Euthanasia of arthritic horse?- I need some opinions

[akdraft77]

I am in your boat and I empathize.

I’ve have my paint for 15 years. He is 21, has been completely retired for 4 years with a knee injury/chronic lameness, mild recurrent laminitis (careful diet plan/farrier care in place), and is blind in one eye. He is my heart horse and I love him dearly.

He eats, holds weight fine, and has some good days and I am just not ready.

I know he is a good candidate for euthanasia, and none of them live forever. I also know he is not a candidate for treatments that will improve his condition. I have plans in place for help to do the deed when the time comes. Having the plan helps in some way. It means I don’t have to think about the hard things when it is time. I have already made hard decisions.

I watched my younger horses bully him a bit last night, so a plan is in the works to separate him tonight after work and, if his body is willing, give him a few last warm days of summer. I don’t think another winter is in his future.

I have heard it is better to do it a day early than too late, and there is a tremendous amount of wisdom in that. I had a horse lose a long, painful battle with colic in 2011. I deeply regret that I didn’t realize sooner that the end was inevitable. It’s just so damn hard to make that call, no matter what the circumstance is.

I can tell you that no matter what I will not be ready. That is the hardest part - letting go. It can also be the kindest thing we do for them.

[redheadedoner]

I just went through this with my bff of 33 years. He was 39. Bought him as a 7 year old who was just gelded 30 days prior, and lived on a big pasture with aherd. He was halter broke and that was it. He was a doc bar son,from when DB was standing in fallon NV .
I found him down and he couldnt get up. thankfully the vet came quickly and a few neighbors were able to get him up. My vet said, If it happens again I would have to start thinking about it being time to put my ol faithful Beau down. i knew she was right, however as we all know, it is such a hard decision to make,especially because he was my life & was being ridden up until the time he suffered the injury., when he tripped on a cable wire that was supposed to be buried by the cable company, and they didnt bury it. they said they would be out in a couple days to bury it and kept blowing me off despite i told them i had a senior horse and it needed to be done ASAP. they Assured me they would be there by end of the week,but blew me off even though i called every week at least 2-3 times, after they didnt show up as they promised… He was never the same after he tripped. He went down on to both knees hard tripping in the ditch they dug for the cable… He never layed down again, till the time i couldnt get him up. it happened again( him not being able to get up) 2 weeks later & had to make the painful choice of putting him down. It has been 3 months since he crossed the bridge and i cry daily. He was my life. He helped me raise 3 kids,go through a divorce, manage a blunt trama injury that left me disabled,so became my therapy horse. He took to the therapy training like a fly to poop. He walked with me,and was just always there for me. In the middle of the night when i couldnt sleep from pain, would go out and sit with him. Would hold on to his tail and he would walk me around. He truly was that once in a lifetime horse for me. wouldnt allow him to suffer anymore. Twice was enough. I am having a difficult time getting past the fact that IF they had buried that damn cable line when they assured me they were going to, he wouldnt have taken the fall and hurt his knees and would still be here with me, as he was healthy ,otherwise… The vet said he didnt think it was the fall. i asked him how he could say that when he was getting up and down just fine prior to the fall, was still being ridden lightly, was on 2 acres of land where he could come and go as he pleased, still ran around with my friend’s horse who stayed with him here, and had NEVER sustained an injury in his 33 years? Fact of the matter is, he couldnt say it with any assurance. Regardless,Am grateful for the 33 years together, all the lessons, laughter,and love he gave me. For his loyality, acceptance and friendship for lifetime. I love and miss you EVERY DAY ol mac daddy Beau. you were the BEST friend a girl could have! <3

[DinkyDonk]

You have to love them enough to let them go…

[RMJacobs]

@redheadedoner, if it hadn’t been the cable, it might have been something else very soon. I’m sorry for your loss. I lost my last horse in October, and I’m having a hard time being completely horseless. But I’ve become too disabled to take on another at this point in my life.

Rebecca

[4horses]

Try Naproxen or Aleve. My old mare was very lame even on Equioxx. As soon as i switched medications, she stood for the farrier, started trotting and cantering around and looking much happier! It has a long half life in horses. You may be able to go to every other day dosage. Works out to $10-$20 a month compared to $40 for equioxx.

