Here is the update on Billy, the real skinny Belgian from the Miracle Save that we thought we would have to put down when he arrived. It seems everytime we cross one hurdle we come smack dab into another one. This boy really wants to live and is so sweet so as long as he is willing to fight.. so are we!!! He has gained about 250 pounds, still has at least 400 to go.

 You can see his girlfriend Hannah, who we used to lovingly call Battleship because of the condition she was in, with her head out watching her guy. She is another one we thought we would have to put down. Her infection and injuries were so bad at the auction.. he entire left side of her face was unrecognizable and she had terribly infect wounds along her right side of her body. She must have been in an accident and then never treated and once the infection got so bad they just sent her to auction. They are thinking he had an injury as a young horse ... well Billy is still a young horse. He is only four years old. So what we think they did was stall bound him because of an injury but did not seek medical care.. that is why he use to circle in his stall so much. Then when they realized he was not getting better they quit feeding him and caring for him ... the reason why he was so skinny... Sooo... once we got him here we thought we would have to put him down but then he started to gain weight and became more mobile. So we turned him out more thinking it would be good for his atrophied muscle. But then the more active he became the more it aggravated the leg which ... at the fetlock had a pocket of infection. To tell you how old the infection was there was scar tissue around the pocket. So this was probably an injury that did heal but there was always an infection there. Doctors have been caring for Billy since the day he arrived. This boy has been quite the medical case... he is such an example of horrible neglect. Everytime we think we have it handled we discover something new, Billy was getting penicillin and his leg sweated. By sweating his leg we were loosening up that pocket of infection.

One doctor had us take him of the antibiotic. About 3 days after that I told Brad that this did not look good at all, it looked like cellulitis and he needs to be on a strong antibiotic.. I was thinking of Diane's Belgian, Jigsy at the time and how fast he went down. So we took Billy and Hannah to Mida yesterday and had Dr. Naomi Katzowitz, one of our FAVORITES LADIES IN THE WORLD, who is also an awesome doctor out today. She did an ultrasound and boom there it was.. a pocket of infection but it was hard to see because of the scar tissue around it. Se she took some of the fluid and is doing a culture, she also drained the pocket in two places and then flushed it internally with a solution and he is back on Penicillin. She will be back tomorrow. That is the scary things about legs.. There can be an infection brewing inside and you never know it because there is not any outer wound. The Amish work these Belgians so hard and the majority of them are not properly tended to and cared for and this is why they end up at the slaughterhouse.  Keep Bill yin your prayers please, it has been a long road for him and he has a long one ahead of him. He wants to live... and we are going to do everything that can be done to make sure that he does. 

Billy update

On Friday there was not any gro

wth on the culture. We had a series of x-rays done in addition to the ultrasound so see if the infection had gone into the bone. We needed to know if we had a chance with this battle.

On Saturday the culture had some growth so Dr Kastowitz inserted a catheter and Billy is on the following drugs:

• K_Pen 20cc 4times a day – give injection slowly over one minute
• Metronidazole 18 tablets dissolved in water and give rectally 4 times a day
• 10cc Banamine IV twice a day
• Baytril 33ccIV once a day. Mix 33 cc with sterile saline equaling 60cc

The next three days will tell us whether this will work or not and we need it to work because they cannot think of another option.

Brad and I do the 6pm, 12 am and 6 am and Wendy and Rochelle do the 12pm for us.

Last night we slept in Wellington between the 12 am and 6 am schedule. Our truck window was broken and they stole my briefcase, which had my wallet, laptop, all my gadgets, shipping money and a ton of paperwork in it …also Camille’s medical report. I cannot even begin to tell you how violated I feel. I just hate it. The doors were all locked, windows are tinted and we were in a very nice neighborhood. Brad was shocked they did not take his saddle. The police officer said .. “It is heavy and hard to pawn.. But, to add insult to injury… they broke the window that is right above the signage on the truck that says Horse & Foal Rescue, how awful is that. With all the fancy cars in that neighborhood they picked on a 2005 Dodge Pick up that had bumps and bruises all over it and they knowingly stole from the horse rescue. Some people are really void of all conscience.

Please keep Billy in your prayers. He needs them.