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'Ollie'
| Ollie or Olympus as his correct name is, came to
us as a 6 week old cria with his mum. He had a bad start in life
as mum didn’t really want him and they didn’t bond right from the
start, he was a poorly cria and had been diagnosed as having a heart
murmur, he had also had a couple of bad turns when he just didn’t want
to get up. Just fit enough to travel he was brought to farm and he and
mum were put in with all of our mums and babies, we weren’t sure if
this was a good move as he had been “beaten up” a few times at his
previous home and didn’t like pressure but we thought that with so
many together he could keep out of trouble. |
| .He tended to walk with his head down a lot and
although we didn’t think much of it at the time it soon became a
permanent feature with him and he now found it difficult to get his head
up and under mum to drink. We started to bottle-feed and to lift his
head to get him to drink made him sit down, he was very uncomfortable |
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Our vets, who had checked him when he first
arrived, put him on painkillers, we had a Reiki man look at him who said
his whole neck and back was stiff. He continued to deteriorate and we
decided that we had to investigate further, a visit to the vets and a
whole lot of x-rays followed. Our veterinary practice has an orthopaedic
expert so the x-rays were passed to him. He decided that he was 90%
certain that there was an infection in the spine, probably caused by an
injury early on; this showed itself in a cloudy “fuzz” between the
vertebra at the top of his neck and also miss-alignment between the
lower ones. A long course of anti-biotics was prescribed, 4 weeks in
all, this also has its side effects but the only other option was to
watch him slowly decline. He was also given Valium to relax the muscle.
We made an appointment for a heart scan in case the murmur was an
infection that was feeding the spine. This was carried out at a
neighbouring surgery, as ours has not got the expensive equipment. I
must say that through all of the tests and poking and prodding that he
has put up with he has been an absolute star, I do believe they know
when you are trying to help them. |
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The scan
revealed that Ollie has a small hole in the heart, which as he grows
will become less of a percentage, and should not cause any long-term
problems. He also had an abscess on his leg – probably from the many
injections that he has had to put up with.
Slowly
little by little he started to lift his head, he now drinks from mum,
only accepting a bottle if I am in the right place at the right time –
when he is hungry and mum is not about, otherwise I can’t catch him!
This week we have seen him leading the pack having a “hoolie moment”
and he can even manage “pronging” in the paddock. He is now off all
medication and fingers crossed will slowly get better. I don’t think
he will ever be completely fit but it is a joy to see him and his mum
– she now accepts him as he is normal – out in the fields enjoying
the sunshine.
PS
– I still have a Valium left if things get worse – for me that
is…. |
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