Tufty's Poorly!

Poor Tufty wasn't looking well this morning when I arrived at the yard.  Just coming up the driveway I could see that things didn't look quite "normal".  As I reversed to park, Tufty laid down on the wet concrete yard, not a normal behaviour for a pony.  By the time I reached the yard gate she was upright again but somehow she looked really thin all over.  I started doing the feeds and Tufty wasn't there - usually she stands outside the feed store door, first in the queue, willing her feed to come out first - but today she stood in the stable and hardly touched her breakfast...Time to call the vet!

Whilst waiting for Emma the vet to arrive, I acclimatized Tufty to some of the things a vet might do - "stabbing" her with a biro pen helps to replicate a needle being inserted but without causing any trauma, and an old computer lead that Jenny found helped me to replicate a stethoscope.  Emma thought that Tufty is looking good for her age and although Tufty wasn't her normal self, she was still perky and interactive.  She wasn't colicking.  Her guts were very noisy, which is good, but noiser than they should be.  Tufty stood so nicely to let Emma examine her, and to have her temparature taken - Tufty's temperature was normal so there's no sign of infection.  Topsy looked on over the stable door through out the examination...she was so worried about Tufty this morning.  She even walked up to Jenny and repeatedly touched her gently on the arm and shoulder with her nose almost asking for reassurance that Tufty would be OK.

Emma decided to administer Buscopan straight into the vein in Tufty's neck...and again, we are very proud of how well Tufty stood to let Emma administer the drugs.  The drugs last about 6 hours - this evening Tufty had another quick lie down in the yard and then saw me, got to her feet, and stood outside the self selection "cupboard" obviously indicating that she wanted something from in there.  She's had a good selection of plants and now I'm monitoring her closely for any signs that we need to call the vet out again...positive, healing thoughts for Tufty please...

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