My old mare has bad teeth but loves grazing and her feed bucket. It really is amazing how much a different pain medication can help. I mix the pills in her grain. Blue pills are great because you can tell if she drops any.

I was almost ready to have her pts, but now that she’s doing better, clearly i was mistaken in thinking this summer would be the end. She is a very stubborn and opinionated old thing. I love her to bits, so that is just as well.

[4horses]

This is an old thread, for those who didn’t realize! Like me.

[scrbear11]

It’s time.

Lameness at the walk is pain, not habit, not discomfort. Actual pain.

I had retirees for some time. A retiree boarder came to me after being retired from his career due to a “collapsed fetlock.” He had progressed to walking with a limp. He lived with me a year and a half. He gradually faded even though his limp never worsened. He lost his gusto for life… eating slower, stand-offish, dull eyes, no expression. His owner came and saw him, and she knew immediately. She just looked at him and knew. She had the vet come out to see him and take an X-ray, just to put her mind at ease. The vet called the bones in his fetlock joint glass, a catastrophic event was inevitable.

He passed peacefully and easily in lush grass on a beautiful summer day.

I no longer have a barn full of retirees. I have one last boarder, my own personal old man, and my two young horses. My old man is slowly loosing his luster. I know the time is approaching. But until his lackluster days outweigh his bright and happy days, I will keep doing what I need to do.

[DinkyDonk]

@4horses

Try Naproxen or Aleve. My old mare was very lame even on Equioxx. As soon as i switched medications, she stood for the farrier, started trotting and cantering around and looking much happier! It has a long half life in horses. You may be able to go to every other day dosage. Works out to $10-$20 a month compared to $40 for equioxx.

My old mare has bad teeth but loves grazing and her feed bucket. It really is amazing how much a different pain medication can help. I mix the pills in her grain. Blue pills are great because you can tell if she drops any.

I was almost ready to have her pts, but now that she’s doing better, clearly i was mistaken in thinking this summer would be the end. She is a very stubborn and opinionated old thing. I love her to bits, so that is just as well.

May I ask what your mare weighs, and what the dosage is? My arthritic gelding has been on daily Equioxx since August of 2016, and I’d love to have an option if the Equioxx quits working. Thanks

[Rider59]

I was in the same position 2 days ago with my 26 yr old rocky mountain horse. He had Cushing and severe laminitis to when we finally got his one foot up a day later he went down in his stall. He had basically stopped eating his grain which he was getting his equioxx and hylaronic acid and msm in and wasn’t drinking because he couldn’t get to the bucket. Tues he was trimmed, Wed night he went down. We got him up and he was so sweaty and exhausted. The vet came and we got him up and she gave him dmso iv and he managed to get up that night eat hay and drink a bucket of water. Thursday morning he drank some water and ate some hay but would not touch his grain. He then went and laid down. I don’t have a camera in my barn so I don’t know how long he was down. Thursday night he went down again. No grain or water. Friday morning he had moved and laid down in a new spot in the barn feet facing the wall. I managed to get him up and I went to town to find something in addition to help with his pain. I had an animal expert come out with me and when we got to the barn he had casted and had hit his eye and lip trying to get up that they were swollen. I got several people here and we hooked him up to a bobcat and pulled him out. I then blocked off his stall. I really didn’t think he would get up but he did and started eating grass and drank a bucket of water. He was standing for about a half hour while the vet and I talked. He said just looking at him he had Cushing and then he said he had swelling in his stifle which he has had issues with it locking in the past and he said he was foundered. He also said he had lost so much muscle mass that the pain he was feeling his cortisol was up that anything eat ate was being eaten up so he couldn’t keep weight on. I was going to put him on adequan for his arthritis but had to get the money for the shots. He wouldn’t come put of his stall but 2 times in 2 months. In 1 month is when I noticed the most wasting. So then Saturday I was going to get prascend and start him on it. That morning I came down and he was lying down and it was obvious he had been trying to get up but the slick grass was too much. He talked to me as I got to him. I did manage to get him up on my own but he only stayed standing for like 10 minutes and his back legs couldn’t hold him up. He went down on his knees and laid down. He actually then was lying at an angle downward that I thought he may get up but he was so exhausted he couldn’t and his tongue was dry and hanging out because if the swollen lip. I was so afraid of leaving him lying in the hot sun if I wasn’t here I called the vet. He came and I was a basket case. I asked him was there nothing we could give him for painthat would work quick to get up and continue so I could start him on prascend and he said no. I neglected to ask him about the adequan which is supposed to work in 2 hours. Usually the only reason he would lie still for a while is he would rest and try again. When he said there was nothing I was so freaked out that I forgot to ask that question before we put him to sleep which has been killing me since. I’ve had him since he was a baby. I just can’t stop questioning if I made the right choice. I didn’t want to see him suffer anymore. He did say that with his heart rate abd respirations elevated that he wouldn’t make a week to 10 days for the prascend to kick in before he died on his own and got sores.

