Fingers crossed, LH.
Great news! Remember, narcotics can make humans not want to eat. Is it the same for horses?
Come on BearBear.
Yeah! That’s an effect in the right direction.
[QUOTE=ben4me;7980462]
Great news! Remember, narcotics can make humans not want to eat. Is it the same for horses?[/QUOTE]
If he’s not on a continuous infusion (which it doesn’t sound like), he’s probably getting torb with xylazine (xylazine is required or they get hyperexcited). Technically not a narcotic, but we commonly call it the horse narcotic. It’s a powerful pain medication with limited side effects when used properly and usually helps a painful horse’s appetite improve. One clinic I worked at liked torb and ketamine in a continuous drip to stabilize really painful horses such as fractures and certain post-op patients.
Best wishes OP! Glad to hear your horse is heading in the right direction.
Sending jingles to Bear.
Morning report: They are going to back down on his dose of Butorphanol from 15mg 4x/day to 10mg/ 4x/day to see if he can handle the pain on the lesser amount. (That seems like a lot of narcotic pain med – is it?). He is also getting 5mg or (cc?) 2x/day of Banamine and Gastroguard and one other drug.
His heart rate is down and he ate a little overnight.
The bad news is that, in the first 4 days he was there, he lost 84 pounds. 
He will be going outside to graze again today.
The surgeon is not there today, but Bear’s intern is and will be calling me this afternoon.
I am going to talk to my vet here to find out if he thinks I can manage all his meds at home.
Thanks for reading. It helps me to write this stuff down so I look back each day to see which way he is heading.
I’m checking in and sending good vibes!
Wednesday Jingles for a good grazing day for Bear ~
Wednesday Jingles & AO for a good grazing day for Bear ~
((hugs)) laced with extra strength and patience for his owner ~
Jingle Jingle Jingle & AO ~ AO ~ AO ~ Always Optimistic ~
I just now saw this thread, LH… Massive jingles for Bear from Massachusetts!!!
Jingles for Bear!
Just talked to my vet. He is optimistc about Bear’s recovery. Given his age and the severity of the fracture he thinks that Bear is on an upward trend. He is going to talk to the surgeon tomorrow and then will call me back so he can interpret the data that NC State is giving me.
However, he does think that Friday is possibly too soon to expect him to come home. Since he is just beginning to be weaned off the Torbugesic (= Butorphanol) the doctors will need several days to see if his pain can be managed with just the Banamine. So it looks like Monday is probably a more realistic goal for springing him from the hospital.
I am glad I talked to him. I feel like I have taken a step back from the edge of a cliff.
Jingling from the PNW for Bear! I’ve been following this thread and am glad you have some good news and a plan. I always feel better with a plan in hand and people to share with. Go, Bear! Eat and feel better!!
So, OP, could you PM us warmbloods your paypal addy so we can send a dribble towards those massive vet bills? (We know how much those big bags of fluids cost via IV lines at the hospital. We’ve been there for different things.)
Continued jingles for everyone involved.
WWW, I am almost crying (I have been doing a lot of that lately) reading your post. Aren’t you and the rest of the COTH family wonderful to even think of that, much less post it. You are so thoughtful and I thank you very much for the offer.
But, no, I will not be PM’ing anyone so they can help with Bear’s hospital costs. Bear has eaten up my horse show account, but that’s OK. On balance, there was no question as to where that money went. Go to a horse show v. save Bear’s life. Hmmmmm.
Although I plan to tell him that now he has to live until he is 35 so he can enjoy his new mouth. 
I’m pulling for you and Bear - keep us updated, as I keep clicking on this thread…to find out how he is.
Come on Bear.
Jingles for Bear and hugs for you Lord Helpus.
Addressing your previous question, the normal dose of Torb (butorphanol) starts at .5 CC for a thousand pound horse in mild pain and 1cc (10mg) is still reasonable. Low dose banamine (usually 3cc/1000lbs) is given to prevent founder from endotoxins. When there is infection present producing endotoxins, it can be life saving.
Morning update: Nothing new from yesterday. Heart rate is good but basically he is not eating. Sporadic nibbling but no real eating.
I am frustrated, because there are 3 different people involved in his care and I am getting conflicting reports from each.
When the culture was taken, I was told it would be read on Tuesday. Last night the results were still not in and now the new date for results is Friday. Huh?
I was also told that his pain meds were being decreased starting yesterday. Now I find out that the first smaller dose will be given this morning. So, by tomorrow (Fri) he will still be on a 2/3rds of full dose and no one will know if he can maintain his own pain control without the Torb.
I was told that he had been passing manure, but this morning I find out that he hasn’t pooped in 2 days (“because he has not been eating, so there is nothing to pass”). I found this out because the vet tech who does his morning exam said that he had passed a small amount of manure — which she said was a good sign. Huh? That was the first time I had heard he wasn’t pooping.
And the first I heard of his high heart rate (in the 60’s) was only once it had come down into the 40’s again.
Bottom line – I do not like only hearing the good things. I want a full picture of how he is doing. I plan to tell that to the Dr. tonight.
Now that I am putting the pieces together, I realize that he has been even sicker than I had thought.
Bottom line - I have agreed to leave him there until Monday. I can bring a horse with problems home (like an infection which needs antibiotics, or a horse who is not eating well – however he is a horse who is not eating at all); I cannot deal with how sick he still is.
It is costing $300/day to have him there, plus the cost of any procedures. So “through the weekend” means another $1000. However, since there is very slow improvement, I have to stick with it.
I am beginning to resent the position I have been put in – and that is not an emotion I am proud of.
