The Survivor

I have to admit the phone call kind of put a damper on my vacation.

"I need to talk to you about Buddy," began Dr. Grant Miller, at once apologizing for rousing me lakeside, where I reluctantly fished my cell phone out of my beach bag and sighed when I saw RESTRICTED come up on my phone. My heart sank. The vet. This could not be good news.

Like other members of the governing board of the Sonoma CHANGE Program, I was being called upon for direction with Buddy the pony (aka "Mr. Pony"), who seemed on all fronts to be fading away. Dr. Miller sounded resigned and practical, his normal spark of hope a dim glow.

We discussed euthanasia, whether Buddy was suffering, hope for recovery and continued treatment. We discussed cost, as treating internal pigeon fever is an expensive proposition, and CHANGE has a policy against providing extreme and expensive life-saving care for horses with little hope for recovery. The vet reminded me that, even in the best circumstances, a pony with internal pigeon fever has at best a 50% chance of survival. Perhaps Buddy, who came to us emaciated and loaded with parasites, the victim of long-term neglect, did not even have that.

But we'd come so far with this little guy. He deserved another go.

The board voted to continue treating Buddy with the powerful antibiotics Naxcel and Rifampin, neither of which are fun for either horse or human to administer. Buddy's plucky foster mom was game to keep trying.





Seventeen days later, thanks to dedicated care, an anonymous $400 donation to cover the continued medication, and some powerful antibiotics, Buddy is still with us, except he's now running and bucking and showing signs of recovery. His foster mom and vet remain cautiously optimistic. Buddy is not out of the woods by any stretch, but we can see a break in the trees.

~Katie
CHANGE volunteer and governing board member