What a year and when is it going to be over!

FINALLY... A NEWSLETTER!

First, the gang and I are hoping all of you are surviving this epidemic. We truly wish you the very best! 

Since our last newsletter...

It' been a long and emotional roller coaster ride. Starting with Milo.  For this past year and a half he had a loss of appetite. I've had to force feed him for a little over a year.  The first vet said it was his teeth but nothing was wrong with them. His blood work was normal, along with other tests, which were all normal.  I kept saying the issue has to do with his throat. I decided to get a second opinion.

Guess what...It turns out he has a large mass between his lungs which is pushed up against his esophagus! I decided not to have a biopsy on the mass. Let's face it, we all know what it is. We have started him on Prednisone and he's back to eating on his own and gaining weight! YAY!

Here's my heart-breaker...

Since the beginning of this year, I had been noticing little drops of blood clots in Blue's corral. I was thinking it might be a little critter who had gotten hurt because there weren't any wounds on Blue. Yet, I started to see these clots more and more often. It went from once every couple of days to seeing clots three or more times a day and I notice they are all in her pee spots.

The size of the clots kept growing. I still wasn't sure where they were coming from. I spent days out in the barn and finally saw Blue pee and I panicked!  With all the tests, it turned out Blue had a rare form of Bladder Cancer. I was heartbroken.

For these last six months Blue had been a trooper! She still waited for me to come out of the house. She looked forward to being hosed down and let out with the other horses. She was still eating and drinking. Then, in the last couple of weeks, she started to show signs of discomfort, tiring easily, and losing weight.

This was the hardest thing to watch. Seeing her slowly deteriorate and knowing there was nothing I could do. But as long as she looked forward to her everyday activities, I was not going to cut her life short because I was basket case. However, I did see it in her eyes. She was getting tired. For these last six months I had been spending every chance I had with her, knowing the little time I had left. I did know that when it was time, I would not let her suffer for any reason and I would let her go.

Blue just turned 27 on June 2nd. I've had her since the day she was born.

When I lost her on July 14th, it felt like losing a child or my right arm. I am devastated!  A huge part of me went with her....

The heartbreak continues...

It's with a heavy heart to also say an unexpected goodbye to Cheyenne...  

About two or three weeks before Blue's passing, I had a farrier come out to trim all of the horses hooves. A job I've always done myself. The reason I didn't do it this time was to try to give my back a little relief. To make a long story short, he trimmed Cheyenne's hooves way too short. She had a hard time walking.  For a week I treated her with butte to help ease the pain. By that time they are usually okay. But Cheyenne was only getting worse!

I had made an appointment with the vet who could not come out for another week.  Meanwhile, Blue is now starting to fail...and...we are in one hell of a heatwave! So now, I'm running around frantically trying to keep them both as comfortable as possible! 

By the time the vet arrived, we had to let Blue go. 

Cheyenne's blood tests did not come back for a little over two weeks, which should have only taken about 5 days. It turns out she had full blown Cushing's Syndrome! I ordered the specialized compounded medications, which should have been here in three days. It took 10 days.

Once we received all of the test results for Cheyenne and medications that she needed, she could no longer stand up. She only received three doses of the specialized meds when she developed a sepsis infection and went into shock!
 
I lost her August 8th....

Cheyenne and Montana both just turned 24 on July 27th.