Horse tries beats odds
Skin
and bones and in need of urgent veterinary care
Three-year-old paint quarter horse Cookie,
Saturday, February 16, 2013, who was
just skin and bones when she arrived at Paws Ranch Equine Rescue in Bostic, NC.
Trauma from a horse halter that had been to tight caused her jaws to become
deformed crowding her teeth with possible nerve damage that made it difficult
for her to eat and affecting her eyes. Cookie will need surgical procedures at NC
State University and other efforts to repair crowded teeth and other medical
issues with her jaws, she has started putting on weight and is full of energy.
Bostic, NC -- The horse was skin and
bones. A halter was becoming enmeshed into an open wound on her jaw. And "Cookie
was smaller than horses less than half her age.
Just a three weeks later, though,
her volunteer team report that Cookie is full of spunk. She'll approach
strangers to nuzzle their hands and can't wait to stretch her neck and give a
hug. Her eyes have that spark back unlike that forlorn desperate look when she
arrived at PRERI.
"She is gaining weight and
should be ready to have the first of many surgical procedures," said Dr. Rachael
Butterworth-Tice, of Rutherford Large Animal Mobile Services, who performed the
extraction of a fractured tooth from the roof of the fillies mouth. "She
deserves the of care."
Delores Hanser, Executive Director
of Paws Ranch Equine Rescue in Bostic, first met Cookie when she was barely
able to stand, unable to eat, extremely underweight and locked in a car garage teetering
on the brink of death.
"It was the worst combination —
starvation and trauma — that one of many we have seen," Hanser said.
"Her body was trying go through so many things."
Amazing, Hanser and her dedicated
volunteers, the little paint horse's spirit was rekindled.
"She would come by us, and
almost want to snuggle in our laps," recalled Joseph Byrd, who volunteers
at Paws Ranch Equine Rescue. "She couldn't get close enough to us."
An unknown, trauma had caused the horse's
teeth to be crowded and the jaw deformed . It could have been intentional, it
could have been the owner kept the halter on to tight as Cookie was growing injuring
her sinus cavity and inflicted pain and crowded teeth or from being startled
and smashing into something.
Unable to eat normally, Cookie had
withered to less than 300 pounds, half of her current weight.
"One more week, and she would have been dead," said Hanser,
not wanting to name the owner, where she found Cookie. It's because they
surrendered the horse and we need to still work with owner, and Spartanburg
Animal Control because of the other animals on the property she explained.
Cookie's condition led Hanser to spur a team of volunteers,
donors and veterinary specialists. Together — unified on the social media
website Facebook and Twitter — they pressed on. First, Cookie was evaluated and
started on nutrition plan and antibiotics for infection. She had a minor
surgery to remove fractured teeth and float teeth to make her comfortable on
March 4th $1,500, to remove tooth
fragments in her jaw.
But the infection did not clear up.
Cookie will be referred to North Carolina State University
Veterinary Department for assessment and surgical treatment when her condition
becomes more stable. The veterinary costs will be close to $6000.00 for her
corrective surgery to repair the damage she received from her owner.
With a three-dimensional computerized tomographic scan,
veterinarians will be able to see infected areas of Cookie's skull, sinuses and jaw. The infection
of the fractured teeth was literally causing holes in her jaw to her sinus
causing infection to Cookie's Jaw, Hanser said.
For Hanser, Cookie's story is one of a number of equine crossing their path that she has had a hand in since she and her husband sold their California home in
2006 and moved to North Carolina to be with family. They started the rescue in 2007 and became a nonprofit 501 (c)(3) March 2010.
But few have generated the support of cyberspace as Cookie's
Plight have. "Cookie is a fighter," Hanser said.
PRERI volunteers will update the horse rescue's Facebook and
Twitter page throughout Cookie's ordeal and especially during her upcoming
surgeries. Hundreds are hanging on the hour-by-hour updates, she said. And
anytime Cookie needs something else — her veterinary bills will top over $6,000 — Facebook and other cyber friends came
through in times of need with their compassionate donations to help our horses
in need, Hanser said.
"This is what we like to
do helping the horses", she said.
Dr. Butterworth-Tice DVM said she often sees horses with
wounds near the jaw, but usually not as complex as this. "We had to go pull
tooth fragments from her jaw and palate to get give her comfort while a
surgical plan will be devised for her recovery," she said.
Butterworth and her team were able to remove the infected tooth
fragments. But they found a particularly aggressive form of bacteria. Next up,
treating the horse with antibiotics to
kill any remaining bacteria. Cookie was giving drug that makes the horse feel
like they've had a margarita so it's easier for them to stand the surgical
procedure, Butterworth said".
"We were absolutely thrilled to have her in," she
said. "Horses without a will to live and big heart like hers don't make it
through what she did — she just loves being the center of attention.
"She was just a sweet Little Girl."
Hanser said she is grateful she has supporters and volunteers
and professionals willing to support her life's passion that started with her
first horse at 14 years old: "You can look into their eyes and see their
soul. They are such amazing creatures. They could kill you. But they are
gentle."
