Little Mister
Feb 8, 12
Hi ya'll, and thanks for helping us pick up this little guy and be able to fund the transportation. We are extremely honored and happy to be a partner with LRTC on this project - (visit their website at http://www.whmentors.org/ ) as it allows us to help even more foals. They have a wonderful system in place and work with BLM and other agencies in order to provide immediate care to foals in critical need. (They do much more than that, but this part is a huge one.) That is what happened in this case. They got a call, we got a call and wahlah, with all of your help, we picked him up hours later.
The same thing happened with Suri. We picked her up the same day she was brought down the mountain, we helped her get back to a healthy and adoptable state, and we found her the most awesome home ever. This is one of the areas that we are working on expanding, and we are learning a lot from the pros at LRTC and Whispering Winds as they specialize in critical care, adoptions and finding good homes, as well as providing mentoring and guidance for the new horse owners.
The colt is a beautiful little boy, but as with so many orphans, he is having a few issues. When we picked him up, from a distance, he looked the picture of health. Unfortunately the erratic weather the region has been experiencing is extremely conducive to respiratory issues in the young ones, and we see lots of foals getting colds or pneumonia, whether domestic or wild. Funny, you'd think recent warm weather would be better, but the extreme differences in temperature (sometimes over 40 degrees in 24 hours) can be very hard on the very young. He does have a cough and the vet will be checking him this morning.
Cat Kindsfather, horse lover extraordinaire, spent much of last night with us. She got a peek into what really happens in these rescues and was wonderful enough to drive us over to Shirley Allen's (a couple hours away round trip) around midnight to get some antibiotics etc. for the little guy. "The Tall One", (my awesome hubby Matt) stayed and babysat, giving him his electrolytes and milk. He is eating well, very much a love bug, but needs your prayers. Respiratory/lung issues can be extremely dangerous, although unfortunately not uncommon for the foals, and they are scary prospects when the little ones can't get regular doses of mom's milk that contain mom's antibodies.
However BLM was very quick to call for help for this foal so aside from our respiratory concerns and losing is mom, he isn't significantly compromised. As in the past, the organizations that so diligently work together will continue to combine their resources and look after the most vulnerable of our mustangs. It is a lot of work, but someone has to do it. After all, it's about the horses.
God Bless!
Hi ya'll, and thanks for helping us pick up this little guy and be able to fund the transportation. We are extremely honored and happy to be a partner with LRTC on this project - (visit their website at http://www.whmentors.org/ ) as it allows us to help even more foals. They have a wonderful system in place and work with BLM and other agencies in order to provide immediate care to foals in critical need. (They do much more than that, but this part is a huge one.) That is what happened in this case. They got a call, we got a call and wahlah, with all of your help, we picked him up hours later.
The same thing happened with Suri. We picked her up the same day she was brought down the mountain, we helped her get back to a healthy and adoptable state, and we found her the most awesome home ever. This is one of the areas that we are working on expanding, and we are learning a lot from the pros at LRTC and Whispering Winds as they specialize in critical care, adoptions and finding good homes, as well as providing mentoring and guidance for the new horse owners.
The colt is a beautiful little boy, but as with so many orphans, he is having a few issues. When we picked him up, from a distance, he looked the picture of health. Unfortunately the erratic weather the region has been experiencing is extremely conducive to respiratory issues in the young ones, and we see lots of foals getting colds or pneumonia, whether domestic or wild. Funny, you'd think recent warm weather would be better, but the extreme differences in temperature (sometimes over 40 degrees in 24 hours) can be very hard on the very young. He does have a cough and the vet will be checking him this morning.
Cat Kindsfather, horse lover extraordinaire, spent much of last night with us. She got a peek into what really happens in these rescues and was wonderful enough to drive us over to Shirley Allen's (a couple hours away round trip) around midnight to get some antibiotics etc. for the little guy. "The Tall One", (my awesome hubby Matt) stayed and babysat, giving him his electrolytes and milk. He is eating well, very much a love bug, but needs your prayers. Respiratory/lung issues can be extremely dangerous, although unfortunately not uncommon for the foals, and they are scary prospects when the little ones can't get regular doses of mom's milk that contain mom's antibodies.
