Yadra Courage 22/12/2005 - 14/1/2006
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Hello, my name is Yadra Courage. I have a bit of a story to tell you..... and this is why they have called me Courage...... or "Curry" for short.
If you have read the previous entry to Marg's blog, you would have read that I was born on 22 December, and everyone was really happy, because it has been a bad year for cria on Nebodama. I was born on a really hot day....it was 35 degrees in the house, so it was probably much hotter in the paddock. I was a bit weak, but did manage to drink from mum (Natalie) and did walk around the paddock a bit. Friday was really hot too, and even though I spent alot of time in the shade, it was really bad. I kept putting my head up when Marg looked out for me, but it was much too hot for me to galivant around the paddock. Marg was a bit worried, and checked that mum had enough milk for me.....which she did.
Saturday was another horrible day......and I was feeling much more tired, and didn't want to do anything apart from rest in the shade.... On Christmas Morning (Sunday) I couldn't even move. Horrible ants started crawling on me, and I couldn't even get up to chase them away. Marg started force feeding me everything from plain old water, a milk preparation, and then even orange flavoured gastrolyte....... I really don't know how my heart kept beating. Sometimes I think I stopped breathing, but then I would just start again.
You can see from the photos that I was really sick. I had trouble breathing, and my heart was racing, but I didn't have a fever...... I was just hot and exhausted.....and couldn't move. I spent most of the next couple of days lying down in the shade, sometimes with a fan on me, sometimes with a cool washer on me, being fed out of a bottle. I didn't even have to suck.......I just had to swallow.
I was starting to feel a bit better by late on 26th, and spent a bit of time with mum in the paddock. She still knew me, but I couldn't hold my head up to feed from her. She hated it when Marg and Dave tried to express milk from her. She'd sit down, and then they had to lay her on her side, and she'd kick and spit.
It's the 28th today and I'm in the shed with mum. She stands still for me to feed from her, but I'm still having a bit of trouble getting it right. My neck is much stronger, I feel much better. Marg has been mean and replaced the teat on the bottle, so I really have to work hard to get milk from that. I can cush for ages now with my head held up, and I'm finding it easier to stand up, and cush down. When I was in the paddock late yesterday I even skipped around a few steps....... it felt good.
Marg and Dave keep checking on me. The dogs were good to me when I was really sick, and watched over me, and tried to be gentle..... but they aren't allowed in the shed when Mum is there, because she just doesn't like them.
To be continued..........
posted by margyb @ 28.12.05
3 comments
3 Comments:
Marg Writes.........
The story continues about Yadra. He's now 15 days old. It is taking a long time for him to recover, and at this stage, he's still not really right. Putting on weight, yes; alert and starting to eat grass, yes; pooing and peeing, yes; but very lethargic. I took him to the Vet 3 days ago, and he thought that there might have been a minor chest infection. Yadra's temperature was only a little high, but his breathing laboured, and it was difficult to hear his heart beat above the breathing. He had been walking, but with only a few skips in his step, and spent alot of his time lying on his side... not cushed , but on his side. The next day he was worse still, and seemed like he wanted to sleep 23 hours out of 24. I phoned the Vet again, and he suggested that I keep him stimulated and active and see what would happen for 24 hours. So..... while it was hard to make him walk, I kept him standing as much as possible, and cushing down with his head up. Today he's been back to the Vet again. It's 72 hours since he started on Antibiotics, and Bevin says that Yadra's breathing is much easier, and his heart beat much easier to hear. He said that he really did look much better than he did last time he saw him, but has given him a cortisone injection, thinking that he may have had a short period of hypoxia when he was born.... which may have affected the breathing centre. We're trying to give him a bit of a boost, to see if it helps.
So...... Natalie is still really good, and calls him down to the paddock whenever he's been here in the house. He feeds from her most of the time, but I continue to suppliment him with Di-Vetelact; I'm much happier that he is spending more time cushed , with his head up, and does stand well, but amazingly whenever he's had a feed, he just collapses.... Putting him in a bath with water up to his shins seems to wake him.... It continues to be really hot, so the cool water is not nasty, but seems to stimulate him. He spends most of the time in the paddock, but I don't like it when he lies in the sun.... so either shift him, or bring him inside with a fan on. He doesn't seem to be in pain. I'm sure that his neck is stronger, and his legs..... I keep my fingers crossed that he will pull through. He has the most beautiful nature, and wonderful fleece. Dense curls. He has a black head and neck, but deep brown on his back.
8:03 PM
Right ho...... the next update. Yadra is now 19 days old. It is 4 days since I last wrote. Alot has happened since then. The cortisone was a definite NO GO. It made his really sick, and Yadra seemed the worst he had been. It was just like handling jelly for 48 hours. I was to give him another injection 24 hours after the first, but I didn't.
I kept him in the cush position with cushions by his side to try to stop him rolling, and kept him inside. I really thought that I would be burying him yesterday morning. However, when I got out of bed, he was standing, ready for a feed. He even took one or two steps. We re-started Remedial Walking 101 and 102 around the yard. This morning he walked further, and this afternoon has walked about 50 yards in the paddock without me holding him. ...... nudging him along yes, but not holding him.
Natalie gets really excited when she sees him......more than she did early on, and sometimes the others take turns to sit with him while the others are further down the paddock. I feel much more optimistic that he will make it.
On Sunday in desperation I fired off e-mails left right and centre to all over the world to see if anyone could suggest something different. A couple of people suggested plasma transfer, but I will hold off on that for a little longer. Some suggested premmie baby syndrome, hypoxia, dehydration and heat stress could have contributed to his condition. I didn't think premmie, because his ears have never been floppie; his teeth were just erupted; he could stand; and he was born after 332 days gestation......
There you go....... the saga continues. I am tired because I get up every night either 3 or 4 times to feed him.
Signed.......surrogate mother Marg
Saturday 14th January 2006
Yadra died last night. He seemed to be doing well, and had been with his mother in the paddock for a couple of days, but I had been checking on him, and continued to offer him bottles. He did, however, seem weaker last night, and came inside to watch the start of the Cricket, but then wanted to be with his mother, so I took him to her. He had died when I checked him at 3am this morning.
He was such a beautiful baby, and tried so hard to live.
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