Opal

Thanks to Becky, Opal arrived at TIER on Tuesday, 11/8/01. She seemed to be breathing a little hard and was somewhat lethargic. Opal is about half the size of Pearl and probably in the same age group! HA.......that means "elderly". She does have some previous muscle damage to her left shoulder.....an old injury. Her feet and legs seem fine. Becky gave her alot of attention and care in trying to make her comfortable prior to her trip to TIER.

11/9/01 - The vet was out this morning to check over Opal. I had called him prior to her arrival at TIER. He was unable to come immediately and thought he would be here after dark. After observing her that evening, I called him and said it might be better to come the next morning as she was moving around, etc. She is not interested in Hay or Pellets, but she does drink plenty of water.

The vet arrived and listened to her heart (heart rate was up...60), gut sounds were normal, temperature was normal. I had noticed when she urinated that it was rather dark and thick, but thought that might be attributed to being in heat? Our vet took a blood sample and gave her a shot of Banamine in case she was sore or uncomfortable. It was thought she might have been kicked as she was moving badly when she arrived. But, when I moved her around for the vet the next morning, she moved fine.

A blood panel was done and indicated a very high white count. Infection. So, right now Ms. Opal is on 8 SMZ's (anibiotics) twice a day to combat the infection. At this point, we are unsure as to the cause of the infection, but she will be monitored. I did get her to eat a little Evergreene Revive that we use for horses that arrive in a debilatated state. Opal is not thin by any means! She's a very "round" pony! HA! I did get her to eat part of a carrot and Volunteer Gail M. got her to eat a bite of apple. I also gave her some Minature Horse Feed mixed with a little water last night. She ate some of that.

More updates as she progresses.

Update 11/10/01 - Sad news my friends. Sigh. After picking Pepper up from the vet's yesterday, (He is doing VERY well!), I arrived home to find Opal in distress. She was breathing heavily and her legs were shaking uncontrollably. Blair had called the vet and he was on his way. That morning I had administered 2 cc's of Banamine to make her a little more comfortable and had also given her the antibiotics prescribed. I did not want to give her anything else until the vet arrived in order not to compromise whatever treatment he deemed necessary to help her.

The vet gave her a shot to ease pain. Due to her very high white count (1,700 as of the day before), her obvious distress, unable to get up even with assistance, gums were white with dark pink around the front teeth only, tongue was very white, heavy breathing, etc., the vet did a belly tap. He obtained a dark yellowish-red fluid that had a decaying odor to it. It was thought that perhaps a bowel had ruptured, peritonitis or the bladder had ruptured. Because of her age and obvious distress, the decision was made to assist Opal across the Rainbow Bridge where she would suffer no more pain.

The vet did a field necropsy and found that she had advanced colitis. He also found a grouping of walnut sized growths that looked like large grapes. The growths had twisted around several times, thus hindering blood flow to her bowl. He thought they were tumors and opened one up. Sigh. They were not tumors, but very large abcesses. Cause unknown. The vet also indicated that she had been well taken care of until she became sick. Apparently, when she became sick is when she was sent to an auction. The vet said her problem had been going on for awhile and had escalated within the last week. IF she had been given antibiotics at the onset, she would have stood a better chance of survival.

Although Opal was only with us a short time, she was deeply loved and will be missed. We are grateful that we were able to help her cross the Rainbow Bridge rather than die in agony within a few days.

Opal, run free!

Gail