However BLM was very quick to call for help for this foal so aside from our respiratory concerns and losing is mom, he isn't significantly compromised. As in the past, the organizations that so diligently work together will continue to combine their resources and look after the most vulnerable of our mustangs. It is a lot of work, but someone has to do it. After all, it's about the horses.
God Bless!
Update on Little Mister, Feb 9, 12
Hi everyone,
Just wanted to let ya'll know what is happening with "Little Mister". We finally got home tonight around 7:00 ish give or take - was too tired to even look at the clock and wanted to get him settled. We went straight to our vet before we came home, as the Doc we were going to see in Nevada wasn't available today.
By the time we were nearly home, I was pretty scared. Little Mister was not feeling well at all, and we found out he has a very bad case of pneumonia. This weather is causing havoc with the health of so many little ones, and it got him good.
We did blood tests, and the good news is that they show that his mommy had some really good colostrum.:) So good in fact that the vet was surprised he is so sick. The test showed he had lots of protection from mommy, but sometimes that is still not enough. His heart rate was elevated and his gut sounds are slow, but the vet said that is most likely a side effect from being so sick from the pneumonia. He had a fever of 103.8 last night, and then it was low, around 98, today. So he is not feeling his best.
Please, please please say prayers for him. Ask your friends and family to say their prayers, as this is quite serious. He is on i.v. fluids and antibiotics etc. that the vet prescribed. We are doing every thing we can, and we will be giving him 24/7 care, but we need your help and prayers. He is a special guy with lots of personality, and I know someday he will be an awesome horse for someone.
He is such a little doll, and we want to see him grow up and lose the "little" in Little Mister. :)
Thank you so much for always being there.
Hugs
Just wanted to let ya'll know what is happening with "Little Mister". We finally got home tonight around 7:00 ish give or take - was too tired to even look at the clock and wanted to get him settled. We went straight to our vet before we came home, as the Doc we were going to see in Nevada wasn't available today.
By the time we were nearly home, I was pretty scared. Little Mister was not feeling well at all, and we found out he has a very bad case of pneumonia. This weather is causing havoc with the health of so many little ones, and it got him good.
We did blood tests, and the good news is that they show that his mommy had some really good colostrum.:) So good in fact that the vet was surprised he is so sick. The test showed he had lots of protection from mommy, but sometimes that is still not enough. His heart rate was elevated and his gut sounds are slow, but the vet said that is most likely a side effect from being so sick from the pneumonia. He had a fever of 103.8 last night, and then it was low, around 98, today. So he is not feeling his best.
Please, please please say prayers for him. Ask your friends and family to say their prayers, as this is quite serious. He is on i.v. fluids and antibiotics etc. that the vet prescribed. We are doing every thing we can, and we will be giving him 24/7 care, but we need your help and prayers. He is a special guy with lots of personality, and I know someday he will be an awesome horse for someone.
He is such a little doll, and we want to see him grow up and lose the "little" in Little Mister. :)
Thank you so much for always being there.
Hugs
Feb 9, 12 Little Mister, In the Arms of the Angels
Hi ya'll,
This is not an easy one to write. Just a short time ago, Little Mister left this earth and joined his mother in heaven. I started the proverbial "why?", for about two seconds, and then I realized I knew why. I truly believe God puts us where we are supposed to be. We were supposed to spend these last two days with this beautiful colt, so he would die surrounded by love and peace and not alone and afraid. I am so thankful to the folks at Palomino Valley for allowing us to make his last few days a little less scary, especially after he had become an orphan.
Last night, Little Mister, (although he didn't feel too great), did have some fun. He got into everything in the "borrowed foal room", and immediately became our "son". After his temperature had spiked and Cat (Kindsfather) drove me through the night to get to Shirley's house to get meds, I was given a memory I will always treasure. As soon as I walked in the room and he heard my voice, he gave this tiny, kind of screechy little whinny and jumped to his feet. "Mommy was home". These are the moments that make what we do worth while when we have nights like this. He was quite the little talker and would whinny if we went into the other room for more than a few minutes. We shared a lot of love in a short time.
