I've not been able to sleep much last night. As I put on the medical section of the forum, Little Un's arthritis is no longer fully controlled by his current vet prescribed meds.
Littles is on long term loan, I've had him about 5 years, I think this is the longest he's been in any home as he's been passed round as a companion having been a mercy buy from Wickham Fair some time ago. I've no loan agreement.
A thread on another forum about bute use long term has happened to have come up at the time as I'm needing the vet out for Little Un's arthritis. It didn't occur to me that long term use of bute on an elderly, otherwise happy, pony would be questioned. This is what has led me to start trying to compose a message to his owner. She knows I have him on a double dose of his meds as his arthritis is playing him up so this won't come as a bolt from the blue.
Please, let me know what you think. This is a hard time for me and I can't discuss it with my hubby as last week his doctor raised the question of end of life care of his father so having the same considerations about my pony isn't something I want to burden him with as its fascicle to him in comparison.
Just wanted to give you the heads up, Little Un's vet prescribed meds aren't controlling his arthritis symptoms now and he's intermittently lame despite me having doubled the dose for over a week (as per the instructions when he was first prescribed it and has been successful in the past). He's been on Equi 4S Joint at £86 a tub for nearly 2 years now i think, so not one of the cheap off the shelf remedies and he's assured of receiving every care I can afford to give to ensure he's kept comfortable. It's now reached the stage that I need to get the vet back out again to reassess him. He's still happy in himself at this stage with a good quality of life but is lame, finds it hard to roll and is obviously in pain at times which I don't feel is acceptable. How do you feel about bute as a longer term answer if that is what the vet suggests? I know it can cause liver damage but given his age my thoughts are that this isn't such a worry as he'll need to be on bute for a while to get to that stage. I have no experience of this side of keeping ponies and have never been so aware that he's not my pony. This does not affect my thoughts on his ongoing medical care, it's just that I'm keen to ensure I have agreement in where important welfare decisions are concerned. I really do feel its reached the stage where we need to have a chat about what is acceptable given the rate of progression of his arthritis and his advancing years as things will continue to deteriorate at some rate.
As I've always said, I stand by Little Un in his deteriorating health and advancing years and will continue to provide the best care I can for him but I would like to know your thoughts and feelings on ongoing management, and when to say enough is enough when that time does come as I would like him to see his time out with me if possible.
I certainly don't feel things are at that stage yet, unless his pain can't be managed, but I'd rather discuss things in advance before he deteriorates too that degree.
Please, let me know your thoughts.
Littles is on long term loan, I've had him about 5 years, I think this is the longest he's been in any home as he's been passed round as a companion having been a mercy buy from Wickham Fair some time ago. I've no loan agreement.
A thread on another forum about bute use long term has happened to have come up at the time as I'm needing the vet out for Little Un's arthritis. It didn't occur to me that long term use of bute on an elderly, otherwise happy, pony would be questioned. This is what has led me to start trying to compose a message to his owner. She knows I have him on a double dose of his meds as his arthritis is playing him up so this won't come as a bolt from the blue.
Please, let me know what you think. This is a hard time for me and I can't discuss it with my hubby as last week his doctor raised the question of end of life care of his father so having the same considerations about my pony isn't something I want to burden him with as its fascicle to him in comparison.
Just wanted to give you the heads up, Little Un's vet prescribed meds aren't controlling his arthritis symptoms now and he's intermittently lame despite me having doubled the dose for over a week (as per the instructions when he was first prescribed it and has been successful in the past). He's been on Equi 4S Joint at £86 a tub for nearly 2 years now i think, so not one of the cheap off the shelf remedies and he's assured of receiving every care I can afford to give to ensure he's kept comfortable. It's now reached the stage that I need to get the vet back out again to reassess him. He's still happy in himself at this stage with a good quality of life but is lame, finds it hard to roll and is obviously in pain at times which I don't feel is acceptable. How do you feel about bute as a longer term answer if that is what the vet suggests? I know it can cause liver damage but given his age my thoughts are that this isn't such a worry as he'll need to be on bute for a while to get to that stage. I have no experience of this side of keeping ponies and have never been so aware that he's not my pony. This does not affect my thoughts on his ongoing medical care, it's just that I'm keen to ensure I have agreement in where important welfare decisions are concerned. I really do feel its reached the stage where we need to have a chat about what is acceptable given the rate of progression of his arthritis and his advancing years as things will continue to deteriorate at some rate.
As I've always said, I stand by Little Un in his deteriorating health and advancing years and will continue to provide the best care I can for him but I would like to know your thoughts and feelings on ongoing management, and when to say enough is enough when that time does come as I would like him to see his time out with me if possible.
I certainly don't feel things are at that stage yet, unless his pain can't be managed, but I'd rather discuss things in advance before he deteriorates too that degree.
Please, let me know your thoughts.
