Rascal, A Little Miracle Thanks to You

This little Rascal faced a lot of challenges from her first moments on Earth! AAE’s call for help with Rascal came on April 5, 2017.  DreamCatcher Wild Horse and Burro Sanctuary was in transition after the long illness and passing of their Executive Director, Barbara Clarke, in November of 2016.  We are so happy they reached out for this little gal!

She is as special as they come.

Rascal was just hours old when her mom scaled a six foot paddock and left her behind.  She was located over five hours away, so we mobilized and met in the middle in Reno to pick her up.  She was very weak, and couldn’t get up on her own, so our first stop was Loomis Basin Equine Medical Center.  She was hospitalized.

The initial outlook was good until her blood values took a dive in the night.  Fortunately, by morning, she was fighting back.

As it turns out, she was fighting a severe selenium deficiency that caused white muscle disease, which also put her kidneys in distress.

This sweet little filly could not stand up on her own for the first 26 days of her life.

She’d wait patiently for a “boost”.  (This pic is after 26 days, but this is how she’d wait).

Thanks to your support, the excellent care of the staff at LBEMC for 13 days of her life and 24/7 care of dedicated volunteers at AAE for another 13 days, she Rascal was finally able to STAND on her own.

Rascal had several more hurdles along the way including two bouts with c. diff  bacteria causing nasty diarrhea, a large umbilical hernia surgically repaired (after the c. diff resolved), a massive hoof abscess, and a month after hernia repair surgery, chronic diarrhea that lasted for nearly a year.  A plethora of diagnostics were done to rule out the bad guys (it was not another bout of c. diff ), a variety of feed changes, a variety of supplements, a few changes in housing and locations, and various other efforts didn’t resolve the mystery or the runs.  Eventually, pasture life did.

Thanks to her umbilical hernia, she was often confused for a gelding.

This was surgically repaired.

Massive hoof abscess that rattled everyone, but we were all grateful

when it finally exposed it’s ugly self.

Chronic diarrhea, blood tests, abdominal ultrasound, and a variety of diagnostics couldn’t get to the “bottom” of it.

Looking gorgeous as ever, and still hiding the chronic diarrhea very well.  She had an adoption pending resolution of the diarrhea that never resolved.  Adoption fell through, but adopter fell madly in love with another cutie pie.  Rascal just wasn’t ready to leave.

Today, she is healthy and thriving, and most significantly, she passes normal poop.

For Rascal (and all of us), that’s reason to celebrate.

That being said, due to her history of white muscle disease, there is potential her muscles were compromised, so she is not considered a prospect for hard work (e.g. endurance, performance work, competition, or anything that might be too demanding on her systems).  Though she is very active in the herd and she runs up and down the sloped pasture at AAE, she is looking for a home where she can learn to become a casual, easy going trail horse or some other lighter activity.

Rascal is a gorgeous gal.  She loves people, is a bit spoiled, and she will need a confident handler to maintain boundaries.  She halters, leads, and is good with her feet, but can be a little impatient with the farrier.  She is ready for her own bff in her forever home.

Click here to learn more about selenium deficiency?

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