The Return Trip...

Carrie texted me Saturday that we needed to "pick up Eowyn tomorrow." She didn't want to verbalize or text it, but Kitsune was dead. 

Over the weeks there were lots of tests and no answers. The spinal fluid sample got mixed up by FedEx and didn't show up to the testing site, but the vets said it wouldn't be worth the risk and cost to get another sample. 

The hospital posted to a national forum to see if anyone had any ideas or suggestions, but there were none. One researcher was looking into similar things and Carrie offered to give up Kitsune for adoption to them, but they replied back they just wanted a DNA sample. 

Kitsune's options were euthanasia or bring him home until he has an accident and euthanize him then. Carrie didn't feel like she could deal with that. "Does that make me a horrible person?" she cried. She'd known what the options were as the hospital stay dragged on and made the choice before I knew it. She requested an autopsy in the hopes that the veterinarians would find something to explain what happened. She'd hoped to find some closure.

It took a month, but the results came back inconclusive. There wasn't any closure for her there. "I don't know what to tell you," was followed by "You did nothing wrong. You fought for him." The vet on the phone figured it was some freak, one-in-a-million kind of occurrences. 

But that's in the future. Sunday morning, Carrie hooked up the trailer. 

Carrie called an audible en route and we went through Lynchburg rather than going over the mountain through Waynesboro to hop on I-81. It ended up being a much better route (with far less cursing at trucks and I-81).

We showed up on time for our pick up window, but it took a while for anyone to let us in. Carrie reached out to comfort and be comforted by Eowyn.

Sadly, I feel like this one pic says leagues.

Milk was leaking all over Eowyn's legs. I assume they let her see that her foal had passed on, so that she would be able to process and move on. I didn't dare ask Carrie. She was holding it mostly together, and I didn't want to say or do anything that might upset her internal balance.

A tech gave Eowyn some hay and she went to munching heavily while we waited for a vet. Carrie requested something to help Eowyn ease into trailering, but the vet had gone home after a rough night.

We waited for a little bit, but not overlong. Eowyn got her dose and was brought out to be loaded.

We took the back way home again and aside from Google trying to show us a "better" way with a hairpin turn and one-way bridge, we made it home without issue.

Eowyn unloaded and got to rolling in the dirt (I guess she hadn't seen any for a while in the hospital stall).

She seemed ok as far as I could tell. Aside from the dripping milk as her body readjusted to Kit's loss, she had an appetite and didn't act depressed (not that I know much about what a depressed horse looks like). This picture is from a little later in the week. She stayed out in the rain grazing (Eowyn's appetite has never been anything but "healthy").

Carrie asked to go out to lunch after we got home and Eowyn settled. She felt the need to be elsewhere to process, so we went into town and sat down at Amicci's. We both ended up ordering types of cheesesteaks.

And so ends Kitsune's time on our farm. He was a brief flash of light, but he will linger in memory for a long, long time. Prayers for Carrie are appreciated as she processes the loss and the lack of knowing how or why any of it happened.