Little Mister was beautiful, but apparently when he was born there was some unknown problem. The vet was shocked that he was so sick after she did the blood work, because the test that shows whether a little one got his or her antibodies (through mommy's colostrum) came out so positive. She showed it to me several times because it was such a positive result. Today when I took him in, his gums were showing tinges of blue/purple, indicating that he was not getting enough oxygen. He had minimal gut sounds at best, and his heart rate was extremely high. His poor little heart was trying so hard to pump enough blood to get enough oxygen, but his tiny little lungs were too compromised. He had severe pneumonia, which can be so deadly to the tiny foals. If he had been born in the wild, most likely the stallion would have killed him, or the mares would have, or he would have been left behind, alone and scared, to suffer a horrible death. So although my heart is breaking, I am so thankful and feel so honored that we got to spend his last days with him. He knew he was surrounded by love, and although he was meant to leave this earth way too early, I know that it helped him for us to be there. We were with him until the end, and although it is so sad, it was also a huge blessing for him as the pneumonia had progressed so far. He simply could not get enough air.
We can't save every foal, although I wish we could, but we do everything we possibly can for every second that we have with them. I truly appreciate you all being part of this and sharing the good times and the not so easy times. I was asked if I was going to "take a break", but that isn't how it works. We celebrate the ones we can help, and mourn the ones that we can't, all the while knowing that at any second, another one might need us. I am grateful that this is where God wants me to be. There is so much joy in it, along with the heartbreak.
Take care and God Bless - and give your critters an extra hug!
This is not an easy one to write. Just a short time ago, Little Mister left this earth and joined his mother in heaven. I started the proverbial "why?", for about two seconds, and then I realized I knew why. I truly believe God puts us where we are supposed to be. We were supposed to spend these last two days with this beautiful colt, so he would die surrounded by love and peace and not alone and afraid. I am so thankful to the folks at Palomino Valley for allowing us to make his last few days a little less scary, especially after he had become an orphan.
Last night, Little Mister, (although he didn't feel too great), did have some fun. He got into everything in the "borrowed foal room", and immediately became our "son". After his temperature had spiked and Cat (Kindsfather) drove me through the night to get to Shirley's house to get meds, I was given a memory I will always treasure. As soon as I walked in the room and he heard my voice, he gave this tiny, kind of screechy little whinny and jumped to his feet. "Mommy was home". These are the moments that make what we do worth while when we have nights like this. He was quite the little talker and would whinny if we went into the other room for more than a few minutes. We shared a lot of love in a short time.
Little Mister was beautiful, but apparently when he was born there was some unknown problem. The vet was shocked that he was so sick after she did the blood work, because the test that shows whether a little one got his or her antibodies (through mommy's colostrum) came out so positive. She showed it to me several times because it was such a positive result. Today when I took him in, his gums were showing tinges of blue/purple, indicating that he was not getting enough oxygen. He had minimal gut sounds at best, and his heart rate was extremely high. His poor little heart was trying so hard to pump enough blood to get enough oxygen, but his tiny little lungs were too compromised. He had severe pneumonia, which can be so deadly to the tiny foals. If he had been born in the wild, most likely the stallion would have killed him, or the mares would have, or he would have been left behind, alone and scared, to suffer a horrible death. So although my heart is breaking, I am so thankful and feel so honored that we got to spend his last days with him. He knew he was surrounded by love, and although he was meant to leave this earth way too early, I know that it helped him for us to be there. We were with him until the end, and although it is so sad, it was also a huge blessing for him as the pneumonia had progressed so far. He simply could not get enough air.
We can't save every foal, although I wish we could, but we do everything we possibly can for every second that we have with them. I truly appreciate you all being part of this and sharing the good times and the not so easy times. I was asked if I was going to "take a break", but that isn't how it works. We celebrate the ones we can help, and mourn the ones that we can't, all the while knowing that at any second, another one might need us. I am grateful that this is where God wants me to be. There is so much joy in it, along with the heartbreak.
Take care and God Bless - and give your critters an extra hug!
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