The trip that almost wasn't

It's time to document our recent trip to Europe.  I use my blog as my diary so it will be in detail starting with the day of our departure.

As we're sitting in the Denver airport about to board our flight to Munich, our pet sitter sent these pictures of Jasper. 


His right jaw was swollen like crazy.


As a horse owner two thoughts went through my mind--maybe a tooth abscess or more probably a snake bite.  We've had two neighbors lose horses to snakebites.  We've been lucky for the last 20 years.


Snake bites are especially dangerous for horses if they occur on the head.  Horses can only breathe through their noses so if too much swelling occurs it can can respiratory distress or failure.  My first thought was to not get on the plane and head back home.  Our pet sitter seemed to have things under control so we went ahead and got on the plane and put our trust in her.  Before takeoff I had to give her and the vet permission to euthanize Jasper if he was in too much stress and they were not able to make contact with us before morning.  For the first time ever I purchased the WIFI on the plane so that I could keep in touch with the vet and our pet sitter throughout the long flight.  It was agonizing waiting for their updates.


Our pet sitter's quick response and our vet's availability to come out to the farm quickly may have saved his life.  The vet found two punctures on his lip and started him on an anti inflammatory, antibiotics, and steroids.  She asked our pet sitter to come check in on him at midnight which she did.  The vet also asked our pet sitter to make the drive to Denver the following day to pick up a couple doses of antivenom at the Littleton Large Animal Clinic.  The vet wanted two doses at $400 each.  Yikes!  In the morning our pet sitter was ready to make the drive when the vet found out that Littleton had sold those two doses to someone else.  The only option was to have some overnighted.


In the meantime, the vet wanted Jasper moved to their clinic because administering the antivenom takes up to 10 days through an IV.  Another yikes!  Irv and I were calling everyone we knew to see if anyone was available to give Jasper a ride.  Then our pet sitter comes to the rescue again, she and her husband had our truck and trailer ready to haul Jasper.  Jasper didn't cooperate in loading so we ended up calling a couple friends to come over and help them get him into the trailer.


Then a miracle happened.  The swelling in his face just started to go down and down and down.  The vet said it couldn't possibly have been a snake bite so the antivenom order was cancelled.  She said it was something venomous that bit him, but we'll probably never know what.  

Jasper spent one night at the vet clinic and then the pet sitter and her husband went back out to get him and brought him home.

I'm so thankful for our pet sitter.  She wasn't going to charge us for any of the extra time she spent with Jasper.  I, of course, wasn't going to accept that and sent her a large bonus.  Our pet sitter is kind of expensive, but she is worth every penny!  She's a professional who does this for a living and her expertise with horses is invaluable.

Thanks also to our friends and neighbors who offered their help too!








Comments

polcat24 said…
Yes it was a very tense flight over. Normally we try to sleep on the flight but we were watching our phones the whole time for updates.
November 14, 2023 at 4:33 PM
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