Paynter back in clinic; Colitis diagnosed..

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by LARHAGE

Personally if the decision were mine I would euthanize Paynter today, I went through Laminitis with a show mare, on her front feet, and it was hell, she wasn't sick like Paynter is and she too was a fighter, the disease is excrutiatingly painful and it was hard for me to see her in such pain, I only kept her alive because she in spite of it was very alert and was a great patient, she almost seemed to know we were helping her and she was great to handle and medicate , after 10 days in the hospital she pulled through enough to go home, and is still with me, though she will never be sound enough to ride again, or breed, but her face looking out her stall every morning makes me happy and grateful she's still here, if she had it in 3 legs, there is no way on earth I would put her through the pain and anguish just to prolong her suffering. It's an extremely quick moving disease that progresses at an alarming pace, it's the worst thing a horse can have.

i think zayat has already come to grips with that being what will happen, and is waiting on the vet to say ok, it's time. i think it is just a matter of time at this point. it's just too many things gone wrong with that horse to think he can survive it all. it's a shame.
and yeah, if it were me, it would have been done as soon as the laminitis was discovered. on top of the other issues, there comes a time when you just have to say enough.
and from what i've read, there's only about a 10% survival rate for colitis. maybe up to 25% if caught very early, and treated aggressively.

[Riot]

The DIC is very bad news, worse than (and probably causal of) the laminitis. Very sad news. Doesn't look good.

[Merlinsky]

More from Mr. Zayat: "Paynter had mild signs of foot pain today and mild radiographic changes. We flew in Dr. Bryan Fraley, an affiliate of the Hagyard Equine Medical Center, to evaluate him this afternoon and placed casts to support his feet. He was very good for the procedure. His appetite has been greatly improved today and the diarrhea is improving. We are hopeful but are taking it day at a time."

More good news/bad news. Would a hyperbaric chamber be helpful at all for the infection and laminitis? I read somewhere that horses in early stages of laminitis have benefitted.

[Riot]

Update from half an hour ago (noon eastern) on Twitter, which pretty much matches what Merlinsky just posted, I guess

Hyperbaric oxygen can indeed help expose O2-starved tissues to oxygen (laminae of feet, ischemic bowel, sepsis, etc) but with a horse as sick as this with his multiple problems, catheters present, foot support for his laminitis, etc, you have to worry about the physical pressurization causing complications, embolisms, pain and further organ damage. Couldn't be used at this point for this horse today.

If he's still having clotting problems with the DIC (I suspect not as they went ahead with foot support for the laminitits) that's a huge worry. The ongoing fever and ongoing low protein levels in the face of transfusion are major problems.

Poor horse - he's still right on the edge, multiple problems, prayers for him.

Comment on laminitis: it can be very mild or severe and horrible, the mere onset of laminitis itself is not cause for euthanasia, it depends entirely upon the severity and other complications, but greatly also upon the cause of the laminitis.

Morning update: We still have Paynter in our lives for that we are blessed. Paynter continues to go through a sickness with significant complications. Ironically today he is having a decent day, he is one tough horse!

It is admirable but heartbreaking. On the positive side, he stays comfortable in his new cast fitting, unbelievably so that according to Dr. Laura says he is actually walking around comfortably in them. What a star!!

On the negative side He still has diarrhea, but amazingly enough his attitude is better and his appetite continues to improve.

he continues to fight his colitis hard.His fever is higher today than we would want it.The protein levels continue to be low.

He is fighting and we will keep praying for him to fight as long as we are secsitive to his needs. Again, our primary concern is his comfort #star #warrior #whatatrooper #prayforpaynter

[paisjpq]

I worked W Bryan Fraley on a badly deformed foal a few year a go... great vet.

[Riot]

No news this afternoon on Twitter, just a message that next update will be 8pm.

[Riot]

Wow - this horse is tough as nails.

@JustinZayat Paynter update: Paynter continues to amaze his vets by his resilience, class, charm, determination, what a horse. Indeed he is so special.

Paynter has been walking comfortably all day. This afternoon his diarrhea resolved and he passed formed manure.

He was mildly uncomfortable when defecating, which is not uncommon in horses with colitis as the diarrhea resolves.

He has had an intermittent low grade fever but his blood work continues to be normal. He continues to be treated aggressively.

Please keep your good prayers and energy coming our champ is fighting and fighting hard