I know right! You’d think they would have something developed as a tracer. After Teddy cleaned himself out after his surgery we were so worried when we saw him two days post surgery and there was no poop in his stall at the clinic! The tech said not to worry, he had cleaned himself out and he was eating a handful of hay at a time. It would take a while to get back to “normal”. Plus he is not a good eater away from home, so he just didn’t have much to pass till really the following week after he was home. 6 weeks out and I’m still inspecting his piles!
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The mineral oil that they use can let them know if things are going thru.
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I asked the vet about that! She said it just depends on how much they absorb or how much just soaks into the poop balls, and how much is used in the water they tube down their nose. He got one dose of water and mineral oil at 10am yesterday. I just talked to them, he has pooped 4x so far today and can go home yay! But… no oil has come out with it.
I guess if they use a good amount of oil you could see it, or what if the oil is just making its way thru and around, like if you take a jar of stones and poured water around them? The first part of the poop closest to his rectum would come out and have oil on it, but the poop at the end of the intestine still could take awhile to work it’s way out. It’s that last poop that I wish would be colored so I could know how long that individual ‘food dyed fecal ball’ took to come out.
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Is there a follow up thread I am missing? Hoping for the best for Sweetie and your gelding.
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No sorry Ive been either in the barn or at work pretty much nonstop since saturday night. Waiting on Sweeties bloodwork to come back. We decided to try the tridex every other day instead of daily, and she is starting to swell again 
. Still eating good though.
Pony came home tuesday, got his second exceed injection this morning. He is on ulcergard daily and a half dose of banamine paste 2x daily. Has decided he does not want to deal with haynets anymore and refuses to eat much at all out of them so I am soaking and feeding his hay normal for now. He is still not drinking much, even with me putting pink salt on his soaked feed. He is finally pooping somewhat normal again. The count from last night till now is 9 smaller piles, better than I was expecting it to go.
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It works for sanitary sewers. I wonder what kind wouldn’t just be digested away that also wouldn’t kill the horse.
I thought that was the main purpose of mineral oil though, to mark clear passage. .
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Food coloring? I was thinking along the lines of, when my daughter eats blueberries or drinks alot of blue juice, her poop…yes gross but its a mom thing to know…turns neon green! The first time it happened I freaked n called her doctor n he just asked a few questions, then laughed and laughed n explained it to me… or what if their hay was soaked in water and food coloring? Idk it was just a fun idea even if there is not a good way to do it. Thought that counts I guess lol. “Science”
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From my vet this morning:
Hi Liz! Sorry, I was out sick all day yesterday.
Sweetie’s bloodwork did come back. It’s very minimally improved from last month. She’s still mildly anemic and quite low on albumin. I’m more convinced that her heart isn’t her problem. I was hoping her albumin levels would improve now that her diarrhea is managed, but that hasn’t happened. So, if she isn’t losing albumin through her gut, her body isn’t making it or is destroying it. She also still has high globulin levels (immune proteins), which I originally thought might be related to her diarrhea, but with that cleared up and her globulin still being high it must be coming from something else. Unfortunately, the most likely explanations I can come up with now are either cancer or chronic liver disease. I plan to discuss the results again with Dr. D&$;%& and see if he has any other thoughts.
My response:
Oh shoot I’m so sorry are you ok?! I didnt mean to bug you on a sick day I hope you are feeling better!! If it is a cancer or something that could shut her down out of the blue quickly god forbid on a frozen day or she could be in pain from, or inhibit her from gaining weight and the swelling is just going to keep happening… well I would rather be realistic and give her one really good day before she has a really bad one. Just let me know after you and dr. D$/;$#&= talk please, and rest if you still need it!!! 
She texted back:
If it is cancer or chronic liver failure, it’s likely been going on for quite a while and either would explain her weight loss and the swelling. So, I agree, I don’t think she’s going to get better unfortunately.
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I’m so sorry to hear about this prognosis. Hugs for you and treats for Sweetie.
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I’m sorry. Your vet is a gem.
