Celeb, our 5-6 year old spotted Tennessee Walker, has been permanently put to sleep at the Blue Mountain Vet. Hospital. (See Jan. 21st entry for his photo.) His last three months have been filled with suffering since he cut his right rear pastern down into the joint. Three vet. hospital stays, with as many IV antibiotics, were meant to help & heal. No matter how much he ate, Celebrity grew thinner as the days of recovery stretched into weeks. His ribs & hip bones became more pronounced under his sagging skin. He started putting weight back onto the injured leg, only to begin lifting the left rear leg. We examined the left leg for cuts & found none. We assumed that he had overworked the muscles of that leg while the right leg recouped & was just giving them a rest. Recently he learned to walk with just 3 legs... one was his newly healed leg. It was a pathetic sight. Celeb would strain all of his neck & chest muscles as he hobbled around the small area by the feeding troughs or over to the water trough. Louis trailered him back to the vet hospital on the way to work yesterday after we found a blood stain trail on the snow where he had haltingly limped to get water. Celeb was bleeding from the bottom of his left hoof. He was to be examined & x-rayed by the vet after her morning rounds.
During the I Peter neighborhood Bible Study, I received the diagnosis via my cell phone. I excused myself & walked into the next room to listen to the vet. Celeb had developed severe laminitis in the left rear leg. His hoof had separated & the bone was working its way through the hoof. He had only more suffering ahead & no respite in sight. We were offered only one option.
This was Louis's dream horse, birthed in our own pasture. Louis spent hours imprinting Celeb immediately after birth, so he would be easier to train later. Celebrity followed Louis like a dog at mealtimes or whenever Louis was in the field. He will be missed. I am left with some guilt as well as sorrow. I had been praying that God would convince Louis to sell one or more of our horses because they were putting such a strain on our finances. I had argued with Louis to at least sell Celeb's mother - an older bay mare with ringbone. I got nowhere. Now I am left wondering if this was God's answer to my prayers?
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2 comments:
I would hate to see any horses put down.It sounds like Caleb was a wonderful friend to your husband befor you made the decion to put him down for his health problems.I would have had as many problems putting him down as you.Louis needs to find another special horse to home at your place.Yes,Yes,Yes.
This is kinda sad to read! You feel badly for any animal or pet (and sounds like Celeb was a real pet) that suffers and has to be put down! But then there's the whole aspect of your need to downsize!
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