s e v e n i s a j o u r n e y

Well, the good news, I suppose, is that there was nothing at all we could have done, so all of our angsting about whether we should give him epsom salts/paraffin oil (for a blockage) or nothing at all (for a torsion) was moot. It was liver damage. Samples have been sent off to the lab to try and find out what caused it, and if our other boys are at risk.

Potential causes are, he ate something bad — in which case we get the angst of not having gotten whatever it was out of the paddock — or an especially nasty thing they have here called “facial excema”, which is liver damage caused by a particular type of spore that grows on grass — in which case the others are probably also in trouble, and we need to figure out some kind of long term solution. I’m hoping for option one, myself. We can correct our own stupidity, but there’s no simple solution for FE.

In the More Mixed Blessings department, I can think of very little that can provide more effective closure than watching your pet’s autopsy, followed by burying him in a grave you’ve dug yourself.

It’s been a long weekend.

Chris died overnight.