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I am so sorry to hear this. Sending you and Sweetie hugs! Regardless, you have given her a soft landing and she is lucky to have you… even if it’s for shorter than we’d all hoped. 
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Aw, bad news, but bad news was not unexpected. Has she put on a bit more weight?
It’s easy for me to say since I’m not paying the bills, but do you think it might be worth it to give her another month, see if there is a noticeable weight gain, and check blood again? Of course you will go with what the vet recommends, and I am not saying to prolong her life if it is only downhill from here. I was hoping for better news.
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Sorry about those grim news.
About 50+ years ago the riding center I was in had one 17 year old school mare that kept losing weight and her pretty sorrel coat was coming in for winter yellowish, but no swelling.
Vet finally could determine it was her liver and they decided to go ahead and euthanize, for her own quality of life, as it was going downhill fast and she would crash and be suffering if let it to run its course.
Ask your vet if and when she may be there, if you have to go there.
Some times, “better too soon than too late”. 
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I am very sorry to hear the bad news about Sweetie. Jingling and praying for her and for you and Spirit.
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So sorry for the vet report.
Is the Lasix helping with her breathing at all?
As long as she is eating , drinking and pooping normally I wouldn’t be inclined to rush into a decision. Any decline there would be easy to notice as things may change.
It would be the difficulty breathing that worries me the most as it could become very bad when nobody is around. Not at all what you hoped for going in but she is sure living the good life at the moment with all your good food, care and love.
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@lenapesadie, @erinmeri , @Rackonteur & @endlessclimb thank you, it just sucks…
@atr I really like her, she’s been so great with us!!
@PeteyPie & @candyappy, between her issues, she has not really gained anything much, this week she has decided to stop drinking much at all, not finishing her mashes, walked away from her grain this afternoon at lunch to go pick at the field, the tridex, the bloodwork, tooth pulling, and then my pony’s hospital stay, AND my decision to probably treat him for ulcers, I am about tapped out. Plus she is 30, so nothing is going to get much better/things could only get worse at her age and her blood levels : (. Not to mention that it is already going down into the 20’s here at night and she is still skin and bones, unfortunately another month would not be a good decision. If she went down, collapsed, anything where my burial guy was out of town or couldn’t make it out for a day and heaven forbid my daughter had to see/know that mommy had to go cover up the dead horse, knowing we have neighbors with outdoor cats & dogs, we have coyotes here n there… I don’t want to worry about desecration of her while waiting to get her buried. Or if I had to go put straps on her to drag her somewhere after she passed, or to get her under shelter till the vet could get there, in these temps and the winds… my daughter is 9 going on 16, so of course she would want to ‘peek’ and then be able to tell her friends about it… she doesn’t need to see that, the mare doesn’t need to be down and go thru that and I don’t need the stress, the worry about the ground being really hard to try to dig, well harder than it is now… etc etc…
@Bluey thank you! I am waiting to hear back from vet after she talks to the other vet she works with whom I’ve used plenty of times, he actually was the one who put my heart mare down in 2019, and a senior who lived out his retirement with my pony until June of this year. I am thinking either this weekend while my daughter is at her friends for a birthday sleepover, or Wednesday while she is at grandma’s since I have to work Wed and she’s off school. Really hoping if that is the route we are going to go that we can get it done sooner rather than a day too late, been there done that before, never again. That crash and suffer is one of my biggest worries with her now.
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Sounds like you’re being practical, and, really, not surprised. You fought the good fight and, probably, learned a TON, as did we following your articulate and nail-biting Saga. Your vet sounds Wonderful, too. Hugs, of course, and jingles that all goes as well as it could. Sigh…
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So sorry to hear of the grim outlook @carman_liz
Bless you for all you’ve done, you truly are who she was meant to be with at this time. If and when Sweetie is to gain her wings, she has been cherished and will depart a much loved soul.
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I’m sorry it turned out this way. You gave an old lady a good ending. You did a good thing.
Jingles and hugs.
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