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I noticed right away that she was losing some sight in her left eye, but the other one was working fine. So she has been a little bit blind- she was still getting along pretty well.
Then about three months ago I noticed her blind eye was sinking in- uh oh! Tha'noagood!
She followed her red mare buddy around the ten acres I am able to keep her on, but all of a sudden she wasn't following so closely, and she was getting lost. I even had to hike the hill to find her on more than one occasion.
Those hills are steep!
But she was still getting down the hill to eat, and up the hill to find water.
But in the last week her eyesight seems to have completly vanished. She noses along the ground to find her way- but what is worse, she is not able to find her food or water with out help.
And she's bumping into the fences.
So though she is only twenty something- I think it will soon be time to send her over the rainbow bridge.
The hills here are trecherous- even for a sighted horse, and the fact that she seems lost a lot of the time tells me that her brain isn't functioning as it should either.
I've gone through this before- with my good mare China. She had uvitius for about seven years before it finally affected her brain and I had to put her down. She was no longer safe to be around and she was dangerous to herself as well.
A lot of people would sell their horses to a kill buyer, or a horse broker (same thing) about this time. A litnany of excuses would follow- " I can't bear to see her suffer." or " I just can't be the one to end her life." or
"Maybe someone else can fix her, keep her till she dies of old age, etc."
You know I wouldn't do that.
On Monday I will call my vet and see what he has to say.
I am preparing myself .
On the upside- I am glad I was able to give her a home in a safe place with lots of pets and food. I'm glad my niece will know what happened to her- and that she was protected and loved until the end of her life. I hope this will serve as a reminder to those of you out there that have old horses not to send them to the auction or sell them to just anyone- but to end their lives in as humane a way as possible. They deserve an honorable ending.
So no tears for us~ just go out and love on your own ponies. I'll keep you all posted.
5 comments:
Poor thing. I agree with you that it's about time to send her over the Rainbow Bridge. She's lucky to have had you and your love for the last two years of her life. I hope that when the time comes for me to help Estes across that I can do it with dignity and know that it's the right thing to do. Her previous owner only sold her to me because she knew that I would keep her the remainer of her days (which I hope will actually be years) and love her each and every day.
Bless you for taking such good care of her for the time she's had left. I've been there and done that with uveitis, and I know what a rough battle it is. It's been 10 years since I sent my blind Appy to the bridge, and I still miss her.
You have given her a great last couple years. My thoughts are that they really dont understand what has gone wrong, and they shouldnt have to suffer.
Its a hard descision that I may be having to make in the next few years, I have 21 and 25 year old, the 25 year old is in much better shape than the younger mare who has artheritis now and balooned knees. The descision is a hard one.
Always a tough decision to make, but necessary. You've given her a great retirement and are going to follow thru all the way to the end. I think that's the absolute best a person can do for their old horse. Hugs going out to you...
Ahh, good for you for doing the kind thing. You're making me snivel girlfriend. And more importantly good for you for giving her several good years.
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