Trust instincts on putting horse down?

Question

I've been working with vets all my life, and I've grown up around horses, So I'm not inexperienced, I just need second opinion. We recently took our 23 year old gelding to the vet. I knew he had bad arthiritis before we took him, and they told us there wasn't much more we could do, that his arthiritis was just so bad, he was basically done. Then we took him to the vet in Sturgis. The vet there told us it is fixable for 1000 to 4000 $ but he didn't know if he would make it through this winter to recover. The vet said he's just in so much pain, that it would be better to put him down;; that he's in major pain to just stand up. I believe the vet, and I personally can tell his body is going downhill. But I've watched him kick other horses out during feeding, and chase dogs and trailers, and trot around the pasture on free will in the last week. He honestly doesn't seem like he's in pain. But the vet in stugis is world known, and I'm not in the horses body.So what do ya think, put him down?

Answer 1

iM sorry but nooone should be answering this question except the owner the owner is the only one who truly knows your horse look into you eyes and ask him what does he want remember you will know what he wants youve been with him for a long time he will tell you what he wants .. listen to him do whats best for him

Answer 2

It's summer and summer is always a good time for arthritics. The pain goes into the background for a while with the warm weather. Which will be why he seems to not be in pain right now. As the year moves onwards it will be back and you will see it in his movements again.

I can't decide for you, you know the horse and the vet. You know where you have been and what has been tried to this point.

Answer 3

His behavior does sound aggressive, which can indicate that he is in pain...but just trotting around for the heck of it doesn't sound like he's in that much pain.  The winter is more challenging.  I wouldn't even think of doing surgery on a horse that age...mine are 21 and 22....if it came down to what you are facing, I would go with euthanasia.  you have to sleep at night, so you may wait longer than you should....I've done it with my animals before....it always seems so obvious when I look back......but it is hard to judge it when you are trying to make life or death decisions.  I don't envy you and the position you're in.

Answer 4

If the horse is hiding pain to the point that you do not recognize it as severe pain then the pain is not severe enough to consider euthanasia. But that is just my opinion. The vet treating the horse of one my boarders had the same grim prognosis for her elderly horse which had severe arthritis in both front fetlocks and he recommended the same thing. She was devastated. I was not aware of what course of treatment the horse was getting before her vet came to that prognosis and that prompted me ask her about whether or not joint injections with sodium hyaluronate had been tried and she didn't know what I was talking about. So it seemed to me that maybe her vet had probably not attempted that and so I suggested that she call my vet out for a second opinion before putting her horse down. She did that and the short of the story is that sodium hyaluronate had not been tried and my vet injected Legend sodium hyaluronate solution in each of the front fetlock joints once a week for three weeks and then showed her how to inject it intravenously. He had her doing that once every two weeks for several months and then reduced it to once a month. The swelling was way down and the horse showed amazing improvement by the end of the weekly joint injections and continued fairly rapid improvement with the intravenous injections and it wasn't long until she started exercising the horse again and then began turning it out to pasture. That was about 4 years ago and pain doesn't seem much of an issue anymore. The horse will let you know when it can't cope with pain and you will know when it is time to euthanize and send him to his rest. Trust that.

Answer 5

I'm not a pro on this sort of stuff so I won't answer. But I just want to say I'm truly sorry, my heart goes out to you in this rough time.

:[

Answer 6

well what do u feel is best, it sounds to me that he is doing well so my oppinion is dont put him down, at least for noe wait a week or so, see how he feels then, if he is acting the same i say no worries just keep him if he isnt ridable do some bonding by teaching him tricks like to hug or kiss, dont do anything major like bow or rear,  but back to what i was saying befor, if he looks fine in a week keep him if it llooks like he is in pain let him go... i no how hard it cab be to let a horse go...

Answer 7

For me, it's all about quality of life, rather than duration of life.

I had an old pony PTS when he could no longer be ridden. He could've lived out in the field for a while; the vet was suggesting he had maybe a year or more in him if he wasn't working. But he wasn't happy; he'd been a very busy pony and had worked very hard. He wasn't interested in being a pet - and that's when it comes to the quality of life question.

For your guy, I think the time is very very near. I'm sure some people would call me a cold blooded killer, but I'm not - I'm experienced, knowledgeable and very sentimental, and don't like to see a horse being held onto for the sake of the owner. Getting up and down is tough on the joints, and kicking at feeding time is not the same as playing around in the field.

It's never an easy decision, even when it's the right one. If he was mine, I'd have him put down.

Answer 8

You know him best. If he was in a lot of pain then put him down, but he seems heathly. Yes animals can hid pain, but he would not be chasing dogs and trailers if he was in pain. Don't put him down yet.

Answer 9

If he doesn't appear to be in pain, id just keep him like he is. a vet came and looked at my horses ankle and said it was arthritis and that hes in pain. my horse is absolutely fine. His ankle IS very swollen, but he never limps. in fact, he stands on it more than the other. if you REALLY feel that he is in pain, go ahead and let go. but if he doesn't, don't worry and just keep him.

