Jan 4 2016 at Pilchuck
Anakin continues to make progress in many important ways. He’s slowly gaining weight–topping the scales at 856 lbs at yesterday’s weigh in — and his appetite remains hearty. He’s drinking plenty of water, passing manure, and his protein levels seem to have stabilized. He did appear to have a mild episode of colic over the holiday weekend, but after a dose of banamine, he seemed fine again. He’s getting outside for short walks with the help of Pilchuck vet techs, which has got to be nice for him after so many weeks of stall rest. His attitude remains reasonably positive, and his behavior is, as always, perfect.
But there is one area in which he is not making progress…and that is his ability to stand up unaided.
Anakin has been at PIlchuck for nearly two weeks now, and he’s established a pretty steady routine. He’ll spend most of the day on his feet — eating, mostly — then typically around 4am, he will lie down in his stall for a nap. When he is down, he can easily shift between lying flat out on his side and rolling up onto his sternum. The staff will let him stay down for about 6 hours, before using the hoist to get him back on his feet. Occasionally, he will make an attempt to stand by himself, but he’s still not able to get enough push from his back legs to lift his hindquarters. However, even with the help of the hoist, he will often make no attempt to participate in the process, preferring to let himself be deadlifted off the ground until he can be persuaded to straighten his legs and stand. It’s as if he knows he can’t get up so he doesn’t even want to try.
Dec 30 2015 at Pilchuck
The reality of Anakin’s situation is this: he is a 20 year old horse who has been through a horrific amount of neglect and starvation. We know that he is still very weak, and that he has very little muscle in his hind legs, even now, four weeks after rescue. What we don’t know is what else is going on in those legs. It is certainly likely at his age that he has at least some arthritis. Perhaps attempting to stand is causing him pain? He’s now getting a daily dose of Bute for pain relief in hopes that might help him, but so far, it’s not making much of a difference. And we will have to look at bloodwork again midweek to make certain that his kidneys are handling this medication okay.
All this is costing a lot of money, as you can guess, and we are just so grateful to everyone who donated in Anakin’s name and made it possible for him to get this level of care. Keep thinking good thoughts for him, and we hope the next update will be a better one!
C’mon Ani! You can do this!
Hang in there Anakin, you have a future of love ahead of you. Keep up the great care Pilchuk!! Agree, he will need some muscles to get himself up. What is the plan for that?
Anakin spent his entire life working for humans, as both a racehorse and a research animal at a university. It is so wonderful to know there is someone now taking care of him — thank you for all that you do
Hi…this is a sad yet heartwarming story!! I wanted to ask you if you have used a product called cosequin. It is a supplement for joints and inflammation in animals with similar products available for humans. There also is a product called Dr Willards water. It has the ability to enable our bodies to derive more benefit from the medicines and supplements we take. I buy my cat food from a lady who has a small natural pet food shop on her rural property. She has a horse that is 35+ yrs old. Her other horse recently died and that one was 37yrs old. She had a small pony that they rescued and the vet said it was over 40 yrs old. They took care of it for another decade. Also DMSO is especially for animals as a joint and muscle salve. These things could cost less than expensive medications w/o adverse side effects. I hope you are not offended…I’m just trying to look at it from ‘outside the box’. Wishing you great success with all your animals!!