Junior continues to improve. He is quiet in his stall, picking through the occasional handful of hay and eating his paltry allowance of feed pellets. He drinks his water, and grazes grass when taken on little walks around the clinic. He's a trooper.
The weight continues to melt off him, and his ribs are showing plainly. His demeanor is dull. I don't know what else we could reasonably expect, though, since it has been two weeks since he's eaten a substantial amount. The few calories he's allowed to ingest now really aren't enough to sustain him; they're just all his insulted GI tract can handle. Day by day, he will be allowed more feed. I'm sure the increased calories will restore not only his weight, but his brightness.
He must be incredibly sore, despite medications. He has a 15 inch incision running through his belly, and horses can't go on bedrest. The very site that was cut to save his life is the line of support for hundreds of pounds of internal organs. Ouch. His walk is stilted and stiff, and he moves like an old man. The incision site is very swollen, but clean and healthy.
Junior is doing amazingly well. As one vet said to us the other day, that's the kind of horse we love to work on, because he's going to fight to live just as hard as we'll fight for him.
Atta boy, Junior. You're doing it!
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