It's been a while...

since my last post. For a while there, I had nothing really to report. Parlay has had his good days and his bad days. On his good days, Parlay looks vibrant and happy-- you would never really know that anything was wrong with him--Unless you sat and counted the respiration.

Parlay's bad days are days with coughing, flared nostrils, irregular heartbeat and elevated respiration. They are coming with more regularity now.

Over the past couple of weeks, I realized that I cannot even measure the heart rate anymore. There is no rhythm left to it. My vet continues to be astounded that he is looking and doing as good as he is. I look at him one day and say, "this is going to pass," and then I look at him another and say, "Oh my God, I am going to loose him." The weirdest thing that I had to do this spring was to not pull a Coggins on him. There was no reason to--he isn't going anywhere-- a very sad revelation on my part.

I am still maintaining Parlay on Lasix--not daily, but when he seems to be pretty distressed. He hates it. I guess it makes him uncomfortable. The injection, the merciless uncontrollable peeing, the weird taste it must give to his food. I am not certain that it truly helps him anyway. There are days when he actually seems worse after an injection. Can't explain that.

I also give him a slew of "stuff." He gets Wendall's Herbs, "Respiration," Fat Cat, Cough Free Powder, Magnesium Oxide, Omega Oils, NeighLox and Ration Plus. He also still gets his CoQ10 and I am going to be calling in a prescription for Quinapril/Accupril today. I may actually go ahead and try the Digoxin and perhaps a Beta blocker or Angiotensin II (A-II) receptor blocker, such as losartan and valsartan--while these haven't been studied extensively in people with congestive heart failure, I like the idea that these don't have the same side effect of the persistent cough.

Why am I going to such lengths? I don't know. I guess my thought is that he should be as comfortable and prepared to face daily life as possible. Until he can't.

I still feed him his regular ration of about 4 lbs of 14% Nutrena Compete with about 1/4 lb of beet pulp added with water. I have been giving him lunch with some regularity, because he simply is not keeping weight on.

It's been quite a ride, I guess.

Meanwhile, I just keep myself busy and continue to spoil the crap out of him. I swear, Parlay is going to be orange inside from the amount of carrots he is consuming. And, he will probably not have any teeth left from the decay that the pounds of root beer barrels are causing! LOL!

I love my old man. I want to make him happy and comfortable and I hope that this goes easily--for him AND for me. So far he is continuing to be his stoic self; not really complaining and still the boss of my herd. I watch him carefully for any signs that he might be giving me, but as of now, he is mostly just Parlay--independent, bossy, cranky, pushy--It's his way. And I have to admit, I am happy to see it.

Thanks to Dean for setting up better lighting in my barn, I find myself standing in Parlay's stall at all hours of the night just stroking him and talking to him. You should SEE the bags under my eyes! I think he is bored with all the attention, but he tolerates it from me. It is always amazing to me to realize that animals just live in the moment. He certainly is not thinking that his life is coming to an end. I am sure that he sees this retirement with a bit of resentment and that I am offering all of the treats as a peace offering!

In all of my years of being around horses, I have never had to go through what I am about to. I understand all too well about life and death, yet I cannot seem to prepare myself--even with all of this time that God has allowed me to have. I am starting to go through the motions of preparations, but it is a surreal experience. Like a dream.

Sadly, every day, I realize that I miss him already. He is my partner and my friend and, while I will always have horses in my life, I cannot imagine that I will ever truly share the same type of bond that I have with my Poohbear.

OH, and I forgot to post this...

In my never-ending search for answers or ideas for how to help my damned horse, I put in a google search...

Parlay Heart

Look what comes up!

http://www.parlay.com/p-854-heart-health.aspx

Seriously? What are the odds of THAT??

Just thought it was funny. =-)

It's been a long time, huh?

Quite a few people have asked my about this blog and the lack of update. I have to admit, there have been times when I just want to post his P&R, but the truth is I am still floating between dismay and denial.

Parlay has been hanging out. Not doing much of anything at all. He is eating pretty well-- noticeably off of his food when he is uncomfortable breathing or coughing, but for the most part, we seem to be keeping that relatively under control.

I still stay up way too late looking for a miracle or a clue or ANYTHING on-line that could "fix" him, but so far have come up empty handed.

Parlay is back to eating a normal ration of food (for him) I have him switched to Nutrena Compete (like Pennfield Fibergized, but I couldn't find that locally) and Agway Superior 12 pellets, about 3 lbs each, morning and night. He also gets about 1/4 lb of Nutrena Vitality 12, mostly so that I can get some supplements to "stick!"

Today, Parlay is getting a few of those-- He is getting Omega Horseshine for his Omega 3's, Magnesium Oxide, CoQ10 and he also gets some Diatamaceous Earth for good measure.

Bunches of carrots, peppermints, root beer barrels (which are getting harder and harder to find!!) apple wafers, ice cream cones... you know. TREATS!!

Also getting buckets of hugs (which he still hates) and plenty of begging, pleading and tears.

It is as heartbreaking today as it was several weeks ago to see him having a hard time breathing or having a coughing fit. It is hard to see him make a face when I come at him with another injection of Lasix. It is hard to think of all of the things that he was supposed to be doing in his *retirement*, like teaching my son how to canter, doing a couple of team pennings, going to the horsie BBQ's and stuff.

Now, he is kept quiet at home. He hates it. He beats on my other guys when he can. He loves to trot around and flag his tail. He drags me up and down the street when I take him out for his "walks." He screams bloody murder when I take one of his herd away.

I had thought that the cooler weather might have made everything easier, but so far, I see no correlation. He still has his difficulties on occassion and I cannot seem to find a trigger.

BUT, he is eating and in good weight. He is happy to still be the king of the paddock. He still rolls his eye at me when I go and smooch his face or insist on a blanket or urge him to eat that last little bit in his bucket.

He's not done yet.

Hi all...

Yes, I haven't posted much lately. Nothing really new to report, I guess.

Parlay seems to be stable. His heart rate is running from 54-60 and his respiration is running anywhere from 16-26. He is eating pretty well and his weight looks okay. I would love to see him about 50-75 lbs heavier going in to winter, but I am just happy that he is eating what he is eating and not loosing weight. I am still injecting Lasix as needed--6-7 cc's once or twice a day.

I have begun a regular walking program with him that he really seems to enjoy. He prances and flags his tail and pretty much drags me up and down the street. I actually think it would be easier to ride the devil! But, I digress...

A couple of notable things:

1) The nosebleeds have stopped. He hasn't had a bleeder in weeks.

2) I only did 2.5 weeks of Doxy. Didn't really see a huge difference in him, so I decided to just stop it and see what happens next.

3) My son, Justin, is convinced that Parlay is staying here so that he can teach J how to canter... (sigh)

4) Parlay seems very happy to be around. Very angry about not doing anything though. He actually ran me down last weekend when I went out to get one of the others to ride. He truly does not believe that he is retired. AND, he is pissed.
5) The weather seems to have no bearing on his condition. I was kind of hoping that it would, in a positive way. I thought that the cooler air would make it easier on him, but no. No correlation whatsoever. =-(

6) The abcesses on his legs are almost all healed. That was a pretty weird side effect, to be sure.

That is all for now. No news is good news!!