3 years ago I had a horse come in from turnout lame...three legged lame. The owner agreed to have the leg x-rayed and the horse had fractured his patella and chipped a good flake off his femur...he was a decent sugical candidate (and the $$ was not an issue)...but he had had 2 previous surgeries while racing to remove chips and both times had serious issues recovering from anesthesia so the owner opted for a wait and see approach...to keep him 'acceptably comfortable' with medication and stall rest...that horse lived for 18 months...he ate well and hobbled around with his pasture mates....but he was not a happy horse (he was 'bright'...but that does not mean happy)...his owner loved him dearly and refused to see that the kindest solution was to put hime down...it wasn't until he had gone so far downhill that he wouldn't eat and had lost a great deal of weight that he allowed me to have the horse put down...
today 2 almost 2 years after the horse was buried he admits that he wishes he hadn't waited so long...that horse was a fighter too.
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 Seek respect, not attention.
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