I wanted update everyone on Lady Joyfull "Ellie". She has been through a lot since her arrival stateside and to us in Mass. First I need to give a heartfelt thank you to Kelly Amanda Stobie of CTA for giving Ellie a soft landing after coming off the track, and to Stephanie Cowser for never giving up on this mare. The networking and Herculean efforts by these two women, to be a voice for Ellie and get her back home, is just incredible.
I also want to say that what this horse has endured is just mind boggling. She has raced 125 times, and should have retired well before that. Some horses have it in them, Liz and I have had several war horses, one with 150 starts that had plenty more "give", one with114 starts with minimal blemishes, and currently have one with 102 starts that is a Stakes winner and was beat by a nose at the wire in his last race. I don't think there is anything more athletic or beautiful than a racehorse in full flight. They are elite competitors. There are also those that are equally as beautiful and have the heart, but not the ability to compete, and if responsibly retired, can go on to have amazing second careers. Ellie did what was asked of her and tried her best, but really didn't have it in her, yet continued to be raced. She left Finger Lakes in July of 2016 after racing with a speed figure of 25, she was sent to Puerto Rico, her highest speed figure ever in PR was in 2016 with a 78, 2018 an 8, in 2019 a 12, in 2020 a 12, in 2021 a 9, and her last race on April 9, 2022 a 42. This horse has been begging for retirement. Thankfully Stephanie and Kelly were there to advocate for her.
Ellie is a tough mare, a true war horse who endured a boat ride to PR, Hurricane Maria in 2017, a heavy racing schedule, QT, a plane ride to FL, layover, and then a long trek up the East Coast to Liz and I. We hope that toughness can help her beat the battle she is in now. It goes without saying that everything that goes into a horse affects them one way or another. Even "beneficial" medications and supplements are not without effect.
Here is her update:
Ellie arrived on 6/3/22, she settled in well, we started with hay and alfalfa and small amounts of grain as her body score was poor.
6/8/22 - she spiked a fever of 105.4, vet was called and Dr. Calitri was at the farm within 45 minutes, I cold hosed her legs and feet hoping to ward off any laminitis, and we were thinking most likely shipping fever. She had labs drawn -CBC, chem, SAA, we did a full nasal swab respiratory panel, and a full tick panel in the event of anaplasmosis or lyme, she had a rectal done to rule out an intestinal twist/colic, had a fecal sample taken, she got a dose of Excede.
I remained in constant communication with the vet clinic over the next several days and weekend. She got a second dose of Excede on Sunday. She continued to spike intermittent high fevers managed with shade, cold hosing and Banamine orally. Her nasal swab came back primarily neg, one was inconclusive, tick panel neg, her labs were very concerning as the SAA was quite elevated and her liver "numbers" were very high. The vets began consulting with Tufts Large Animal Hospital internal medicine ( it is a veterinary school teaching hospital 45 minutes from our farm )
6/14/22 - still not improving, at this point not interested in eating, Dr. Catalano was out late afternoon, drew more labs, CBC, chem, SAA, and a full liver panel, did another respiratory nasal swab panel, collected manure for a fecal panel looking for infectious disease, and a fever of "unknown origin" blood panel, did an abdominal scan and found an enlarged spleen ( can be very common in recently raced horses/ race horses in general ) but her liver was enlarged as well, started an IV catheter and ran 20L of IV fluids over the next 4 hours ( lactated ringers ), this was an extremely difficult process, Ellie has been injected so many times the vein on her left neck is unusable, the vein on her right neck has about an inch and a half of "usable" vein, and she is petrified of needles, my vet was now very concerned for cholangiohepatitis, I will post some links in comments as regards to this. She was started on different antibiotics, Baytrill and Naxcell.
Wed 6/15/22 - scheduled an appointment with Tufts for a liver/abdominal ultrasound and needle biopsy for Friday 6/17/22, mid morning get a call from Dr. Catalano, her liver values are quadruple what they should be, Tufts wanted her immediately. Liz and I hooked up the truck and trailer and got her up there for an emergency admit, because we had a lot of "infectious disease" labs still pending, she went into an isolation stall.
The Team at Tufts opted to not use her small spot of "usable" neck vein due to the size of the catheter and duration it would need to be patent for, they sedated her and inserted a left lateral thoracic catheter ( the vein behind the elbow )
6/16/22 - they ran a coagulation panel and she was cleared for the ultrasound and liver biopsy, she continued on IV antibiotics and fluids.
She remained in the isolation stall, on IV fluids and antibiotics. They ran serial labs and kept in constant communication with myself and Dr. Catalano. I visited her on Friday 6/17/22, she seemed in better sprits, I will post some pictures in comments.
She was discharged to home on 6/23/22.
Ellie's infectious disease panels thankfully were all negative. However, she is a very ill horse. Her diagnosis confirmed by biopsy is chronic cholangiohepatits ( Dr. Catalano was spot on ), also periductal fibrosis, she had experienced an acute episode of her chronic liver disease. Horses do not have a gall bladder, their bile duct empties into the duodenum, it is a "one way" valve, because of her fibrosis the valve does not function as it should due to damage, intestinal content can back up causing blockage and secondary infection. Cholangiohepatitis can also be caused by a number of external factors introduced into the body. Ellie was also found ( on biopsy and in serum ) to have Equine Hepacivirus ( EqHV )and Equine Parvovirus, it is a bloodborne disease and not contagious as parvo virus is in dogs. I also have a link for this to be posted in comments as well.
Ellie needs a very specific low protein, low fat diet, she continues on Baytrill and Dr. Catalano will be out this week to draw more labs, she will be on a drug called Ursodiol daily for the rest of her life, it is for liver disease, specifically the bile duct, she will also start on a B complex supplement and a Milk Thistle supplement, both scientifically proven to support liver disease. Her prognosis is guarded. Her temp is monitored daily, and her diet is being slowly introduced. We have come up with a really good feed and forage program to meet her nutritional and caloric needs, with the veterinarians at Tufts. She will have routine labs done to monitor her status.
I am hoping her toughness will see her through this. She is in great spirits and has a good appetite. She is one of the sweetest horses, and seems so appreciative of everything, always has her ears up and is starting to nicker when the wheelbarrow with the grain buckets comes out. She deserves nothing less than the best we have to give her, no matter how much time she has with us. If she should become critical and has had enough, we will oblige her final request and see her out in love. It is my hope that she has several good years even as a pasture puff if that is all she can do.
When Liz and I take these horses we expect to lay out several thousand dollars in gastric treatment, scopes, shoes and teeth. This was totally unexpected, and I had already purchased over $1,000.00 of ulcer treatment before she even arrived.
If anyone would like to help with her expenses we would be most grateful, just her daily Ursodiol alone is $340.00 for a 60 day supply, for life. I will list the amounts and information for the vet clinics directly. I realize many are struggling in this economy and are unable to donate, that's ok, please share this post, and keep her in your thoughts.
Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
total bill $6,805.32, I paid a $5,000.00 deposit and get a 10% discount of $679.96, the remaining balance is $1,125.36
or the accounting office is 508-839-7937
Lady Joyfull patient ID 531886, my info Christina Sawelsky
*** update 6/29/22 it has been called to my attention that for Tufts in addition to my name you need to put my address, email and invoice date to pay online
8 Kennedy Rd, Sharon MA 02067
Christina@red45.com
inv date 6/15/22