What would you do (kindness please)?

[Lunabear1988]

Currently not riding but family thinks it will help my mental health to ride a little. But yeah I think it’s mild. I just tend to like to do top care but circumstances change. But yeah I think he’s probably like a 1 or 1.5 lameness wise. I can’t afford top care. I’m talking like stem cell type stuff.MRI’s. Ain’t happening. A steroid? Sure.

But he’s still on the list to be evaluated for the study with CSU. Fingers crossed. That’s a two for one. He helps further knowledge on stifle issues and I get some free vet care.

But certainly I think just leaving him be a few months or trying Estrone are all real and easy options.

[mmeqcenter]

Well, since the original question was “What would you do?” I would…

• send horse to pasture board somewhere for the time being, to save money and see if Dr. Green can help those stifles.
• (Flame suit on) I would either go to pain management or euthanasia for the dog having so many health issues.
• look into debt consolidation via a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) to reduce monthly payment obligations
• get a few quotes on roof repair instead of replacement. if not possible…
• get new roof with financing (or the HELOC)
• get a second part-time job or switch to a full-time job, or do some Ubering/Instacart to bring in extra money
• IDK how old your kiddo is or the reasons she needs braces, but I know many people these days are realizing we’ve been putting braces on kids way too early and it has caused a big uptick in jaw issues such as TMJ as adults. I’d hold off on the braces for several years, if it’s not something urgent
• order contacts online, you can always Google the cheapest places that are having sales and stuff, I usually get my contacts for like 40% of what the optometrist charges. And just order one box for now, you don’t have to order a whole year at a time. Also, IDK what kind of contacts your kid has and if it’s even possible to switch, but switching brands or type can save money. For instance, monthlies are much cheaper than dailies, even significantly cheaper than bi-weeklies.
• get tires, put them on a credit card or HELOC. Some shops even offer discounts (10-25%) plus zero percent financing if you open a credit card with them (Goodyear is one, I think).

[Lunabear1988]

Thank you! Horse is hanging out still but CSU is considering him to be a part of a study regarding stifles (nothing crazy just studying prostride vs steroids, he will just trailer up a few times in 6 months for rechecks, at no cost to me.) But if not he can hang out.

Luckily the dog doesn’t seem to be ill-just accident prone/unlucky. But with new diet he’s still doing good.

Good point on the braces. I personally feel mine WERE put on too early and I do have jaw issues…lol. I will definitely get a few orthodontist / dentist opinions before making that leap. She is so small still.

Thankfully as of now we have most of the roof saved up in the savings account. So if nothing catastrophic happens before then we should be good there.

We got new tires through a friend’s shop. They were an off-brand so we got a good deal on them.

Unfortunately she needs a very specific type of contact for her eyesight. It’s not forever, just the next year. Then she can wear glasses full time again. She hates contacts But these are supposed to slow down the progression.

Just taking things as they come. Relaxing some standards too… I appreciate all the input.

[mmeqcenter]

Glad you’re feeling better about it all!
I don’t understand how all these youngsters hate contacts so much. My oldest nephew refuses to wear them. I’ve always hated wearing glasses, and I started wearing contacts in 3rd grade.

[RMJacobs]

If you don’t mind saying, where are you located? I’m in Fort Collins.

Rebecca

[OnAMission]

Thank you! I’ll stop noticing tires for you now! Congrats on feeling the progress!

[Lunabear1988]

Near Longmont.

[Lunabear1988]

Well rode my horse today. It’s been months. Trainer hopped on first. We mostly walked but a little trot. He looked good but we will see how that progresses. Maybe we can strengthen him after all. Stifles are SO up and down.

[RMJacobs]

OK, you’re not too far from me. I was curious when you were talking about trailering to CSU.

Best of luck getting your horse sorted out!

Rebecca

[Lunabear1988]

Not sure yet. My vet has to do a nerve block next week (she’s coming for vaccines anyway.) Then if he fits the criteria, I’m assuming sometime in the next month?

[exvet]

Good luck. I hope it all works out. Certainly would be helpful research for many cases.

[Angela_Freda]

Check out tire rack dot com for tires.

[Bogie]

@MunchingonHay

If a dog is allergic to chicken, the possiblity of the dog being reactive to vension and lamb are high too.

I have a cat that is allergic to chicken and fish. He has projectile diarrhea when he gets the wrong food and he was in a lot of pain. What finally helped him was moving to novel proteins (he does well on rabbit and wild boar) and adding pumpkin to his meals (vet suggested it). That’s been a life saver for him. The vet told me the chronic inflammation could lead to cancer if we didn’t find a food he could tolerate. I feed Farmina cat food which is expensive, but not as bad as prescription diets. They make dog foods, too.

[MunchingonHay]

That is awesome! Rabbit and boar (pig) are perfect examples of the Hot and Cold diets of Trad. Chinese Med. Rabbit, pig, beef,…etc are cooling / neutral foods while salmon and chicken are hot foods. You want to find out what energy your pet is, my dog was a “hot dog” so he needed the opposite, cooling/cold foods.

[Bogie]

I had never heard of hot/cold foods and pets but I can say that my cat is now thriving. He gained weight, he stopped pulling his hair out, and he no longer has diarrhea. The vet was shocked at how much better he is.

[MunchingonHay]

@Bogie

I had never heard of hot/cold foods and pets

Its Traditional Chinese Medicine. Its all about balance and the 5 elements. There is a lot of info online.

I have been feeding my pets this way for over 10 yrs and ran my dog treat business with this in mind.

[Angela_Freda]

Yes, my diabetic cat needed a novel protein for a while so he got Dave’s brand pork pate and did very well on it.

[Lunabear1988]

Well the horse didn’t qualify for the CSU study… Because he was diagnosed with kissing spine. Just one spot affected. He just flexed really weird and it seems like the lameness would switch from right to left. He had some mild soreness in his lower back. I had already been getting quotes about neck and back x-rays as I kind of suspected It was something big like that But he had no naughty behaviors under saddle or even being groomed or tacked up. But he was always kind of just shuffling around if given the choice. So I’m not surprised. My vet is hopeful with doing the conservative treatments that he will actually feel a lot better but it’s nice to know we have other treatments way down the line that we can try to.

Bummer. It’s definitely been a hard year but I’m hopeful. I’m thankful that I already own an equiband.