DreamCatchers
Equine Rescue Inc.

Well, this was an eventful and somewhat stressful week at DreamCatchers...

On Sunday, August 9th, Skylar, one of our babies, suddenly became very ill.  She was discovered in her pasture lying down and when the rest of her young herd came to the fence for treats, she failed to rise and follow.  Skylar was very week and had considerable difficulty getting to her feet.  She was trembling and wobbling...Julie was alerted and Skylar was immediately put into quarantine in the barn and the vet was called.

When the vet arrived, Skylar was a little better, having been given an injection of Banamine to bring down her fever but she was still very wobbly...

Blood samples were drawn and a nasal swab taken to begin testing to try to determine what was wrong with her.  In the meantime, the vet prescribed Pennicillin, Banamine, GastricGuard and an antacid along with probiotics and vitamin E.  All treatments at this point were a stab in the dark but could not hurt and could possibly help her improve.

Based on her symptoms, a myriad of ailments could have befallen her from Herpes to Rabies to a Genetic Defect...we just did not know at that point.

48 hours of nail biting and round the clock monitoring later, the diagnosis was made when her blood work revealed high amounts of lymphocites which could mean only one of two things, Leukimia (not likely) or tick fever...We began to administer the proper antibiotic to treat the tick fever and I am very happy to report that Skylar is feeling much better.  It was also discovered that due to her weakened condition, she had contracted a mild cold as well but that too is under control.  She will remain in the barn to complete her series of antibiotic treatments but will rejoin her herd as soon as this is done.  Thanks to everyone for their concern for our little girl...Julie DeMuesy