[goodhors]

@Rider59, you should not kick yourself for not asking about other meds. Vet has experience with horses issues. If your horse could have benefitted from different meds they would have said so. Your descriptions sound like you should have let him go sooner, which is also hard to decide because you don’t want to lose them.

But keeping a horse going is for the OWNER, not often beneficial to the horse who struggles daily with pain and limitations in his movement. Not a kindness to horse.

We have had to choose to let them go here. Aged, in pain, no meds or “magic shoes” helping anymore. Struggle to get up or afraid to lay down, means it is time. We have hard winters, so letting horse go to avoid possible winter problems is also kind. None of mine are going to be found down on ice or snow, unable to rise!

ALWAYS better too soon than too late, frightened or in even more pain.

You did good to let him go, listened to the Vet when they said “It is time.” Don’t kick yourself any more. This was the best choice for the horse, no fixing his issues. This is what good owners do, make the hard decisions.

[Rider59]

I just thought it was strange he went down a day after a trim of the sore foot because he was standing the day of the trim and his pain from his arthritis was being maintained with equioxx. I’m really trying not to kick myself over and over. It’s not easy. There are so many times I wish I didn’t get so attached to my animals.

[BowPonies]

If it were my horse, based on what you described, I would let him go on a nice day this fall before winter hits. I would rather let mine go when they are feeling okay vs waiting until they can no longer get up or stop enjoying any little bit of life completely.

Edit - didn’t realize it was a thread from 2019 that had been revived.

[goodhors]

@Rider59, Probably a combination of factors, not just the trim. If horse was needing help, “making” him get up, it was time to let him go then. Listing his issues, he was MORE than ready to go, everything failing. Stronger pain meds were not going to help him. Money was better spent on euthanasia.

We do love them too much, but not letting them suffer is part of good horsekeeping.

[dacasodivine]

I was faced with this situation just shy of 2 years ago. My horse was 31. On her 31st birthday, she was able to run and strut around as only an Arabian can. 4 months later arthritis in her shoulder and stifle had become so bad she couldn’t walk a straight line. As she was shifting her weight onto her “good” leg, that pastern had collapsed. She looked fabulous in ever other way. After a visit with the vet, the decision was made to give her meds for 2 weeks then let her go. She was able to trot a bit again and really seemed to enjoy those last 2 weeks.

It was a very hard decision but not one I regret other than I should let her go sooner. I kept trying joint supplements and more bute, etc.

Don’t wait until they are so miserable they hate life. Let them go still loving - or at least liking life.

[dacasodivine]

@FindersKeepers

I promise you this from my experience, making the decision is far harder than the actual act. I agonized for at least 2 years wondering “is it time” and waiting for a call that she couldn’t get up. There are at least 5 posts of my own on here looking for the same advice you are now. Calling my vet and putting it on the books lifted a HUGE weight off my shoulders. The relief was unbelievable, because as sad as it is to say goodbye, it is not even close to what watching them in pain each day does to your soul.

The above is very true. Just making the call even once I made the decision was hard. But once the date was set, there was some relief just having that done.

My vet does a 3 shot Euth. The first makes them sleepy. The second puts them to sleep. And the last…

I left after shot number 2 but that was my decision. I couldn’t watch her stop breathing but wanted to be there as long as she was awake so she knew I was with her.

[dacasodivine]

I had no idea this thread was so old when I responded. But it’s possibly perfect timing for someone facing this decision.