09/13/2023
Hello, I am Heather, raising money for Jazzy, my mare. Jazzy is a brilliant, beautiful palomino mare. Her and I have been through thick and thin together. She is my heart horse. If you have been in the horse industry, you will hear someone use the term “heart horse.” It’s passed around in conversation and floats around on social media. The term typically means the horse is much like your soul mate in life. You’re able to love this four-legged friend unconditionally.
This fundraiser is vital to me because Jazzy is fighting for her life at the Littleton Equine Medical Center, and I do not have the funds to continue her emergency care. I have already paid $3,775 to her bills. Putting her down to rest is not an option. She has so much to live for. Any help to save her life is very much appreciated. Any funds raised will be put straight into her veterinary care and aftercare for when she can come home. Jazzy saved my life and now it is my turn to save hers.
Her Story:
Saturday night, 9/9/23, my mom began the evening chores and noticed that Jazzy was not acting herself. My mom went over to check on her, and she was acting like she was choking. Stopping choke in horses is very serious for those who don't know. With a blockage in their throat, they cannot eat, drink, swallow, or sometimes breathe, and the horse has to have large tubes put down their nose into their esophagus, and the blockage has to be broken up and pushed into the stomach. That can be very difficult for the veterinarian to do. My mom quickly rushed her to our local vet at midnight. During this time, I was in Kansas. They worked with Jazzy for three hours before she could come home.
Sunday morning, 9/9/23, my mom called me with updates on Jazzy, it was not good. So, I came home from Kansas to help and be with Jazzy. I got home at 1:30 p.m., and we spent all afternoon with her. There was still no improvements. Her swelling kept getting bigger and bigger. At this point, her face and neck do not look like a horse. At 5 p.m., the veterinarian came back to see Jazzy. She gave Jazzy some steroids to help with the swelling and more painkillers, which we later found out suppressed her immune system. Jazzy was checked on every two hours after the veterinarian left. She continued to get worse.
Monday morning, 9/11/23, at 1:30 a.m., the veterinarian was contacted once more, but this time, there was nothing more she could do. She instructed us to find someone that could scope her esophagus and trachea. My mom started the calling journey, and the Littleton Equine Medical Center said they would look at her. So, then we started the travel of two and a half hours with a horse with a completely swollen face that could barely breathe and couldn't swallow, so there was fluid and mucus coming from her nose, and she couldn't eat or drink.
We arrived at Littleton Equine Medical Center a little before 12:45 p.m. Her veterinary medical team immediately started on blood work and scoping. The scope showed us that she has necrosis (a form of cell injury that results in the premature death of cells in living tissue) in her mouth and bruising in her esophagus and trachea from being tubbed and found a large amount of fluid in her trachea leading into her lungs.
The blood work showed that her white blood cell count was really low, she was severely dehydrated, and she had elevated heart enzymes, which indicates possible heart damage, and low sugars due to not being able to eat anything since Saturday that could cause Jazzy to be colic (abdominal pain caused by various digestive disorders or other factors that can result in death if it is not treated). The blood work results pointed to a snake bite missed Saturday night. With all those results, her medical team decided to ultrasound her lungs and heart. That showed us that she had pneumonia and an abnormality in her heart. Once the team was resting, they talked to us, breaking things down and going into more detail about everything going on with Jazzy, and they determined that Jazzy needed to be put in the Intensive Care Unit. They placed a catheter IV, moved her to her stall, and started her on two bags of anit-venom and vitamins and minerals. More painkillers and anti-inflammatories. We were 10 minutes away from home when they called us with an update. Her team informed us that she was doing the same as when we left and would need a possible trachea tube to improve her breathing.
Tuesday morning, 9/12/23, her leading veterinarian called with an update, but it wasn't good. Jazzy's swelling has gotten worse. She had nasal tubes that hopefully helped with her breathing and more anti-inflammatories. Again, around 11:15 a.m., they called to inform us that they had to put in the trachea tube and that the procedure went well.
It has been 3 long days, and she is still fighting for her life.
Hello, I am Heather, raising money for Jazzy, my mare. Jazzy is a brilliant, beautiful palomino mare. H… Heather Blanchard needs your support for Jazzy Bells
