Melody is off of her feed this morning:(

[Brandi*]

lol yes Jill a little late but thanks anyways. I just gave her a electrolyte paste and I have the probios but don't know how much to give her. It is the paste. Any suggestions? I think it is messured in grams.

Thanks

 

[Jill]

I was giving my colt 5 units / grams of the probios paste.

 

[Brandi*]

Thanks Jill. I gave her 6 grams since she is a bit older. I also fenced off another area for her with electric tape and plastic t-posts so that she will eat more grass. I have checked my pellets and grain (again) and for the life of me I can't see anything wrong with it so maybe the grass is like chicken soup to her. Thanks for your help!!

:

EDITED TO ADD:

I just took a chopped up carrot out to her and she ate that faster then anything. I would like to give her a whole bag of carrots but I know that would only make matters worse lol

:

 

[maplegum]

Hi Brandi,

I have been thinking of little Melody often. It's so heart breaking when they are sick, you feel helpless.

When Bailey was sick recently, he also went off his feed but seemed to still enjoy grass. The vet told me to let him eat away at the grass as much as he liked as it is very easy for them to digest and easy on their little systems. It keeps their digestive system working while they are off their grain and hay.

It sounds as if she is making some improvement but you must promise to keep us updated. We all worry for each other here!

:

xox Leonie xox

 

[Brandi*]

hahahahah Leonie! I was just thinking that maybe I was updating a little too often lol. I guess not :bgrin I think it's just a stress reliever to keep posting on here. I figure if someones sick of hearing about it then they will just stop reading right :bgrin Thanks for your support

:

 

[Marty]

You can always use Dannon or Yopliat yogurt in replacment of probios :bgrin

 

[Brandi*]

Really?

 

[RainSong]

Yep... any yogurt with live cultures (Check the container!) can be used for probiotics (Probios, I think is a name brand?) in humans and animals

 

[Charlene]

how's melody doing??

 

[Brandi*]

Ok so it was really wierd this morning

: I let her out of her stall and she walked right over to the steel bucket I had filled with water just yesterday evening to get a drink. She has a rubber bucket in her stall with crystal clear water that I just cleaned the same time I filled the new one. I brought the new one in yesterday because I have noticed that when I introduce something new she suddenly wants to drink. But if she was that thirsty why wouldn't she have drank out of the rubber one in her stall? I clean it and put new water in it every day

: Her feed dish is made out of the same rubber. I have no idea why this would make any difference but I am going to try something. I am going to the feed store to buy a new bag of Omolene and then I am going to try putting it in another dish. Who knows, it's worth a try. Any ideas on the water thing?

 

[Marty]

My horses are goofy about buckets too.

Some do not like their stall water buckets and wait to drink from the troughs outside.

Then some others prefer to drink in the stall.

I clean them all with baking soda, so I haven't a clue what their problem is. Some say it's the colors they have preference too. Geesh.........Always something with them isn't it.

Dannon and Yoplait are the yogurts with the live cultures. Sonny loves strawberry, but Nick loves banana.

 

[Brandi*]

That sounds much more fun then having to shove the paste down her throat. In the future I will get the yogurt. Do you give the whole container at one time or just a little? Thanks!

 

[HGFarm]

I have noticed that sometimes horses prefer one bucket over another... dont know if one plastic smells more than another, or just doesnt seem right so they pass it by for another?? Not sure there, but have had a couple of tubs that nobody seemed to want to drink from, so got rid of them as water buckets.

I would imagine if the horse weighs at least the same as a human, a whole yogurt would not hurt?

I use the paste probios when travelling- it is quick and easy! That was something new we tried this year- not that we had problems in the past, but when they are travelling for two long days, I figured it couldnt hurt.

 

[maplegum]

Hi Brandi,

You know, Bailey loves drinking from different buckets and containers too! When I let him out to graze on our lawn, he LOVES to drink from the dish that I have out for the wild birds to drink from. wacko I take a bucket and fill it up and he'll also stick his head in the bucket and drink from it as I fill up the bird dish. He'll drink out of a soft drink/pop bottle too!

Hope that Melody is feeling better today.

Leonie

 

[Brandi*]

Thats funny Leonie! When Melody was really sick on Thursday I kept taking her for walks because at that point I wasn't sure if she was colicing or not. But in our backyard we have a small dish that has fresh water dripping in it at all times. She kept wanting to drink out of that all day long. She also wanted to check out the pool water too and the pond. Of course those were off limits lol. She still isn't eating but has been drinking out of her "special water bucket". I had her black rubber water bucket in a pen with her this morning. She didn't touch it but as soon as I put her back in her usual pen she took a LONG drink out of the new one. I just wish she would eat. Can anyone tell me what the symptoms for an ulcer are? Would she be eating grass if she had an ulcer? She still acts slow and not herself. I called and left a message for the vet just to update him that she still isn't eating her regular meals. At least her fever hasn't returned

 

[lilnickers]

I do hope Melody is still improving. You're being a great mom

 

[Brandi*]

Her temp was back up to 101.1 this evening. Is that still normal????? I called and left a message for the vet today to let him know that she still isn't eating her food but we are playing tag with the phone. He did say on his message that he is very concerned that she is still off her feed. I am very concerned because she is still not acting like herself at all

I did see her taking a few bites of her pellets this evening but nothing major. I don't expect them to be all gone in the morning.

I am really frustrated. I have to try and get a hold of him again tomorrow and hopefully he will have more suggestions. I think we may need to do some testing. Thanks for checking in on her (and me)

 

[Marty]

Yes sometimes ulcers can mimick colic. I had a vet here a few years ago that kept treating my horse for colic with oil and banamine even though I tried to tell him the horse was not colicing, to treat him for ulcers. But some vets don't think some owners know anything about their own horses.

Some signs of ulcers are

Laying down

Laying on their backs

Loss of apetite

Depression

Lack of energy

By the way, vets say do not give a horse banamine if a horse has ulcers.

To answer your last question, when my horses have had bouts of ulcers they usually did want to graze every now and then but would not eat their grain

 

[Jill]

Brandi --

I think that temperature is within normal range.

Ulcers do sound like a likely possibility...

Keeping your and Melody in my thoughts today!!!! Hoping she perks up and is her usual self very soon!!!!

Jill

 

[kaykay]

I would start to get really aggressive treating her. That is too long without eating which can really mess up a miniature. Hyperlipemia gets to be a real concern when they stop eating. Will she eat grass if you hand walk her? Sending good thoughts