Medication for all

This comes from some sharing on the Weight Watchers Nifty 50’s board. Someone was telling about changes to their mom’s medication.

I know how difficult this is. My mom went into the hospital in March 2004 only needing eye drops and came out with all kinds of medication.She never had to manage it herself but as her closest daughter I wanted to know what she was getting and what for - this alone was enough for me. I found a couple of Web sites which would tell what the medication was for.

I also did some research online for Bishop’s medications as well. A good friend whose brother was a pharmacist told me that the animal medications were the same as for people - just different dosages.

Some time ago when Bishop needed some new medication I had to go to the drug store to pick it up. I asked at the barn - whose name is on the prescription? I was told - Bishop Milnes. So when I did pick it up the pharmacist asked whether I knew how to administer it. I told him - it is for a horse and the folks who will be giving it to him know what to do.

Sick horse...poor Bishop

Now he has a kidney infection. He is on antibiotics. The vet was at the stable to see some other horses. The vet took some blood samples.

Bishop is not too happy. He is not interested in eating his grain. I fed him some carrots - he ate them all.

He was taken outside to eat some grass and he liked that. He needs to move a bit. I took him for a short walk. (That was Thursday)


Friday - I took him for a walk this morning and he was not too reluctant. He had eaten his dinner last night. He ate some of his breakfast this morning. He did eat the carrots I gave him.

He did not try to steal a bite of hay from the cart as it went by him. The barn staff said - oh that is not like him - he always tries to get a bite.He looks somewhat better. I left him all wrapped up in a blanket.


*****


So I started to think about his health issues. He has numerous problems in the 13 years that I have owned him. My first horse had very few.

He had a serious growth on his nose that had to be removed by the vet. It could have interfered with his breathing.

When he was younger he had colic (a sore tummy) but it was never too serious. I watch him eat often and it seems that he inhales his grain which would lead anyone (horse or person) to get an upset tummy.

He injured a leg and had to be bandaged and the leg rubbed with various liniments.

He got an eye infection and needed to have eye drops. He was not too happy about getting them applied.

In 2000 he started to have Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which is a lung disease that resembles human asthma. He has had some real struggles with this over the years. He has been on a number of different medications.

When this first started, Bishop lost a lot of weight. This was in the fall and so he was offered more food which he did not refuse. Some months later when the barn owner returned from his winter vacation, I was riding Bishop and stopped to say hello. He wanted to know how Bishop was doing and then poked his tummy! Bishop had gotten rather fat because his food rations had never been readjusted. Guess what happened next - Weight Watchers for horses!

He was never overly fond of having the vet visit him. Now he is much more relaxed just because he has had to have so many injections.

He was stabled in an outside stall with better ventilation for some time. There was to be built a new extension to the barn but with the red tape, things got held up. He was quite happy to live outside and the vet said that was the best place for him. When the extension was finally ready, he did get a stall there -there is good ventilation and he is close to a door.

*****

He has always gotten excellent care from the barn owner and from the barn staff.

Changing situations

I was reading a blog by a younger person whose wife died tragically and he was feeling upset by acquaintances dying of cancer. I thought to myself - when one gets older - there will be more friends - close and otherwise dying.



My mom lost her sister and then her sister-in-law and then a close friend. They all were older and had serious illnesses. I know she missed them a lot and she was not one to talk about her feelings.



Situations are changing all the time around us. The familiar is replaced by the unfamiliar.



St. John's is currently looking at renovating the nave of the church. A lot of other renovations have been done quite successfully. Of course this is the heart of the church community. Some folks have started a petition - keep the nave as it is. I can understand where they are coming from. Others are saying it is time for a change.



Another Anglican church I attend on Wednesday mornings and monthly for a women's breakfast is going through major changes as well. I can see a big change coming there. I know lots of people there and I have a couple of close friends there. What will change? What will I feel about the changes? All of this will unfold.



For my mom to move to Ottawa Ontario after living all her life in the province of Quebec was a major change. It was for her and it was for my sister and I.



My relationship with Lachute has certainly changed over the years. Now it is a place I go back to and look back to - to remember my family roots and where I grew up.



The connections there are the way it was and the way it has changed. St. Simeon's in Lachute now has a woman priest.


Sometimes anticipated changes do not happen as expected. I asked the young woman at the barn what her maternity leave plans were. She said she did not have any really. When the baby is little they sleep and eat a lot. For her to be in the office at the barn or even some lesson teaching should not be a problem. I was encouraged because she is the person who is closely monitoring Bishop's medication.

Buckley's cough syrup

Does anyone take Buckleys cough syrup??

I know that I do and so does my horse now. “ZEV - Cough Remedy, Appetizer and Conditioner for Horses. Zev is an effective remedy for several different types of respiratory problems in the horse.”

He was breathing quite well this morning. It is still very wet here in Ottawa. The outside fields are full of mud. When I brushed him he had obviously rolled in the mud but was all dry and just dusty.

I think Bishop has lost the 75 pounds that he had to. When you look at him in profile, he is much slimmer. He has a very small breakfast. He is always finishing off the last licks in his feed bowl.