Tuesday, I woke up around 3 AM to check on Ernie. It was cold. The snow had compacted down and frozen into ice. I felt like Legolas, because I was able to walk on top of it without sinking in.
Ernie dug out and wrecked a corner of the arena. He wanted out, he wanted hay, and he wanted his gut to stop hurting RIGHT NOW.
I was encouraged to see a little poop mixed in with the leaves and mess he'd made.
Ernie had chosen a corner opposite of the water buckets we'd put out for him. He pooped a little as I led him over, but the small pile looked dry and rock hard.
Ernie hadn't touched his water. When I let him go, he stomped back off to the corner without even feigning interest.
Ernie'd dug a line across the far side of the arena by the time the sun rose. It's going to be a lot of work raking back the gravel dust and filling in the holes.
Carrie called the vet and started walking Ernie again. We walked him up and down the barn isles to make it less of a workout for him in the snow.
Dr S arrived and it was time for more drastic measures.
Ernie got a tube up his nose for his troubles.
IVs followed to hydrate Ernie.
He wasn't trying to go down or park out while the vet worked, so everyone hoped that meant he was still in the zone the colic could resolve without drastic measures (aka surgery).
It was well below freezing and I gave Carrie my hat to keep warm while I went inside to check on Shane.
School was cancelled, so Shane woke up early and wanted to play more Yoshi's Island. I got him started on breakfast and his daily chores before I noticed we had a visitor on our back porch.
Dr. S brought her dog, Peach. Peach had been in the car yesterday, as well, but Dr S let her out to play with Loki this time.
Loki was in dog heaven. He wanted Peach to tear around the yard with him, but she wasn't into running as much as he was.
While the dogs were blissfully unaware, the equine drama continued. Carrie hooked the trailer up to the truck and we cleaned out the back.
The plan was to take Ernie for a drive and see if that helped shake his guts up and made things move.
Carrie wanted to avoid any slopes with the trailer on a frozen driveway, so she and Ernie had to hoof it a ways to load.
Carrie said there was some minor fish tailing pulling onto the main rode, but it looked like the launch went well enough to me. Not many people were crazy enough to be out on the roads.
Unfortunately, the drive didn't help. Ernie came back and got put right back on fluids. We offered him small bits of hay to gauge his interest and he said he was hungry.
Dr S examined him again and some gas was able to escape.
But Ernie wasn't showing much improvement. He didn't seem critical yet, and Dr. S waffled back and forth on whether or not to send him to the hospital at first. She said that unless they decided on surgery, the hospital wouldn't do anything different than what we were already doing. Ernie's an older horse, too, so there was the question of whether or not surgery would be a wise financial decision if it came down to it.
Dr S decided to err on the side of caution and recommended it to Laura. Laura agreed.
So Carrie and Ernie walked off again.
Ernie went through all the bags of fluid Dr. S had on her, so he was super hydrated by this point!
Carrie said the roads weren't the best, but she made it to the hospital without incident. She stayed there a long time to keep Ernie company until Laura and Amy were able to arrive themselves (Laura had been at work).
We heard that night that Ernie went into surgery. It took us by surprise. Dr. S hadn't thought it'd be needed and we were operating on an assumption that there was a 98% chance things would be alright. We were wrong.
Carrie kept her phone by her at all times for updates.
Carrie said there were three types of calls to expect:
Best case: There's a long wait, but the doctor calls after everything is said and done to say it went well.
Uh-oh case: The doctor calls shortly after beginning the surgery to report findings and ask where Laura wants him to go from there.
Worst case: ....
Waiting was hard for Carrie (and harder for Laura), but it turned out to be the best case scenario. The surgeon found an impaction and cleared it. Ernie was in recovery. He will stay at the hospital a week before he's able to come home. Then he'll have to be on stall rest for a month before he's allowed in an individual turnout. There will be a list of post-discharge instructions on what Ernie is and isn't allowed to do that we'll have to work into the chores.
On one hand, you could argue an ice storm right before a horse has colic is terrible misfortune. On the other, it closed schools and allowed me to be home to help throughout the process.
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