Horses keep me on my toes and give me something to thing about. People just make me crazy. They always did, but with this Covid thing, I think they just need to be rounded up and put away somewhere where they can all just complain to each other and leave the rest of us alone. Really!? Toilet Paper!? I’m sorry I just don’t buy into it.

I watch neighbors and the clients on Doctor Pol, I just don’t get it. Their animal, it doesn’t matter dog, cat, horse, cow, pig, bird, got hurt a week or more ago. They figure it will get better and when it goes really south, they drag it in and expect miracles.

I do understand that some people just can’t afford vets now-a-days. They really do love their animals and want them to live, but, on the other hand, something that would have just cost them the vet visit and some antibiotic now will cost them a small fortune, if the animal lives. Most of the time my heart breaks for the animal and their owner, but sometimes you just want to smack the owners across the head, and say “what were you thinking?”

Ignorance plays a big part. There are so many ways to learn out there now that it really doesn’t make sense to me.

A friend called me last week and said that the cow next door was down. Now I don’t know much about cows, but I asked a few questions. It was eating and drinking and passing manure. They were trying to keep the back end clean, but they were worried about it. They had tried calling several vets, but were told it would be three weeks before they could get there. Seriously!!!!???? So I asked if the cow had a calf lately and they said yes. Okay, I told her it may be low on calcium. The calf may be sucking the calcium out of the cow in which case it wouldn’t have the strength to get up. I asked my friend, “don’t you watch Doctor Pol?” That’s how I learned. She said she did. Okay, I’m amazed. So then I asked her how long had the cow been down. Answer – three days. Oh no, that is not good. Have they been rolling her over? No.

I explained that with any large animal it is extremely important that we don’t let them lay there too long. We can’t do it with our horses and you can’t do that with a cow. How many times have we picked horses up off the ground. Nothing in their systems work right and everything starts shutting down. I told her that sometimes the leg, they are laying on, falls asleep and the animal just can’t push itself up. I explained how to do this so no one gets hurt and I gave her the name of my vet and told her that they needed to get a vet out there, although it may already be too late. It was, the vet came and put her down. Now let’s not get over excited to the point where our horses can’t lay down to take nap, but be watchful and know how long each horse will lay down for, and when it does become a red flag that something is wrong. Most horses will nap at the same time everyday.

Be aware, keep records if you have to, but don’t just think things will be alright. Sometimes they will, and sometimes they won’t. If your gut tells you this is something scary, it probably is. Give the vet a call, after you’ve gone through the normal check list, it may save the animals life, while saving you money you didn’t need to spend.