Answer 10

the thing is you could either put him down now, before it gets to the point where it's so bad, he doesn't want to chase trailers and kick other horses...  or you could let it go that long, and euthanize at the first sign of real discomfort.  i'm horrible with these kinds of decisions, and am currently wrestling over when will be the right time for my ancient mare.

i hope my indecisive rant helps some...

Answer 11

yes it's time, be good to him winter is going to be really hard.

Answer 12

Hi Kelly

Im not dissing the vet, but he does not have the emotional bond that you have with your horse. He is looking at the situation from a clinical point of view.

As you said, your horse enjoys a good old trot and a kick. As others have said, if it was that painful for him then he wouldnt do those things.

If he was REALLY bad you would know it was time to act, but I think your horse sounds like he wants to enjoy life a little bit more before its time.

Answer 13

Trust your instincts. Better a month too soon, than a day too late!

Is he usually worse in the winter? Perhaps you can pick a time just before the weather gets cold, so he can enjoy the summer weather.

The most important thing we can do as horse owners is recognize when its time to let them go. So often owners will delay putting a horse down because of their emotional attachment.  Kudos to you for being ready to do the right thing for your horse!

Answer 14

If you are talking about Sturgis, South Dakota and Dr. Ismay's office, they are awesome horse vets! I use to live in Newell and I never had a sick horse to take in but I heard nothing but good about them. If Dr. Ismay is telling you what he can do, myself personally, I would trust him.  

My opinion, and this is only my opinion...is that he just quoted you a huge amount of money and told you what he could do, but what he thought would happen...he's  not in this for money and that makes me trust him all the more. You could take the chance and let them proceed to treat your horse and just do the best you can to see that your guy makes it through the winter...or make the hardest choice of all. I'm sorry you are going through this. Your decision isn't a easy one at all. You know what winters are like there...d**n cold. It's really hard to make the decision you are up against when you see your guy being feisty. But there is no easy answer. You have to look inside yourself for that answer, but I can almost see that you have...

A lot of us, as horse people, are going to be in this position at one point in life, and it is going to be really hard to look in the horses eye and see that glow of life...and have to make this kind of decision, it is up to you what that quality of life is going to be...do you see more pain in his future...or a greater chance of a good life?

Edit - Have you been to any other vets?

Answer 15

I have seen horses in pain. They hang their heads and won't move. They just stand in one place. The pant heavily.  They barely eat or drink.  If your horse isn't doing this, I would let him live on. From your description it doesn't sound like his pain is unbearable. I was in a car accident several years ago. I am always in pain and also have some arthritis. Sometimes my pain can be severe, so should I be put down. Vets can say a horse is in pain, but they can't gauge how much a horse can bear. It is your decision, but I would wait and give him more time if he was mine. None of us want a horse to live in misery, but yours doesn't sound like he is.

Answer 16

I would go with your instincts. You can tell when a horse is ready to die, they just lose the spark in their eyes and become almost depressed like. Ask your vet if there is any medications that can suppress some of the pain of the arthritis for the time being, I'm not good with anything medicine related so I wouldn't be of any help on that part.

Answer 17

If he's still eating, interacting with the herd, and seems content, then I see no reason not to continue.  We had an old gelding with severe arthritis in his knees.  He would fall sometimes for no apparent reason, but the vet told us that he felt that he had just taught himself to protect his body and compensated for the occasional pain flare by just giving to it and going down.  He lived several years that way in good flesh, bright eyed, and happy pasture art.  He let us know when he was ready to go.  He had a heart attack, and we had the vet out three different times for blood work/evaluations in the two weeks afterwards (the last call was his last call).  He quit eating, even his favorite treats couldn't tempt him.  It was summer, we kept a fan on him to keep him cool.  Vet's opinion was he wasn't suffering, just somewhat dazed and confused.  But he wanted nothing to do with the other horses, just stayed off by himself.  At that point, with our vets agreement, we made the preparations for his end.  But while it sounds like your horse is approaching the time to make that decision (and I would have doubts of subjecting him to a cold weather climate winter) at this point it sounds like he still has interest in hanging around.  It's a tough decision, but from the sound of things, I sure wouldn't pass judgement either way you decided.

Answer 18

sorry it sounds like time to let your friend go

i know its hard but it would be harder if you kept

him alive only to have him suffer

sorry

my prayers are with you

Answer 19

I read most of the answers there a lot of good advice.We can only tell you what we all have done with our horses.You are the only that will make the finale say. I don't think its time to put his down but I done see him every day.We had a horse like yours and we gave him something called legend shots.There are 4 shots in all ,4 being the baddest.Our horse only took 2 shots and it help prolong his life.Arthritis hurts not only in the cold but humid as well.Standing around not getting trimmed or shoes Not to say this applies to you If hes alert keep him but if his off his feed its time