So sorry he has slowed down on his recovery. I hope he bounces back soon.
Did you ever receive a straight answer about the staph infection? I was advised to put a healthy looking mare down because staph would be “untreatable” only to be told a week after her death that it did respond to antibiotics. So the ambiguity from the veterinarians about his staph infection has bothered. I keep coming back to your thread praying for a good outcome for you and Bear.
I do not think you are letting your boy down at all. I also am guessing your vet is not really patronizing you. Your vet knows you worry and does not want you to worry more than you should.
Call the vet back and talk to him. Write down what you want to say and say it from what you have written.
Continued hugs and prayers for you and Bear. I’d call vet and say that your just not comfortable with the last appt and would like him checked. Now my guy colicked following his extractions when the pain wasn’t controlled. Despite all measures you are taking, he could be in some pain. A shot or two of IV pain meds can be a big help if that is the case.
Was the type of staph identified a MRSA? Did the Culture & Sensitivity show which antibiotics were effective?
Ditto going back to the level of pain meds he was on before. Older bones can taken much longer to heal.
No excuse for the vet not to give him at least a cursory exam while there, especially dealing with a horse who is off his feed after doing better. Sure he might plateau but shouldn’t be getting worse this far into his recovery.
Not your fault OP and blaming yourself won’t help. You need to stay positive for your boy.
Please call the vet back with your concerns. If he/she dismisses them again, call another vet, perhaps the one at the clinic you’ve been dealing with that appreciates the complications of this case.
Trubandloki,
I know you were trying to cheer me up. But when a vet decides how much information he tells me, so that I will not worry — to me that is the definition of patronizing.
This is the same thing that upset me at State. I was not given complete information (that, and the information I was given was conflicting.)
A vet (or doctor) should not get to decide what information is “good for me”. That is a decision only I should make. If I find out that I am getting TMI, then I will tell a doctor (and have) that, on the need to know theory, I do not need to know all the details.
I have been caring for my horses for 30 years, and have had full control over them on my own farm for 20 years. I have been involved with horses for 60 years.
Sadly, a vet who treated me as a partner in my horse’s care and discussed options and meds before letting me make an informed decision, moved out of town. I have been unable to find one like him since then.
PS: It seems that Bear has also not peed in at least 20 hours. This is new and very worrisome; not matter what or when, Bear is a champion pee-er. I only found this out when I called the man who mucks stalls to find out if Bear had finished his late night meal. The man THEN told me that the stall had been dry – no pee at all. Ond only 1 small pile of manure.
This is information I NEED TO KNOW~
PPS: Today, both my MD and the vet’s office faxed prescriptions to pharmacies other than the one I told them to. WTF??? They thought I had meant another pharmacy and had mis-spoken. WTF?!?!? Have you ever felt like you are inside a cone of silence and no one is listening?
Sorry, you are right, I was trying to make you feel better.
I understand your point. I also understand their point. (That it is not meant to be insulting at all.)
I am so sorry to hear that things are not going well and the people you are counting on to help make things better are compounding matters. Continued jingles.
Jingles for Bear. Clearly, you want to do your best by him, and everyone else needs to get on board!
Please call vet today and get someone out. He needs vitals check and not peeing can be very painful/bad. I am so sorry he is not doing well right now.
LH-
First of all hugs to you and your Bear. Second, you are absolutely correct in all your points. You need to drive the bus on this- your Vet is your resource, not the guy who manages your horses health. Go with your great instincts!
If he is not peeing- and obviously, you are completely on top of this- you may want to have the Vet out to get on top of this asap.
Hang in there!
Has he been drinking anything? Maybe you need to bag him to keep him hydrated? Besides upping the pain meds of course.
[QUOTE=findeight;8005693]
Has he been drinking anything? Maybe you need to bag him to keep him hydrated? Besides upping the pain meds of course.[/QUOTE]
This sounds great- it also offers the option of being able to do IV pain meds, if necessary, through the catheter.
ETA: The vet was called first thing in the am. His earliest opening was 3pm, which is when he came.
Whew. Just had a good meeting with the vet (and while we were talking outside Bear's stall, HE PEE'D!!).
1. Results from the blood drawn will tell us how his organs are doing. Based on the exam today (heart, lungs, gut, temp) vet and I both think that Bear's problem is not systemic -- but the results will confirm. At this point, Bear is not in acute pain. He is interested in life and reacts to people. It is obvious (to me) that his jaw hurts badly enough that he will not drink his soup, but his heart rate is 36 and his temp is normal.
2. If the problem is localized (we both think it is because Bear is now drooling copious amounts of saliva and his tongue is hanging out of his mouth again) then what? -- We have decided that I will take him back to State where the surgeon can examine him to see if the repair is holding, if a small tweak can be made to strengthen it, or if we are back to square 1.
Things that will not happen:
Bear will not have another surgery. Bear will not be left at state for observation. Any procedure that can be done with him standing that will improve his immediate and his long term quality of life will be done.
But we are past the stage of "let's do anything we can that might help".{Lord Helpus} and {Bear}.
Such a roller coaster.
Sorry you are going through this still but think your plan sounds perfect.
I’d be asking for more powerful painkillers and antibiotics. Although the antibiotics can make a horse not want to eat. Is baytril appropriate for his infection? My mare Hattie was on baytril for 6 weeks 2 yrs ago and she never missed a meal. Of course her issue was NOT her jaw.
Many times the recovery is a rolllercoster ride. When Callie was ill my farrier gave the advice to “dope her up” and she’d recover. He was right. She had good days and bad days and I almost gave up before the farrier told me to keep on keeping on. As long as a horse is not a downer, you have hope. (When my cat was so ill once I walked into the vet’s office to pick her up after work, as I did every day, and I cried and said is it time? She had lost most of her weight and had a stomach tube and an IV line. Vet said no. Vet was right. )
Other than an IV line for fluids, has anyone every used a stomach tube for a horse? I fed my cat, who had quit eating, through a stomach tube every 4 hours…vet’s office did it while I was at work…for 6 weeks. It worked and she began eating again. I put her food and her water into her stomach thru that tube that came out on her shoulders like a little periscope.
Good luck with Bear. Hopefully you can get some fluids and food into him.
Just wanted you to know I am thinking of you and Bear this morning.
Bear, (the little Dickens) is now drinking his soup and peeing again. But we are still going up to State for a 1pm appt with the surgeon.
Today is totally a fact finding mission. The surgeon will tell us if her repair is holding well or not.
Even if it isn’t, it is still restricting some movement, and that gives us continuing hope that his jaw will eventually heal on its own.
I was able to get 6 (out of 12) pain pills in him last night, and will be trying for another 6 before we leave here. He will feel a lot better if he slurps up his morning pills before heading out.
Bear was a big help to me over the weekend. I have a bad back and was having incapacitiating nerve pain on Sunday. Since it was the weekend, I thought that I was destined to be miserable, until I remembered that I already had a stash of nerve pain meds on the farm. They were out in the tackroom! So, with Bear’s permission, I borrowed several of his pills to take a human sized dose of Neurontin – and paid him back on Monday when I could get to my own Dr. 
Jingles for good news today! What about a catheter to give you both a break from the oral meds?
Keeping fingers crossed for good news,
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