Shaky Mule

[harleydales]

Monty Mule is well into his 30s and quite lean, but very hairy and has a medium weight rug on.

Tonight it is quite cold, well below freeqing, but it is dry and crisp which is a 'warmer cold' I always think than wind and wet!

5 weeks ago he had 2 teeth removed that were broken and getting displaced - he had antibiotics afterwards and seemingly no ill effects.

Tonight when I fed them he was very shaky, but didn't feel cold to the touch. I took his rug off briefly and he looked a bit tucked up, with a bit of a heave line.

He ate his tea qwuite the thing and his general demeanour was good - his usual grumpy self!!

Any thoughts? Infection after the teeth?

[harveydales]

Awww poor Monty. What a worry for you. I can't really help but wouldn't have thought it was connected with the tooth problem now. I do think these oldies find it hard to regulate their temperature. It was a problem with Winnie as he got older. Not sure what to suggest other than keep an eye on him and keep him well rugged.

[valerie n scout]

oh bless him Jane, I do hope he is ok X

[zeldalithgow]

Is he drinking enough maybe give him some warm flavoured water, I use apple juice or pepermint tea in the water trough when it's really cold and they are having extra hay, I sometimes stick a bucket with some sugarbeet water in for them.

Daisy is in a heavyweight rug just now she was cold in her med one

[heathera]

What I found with Bonnie was that it didn't take him getting too cold for him to feel more achy. That made him tense up and then he'd get trembly as his muscles etc fatigued.

Do you have another rug you could add on top or a thicker one or would that be too heavy or bulky for him?

Other thing is to up his food, what are Monty and Harley getting right now? Could Monty have some of Harley's oil?

Would he tolerate a deep groom and some strapping to get his circulation going and relax his muscles and connective tissue?

[Debbie]

Galahad would get this when he'd slight colicked. The shaking was a sign of shock for him. I overblanketed when he needed sedated and was over the top getting fluids into him for days afterwards. He was prone to colic, though.

Nancy with Knight introduced us to a fleece blanket/cooler. Its the first layer, is lightweight, but helps warm the pony without the added weight of a full blanket. Then I piled other blankets and a neck cover over that. The neck cover can add another degree of warmth for them.

[harleydales]

Well the shaking is more a tremor now, and only in the hinds, and there's a slight twitch to his tail too - I'm starting to thin khe might have slipped on the ice (it was horrendous!) and tweaked himself.

There's no heat in any limbs or hooves, his membranecolour is fine and he feels comfortably warm. He's eating and drinking normally and is still his normal grumpiness though perhaps a bit subdued. He's moving normally and isn't unlevel.

He's getting ad lib hay plus malt pellets and Alfa A Oil - I know he won't eat added oil, he is a really fussy eater. He's actually getting the same weight of feed than the others even though he's a third their weight!

And no - he wouldn't like being groomed or strapped - he is a minimal fuss type of guy and gets mad when you faff with him!!

If he wasn't eating or drinking and was shaking all over I'd be more concerned, but having investigated much more thoroughly and seen it is just the back end I'm happier - I'll keep a close eye on him though.

[heathera]

The malt pellets will really help him, I'm not telling my lot you have them or you'll wake up to four extra mouths to feed.

It does sound as if he's had an oopsie. One way to see us to hold his tail as he walks and apply some gentle resistance and see if staggers a bit but I'll let you try it while I watch! It's a shame he can't cope with being groomed as it would massage him but I guess it's a good sign that he is still telling you to bog off with the smooching LOL.

Hopefully he'll just continue to improve over the next few days. Are you due a thaw anytime before April?