naavya

Naavya's story as it appeared in the April 2022 newsletter.   A gentleman rescued two horses years ago when they were taken in an abuse case in Alexander County. He had 40 acres and a barn. Time went by and the property was sold. His daughter took over the care of the horses and boarded them at a stable that kept the horses in stalls most of the time. The mares were later moved to another boarding stable and kept on pasture boarding. Hay was provided but it was up to the owner to provide grain. There were four other horses in the field and the old girls may not have been able to get their fair share of hay. The stable was too far away for the daughter to go and feed them every day and the horses lost weight. She realized she couldn’t do right by the horses and called us. 

The horses are both 33 years old, and were welcomed at the sanctuary. The Appaloosa picked the name “Sky.” Her belly was swollen with parasites and her Henneke body score was a one. The veterinarian checked her eyes and felt she has recurrent uveitis, which over time causes blindness. Appaloosas are prone to recurrent uveitis, blindness and cancer. We learned many years ago how to treat and prevent blindness due to recurrent uveitis and should be able to help Sky with this issue. We also need to check her all over for cancer, but we don’t want to rush things with a new horse because that just creates stress.

The pretty Quarter horse picked the name “Naavya.” One of the volunteers spotted an issue with her top lip. It was swollen and she couldn’t move it. We had the veterinarian check her and the prognosis was not good. She has se[1]rious cancer in her mouth, both the top and lower area around her teeth. At the present time she is able to eat with no issues. We have to watch for pain to know when it is time to let her go. The cancer is too extensive to try to treat. We have no way of knowing how long she may be with us, before we will need to let her go. It makes us all sad when we take in a horse that is so seriously ill. Sometimes it seems they come to us because we will do the right thing. The girls have graduated to the side field where they have a round bale under a shed all to themselves and each have a stall to eat their grain and supplements with no stress. The two are so sweet!