/

BIG thank you to Alex of a Drop In the Bucket for providing Festus with Hormonise for treatment of his Cushings. Her committment is to send the necessary amount of Hormonise for his monthly treatment for as long as Festus lives! That INCLUDES continuing treatment when he finds his very own adoptor/home!

http://www.dropinbucket.com/cat1.htm

Update 01/13/2004 - Festus has been off his feed for the past two days. Let me tell you......when it comes to feed, Festus is usually a bit "piggy". He loves to eat!! HA! He also developed diarrhea, so we gave him some Banamine. He seemed to be a little more interested in food after his shot. This morning his appetite seemed to be somewhat better, but we felt we had better have the veterinarian look at him. Festus' gums are pink and he was not running a temperature. The vet arrived and began his examination of the little guy. Listened to his heart, bowel sounds, checked his gums, nasal pasages, eyes, and temperature. He also checked his manure. The vet thinks Festus is having a bout of colitis. He has prescribed 5 cc's Banamine twice a day for the next couple of days. Looks like Moses and Festus will be able to exchange pincushion stories! HA!

Update 06/20/2004

It's Father's Day and some of us were wondering what kind of treats we would get for the occasion. Ya see, we usually get apples, carrots, shelled sunflower seeds, apple flavored horsie treats or some kind of fruit on holidays and big occasions. Of course, we get treats at other times too, but we figure every day should be a holiday! Don't you?

Some of the guys were out in the arena and getting pretty boisterous in anticipation of the goodies to come. I was visiting with Pepper & Dottie while my usual living quarters were being spruced up a bit. I tend to be a bit messy and that Gail person said I could spend the night in the pen between Ms. Dot & Pepper. She calls this section Pony Row since we are all shorter than most of the others here.

By some means, one of the guys in the arena managed to undo the latch to my pen and I was waiting for that Gail person as she came out this morning with a bag of apples & plums that I could smell as soon as she came to the gate. I tried to walk over to her, but somehow I had hurt my leg and couldn't get to her. As soon as she saw that I had hurt myself, she dropped the goodies and came running over to me. I was shaking some because my leg was hurting quite a bit. She felt my leg and shoulder and started crying. She was blubbering something about "Oh Festus, I'm so sorry. Hang on little buddy, just hang on." Like I might be going somewhere???

She then goes into overdrive and starts putting all the horses that had been out in the arena back in their pens. She puts a bucket of water in front of me and runs into the house. I guess she forgot about giving me any apples and plums? I tried to walk over to the bag of goodies, but the best I could do was hop/shuffle to the gate. My friend Prince was giving me words of encouragement, but I think that was because he thought I might roll some of that fruit over to him.

Gail comes running back out, and as usual, she is running her mouth. Telling me she loves me; the vet is on the way; how sorry she is; that she loves me, etc., etc. I guess the vet person will make me feel better, but I really wouldn't mind having some of those apples and plums! She gives me some wetted down pellets and I munch those and take a big drink of water. Now that the other guys are back in their pens and don't need me to supervise them, I can relax a bit. So, I hop/shuffle off a ways and lie down. I tried to roll, but my leg hurt too much. Gail brought me an apple (FINALLY!!) and held my head as I munched. That was the best apple I had had in awhile!! Once I finished my apple I laid my head in Gail's lap until the vet came. You see, I was pretty tired after a night of supervising those hooligans and my leg was pretty painful.

The vet arrived and I tried to get up, but they both told me I would be more comfortable if I would just lie down, so I did. The vet gingerly felt my leg and shoulder. She then moved my leg a bit and stopped. She let out a big sigh and said "Gail, a horse's leg isn't supposed to move like that. His humerus bone is broken. It's possible that this can heal, but it would take awhile and he would probably limp pretty bad." Gail did this shudder/crying thing and told the vet "No, let's let him go. This little guy is pretty old. He has Cushings and problems with his front feet. His left front foot would have to bear most of the weight while he tried to recover and, most likely he would founder. He doesn't deserve to go through that much pain. Let's let him go."

While the vet went to get the medicine, Gail kept talking to me. She thanked me for being who I was and kept telling me how sorry she was. She told me to give Pearl, Grace, Libbey, Dobbin and all the others a big hug for her. She said at least I wouldn't have to put up with her giving me one of her weird haircuts anymore! HA! I didn't really mind the haircuts at all......even if I did look like a patchwork quilt!!

I really enjoyed the kids coming out to brush me and braid my mane & tail. Seems that everyone liked to braid my hair because it was so long. And, I always got some sort of treat for putting up with the fussing!! I liked hanging out with Prince (after Pearl & Grace went to live with the BIG Guy at the Bridge) and visiting with Dolly was always nice. Following that Gail person to the feed area while she fixed up our breakfast was nice too because she always gave me extra handfuls of pellets while I waited. Leaning my head into her tummy while she stroked and hugged me usually made me nap right there! I liked to get into stuff and cruise the backyard to see what I could get into. But most of all, I liked the kindness, the love, the special attention we get from visitors and volunteers. After years of not getting much attention, it was nice to have people care about me.

So, today, on Father's Day, I get to go live with BIG Guy at the Rainbow Bridge. I will no longer have my heavy coat, my feet won't hurt and I will be able to run with my friends from TIER through meadows and hills. The sun will dapple my golden coat and my mane will float behind me as I race to and fro. I will be whole again and I will remember. I will remember how some people came together to help me out of a bad situation and made my last days so much better. TIER cannot do what it does by itself. Because of people like you, horses & ponies like us have a chance. Because of YOU I was given an opportunity to be loved deeply. Every day is a holiday because of YOU! Thank you for you!!

All my love.....Always!!!!!!

Festus