I thought it was about time I blogged about Chesney as quite
a bit has been going on with him recently! Ches is 20 years old and has always been a
good doer, tending on the fat side! It
has always been difficult keeping the weight off him as he has a tendency to
just jump into the side of the field with the most grass. If he doesn't jump he gets under the electric
fence somehow!
Over the last couple of months he has been losing weight and
this was not a bad thing - he was on the fat side. However, he is continuing to lose weight and
now is looking too thin so about 3 weeks ago he had a blood test. The results were not very helpful, he is a little anaemic and showed slight
inflammation in his intestines but that was about all they showed. He has had clear worm counts throughout this
year but the vet suggested I worm him to make sure that is not the problem and
I have purchased an iron supplement . I
have already been increasing his feed and giving him sugarbeet and as much hay
as he can eat. I am now going to try
adding some oil too. He is having a
further test this week to see if there is any change. So I will let you know the results when I get
them.
On top of this last
weekend he injured himself somehow in the field. I am guessing that he slipped as he seems to
have strained his near hind perhaps in the stifle area. Now, Chesney is very 'Gung ho' about pain and
injury! It takes a lot to make him
think..... when he was 6 he had quite a nasty foot abscess and was not at all
lame. In some ways this is good as he
doesn't make a huge fuss like Basil but the down side is that he thinks he can
just keep on going. This means that he
won't be sensible and stay still to rest it.
I decided that rather than call the vet right away I would
try and rest him for a few days first. As
I am sure that is what they would suggest anyway. So he
is on box rest. I had some
Phenylbutazone (an anti-inflammatory and pain reliever) so have been giving him
small doses to make him a little more comfortable. Unfortunately, box resting Chesney also means
the same for Basil and Fidget as Ches gets very upset if they go anywhere
without him. I am managing to let them
out into a small section of the field by the stables for about 45 minutes
morning and night to stretch their legs and potter about. I think he is looking a little bit better
this morning but still think that I will have to get the vet out tomorrow!
I hope that this now (with Fidget's ROA) makes 3 things and
we will be back on track soon!
Please check it out and SUBSCRIBE.
You can also follow me on Facebook for updates on Chesney, Basil, Fidget and Daisy.
Until next time!
Jo
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