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Lil Bit's Story
Little Sage was born Feb 23/07 in the wee hours. He came into the world a month overdue, very weak, got cold and was unable
to stand. The vet came out and gave him only a 20 percent chance of living. We made the decision to try everything possible,
since he was not in pain, so into the living room he came. The vet milked the mom and intubated little Sage so he would get
the colostrum and an IV was run with all the meds that he needed to give him a fighting chance. We put hot water bottles around
him. The vet said if he made it through the day to call him and he would come back after hours. The first several hours we
monitored his heart rate, respirations and temp. His heart rate was all over the board, he stopped breathing several times
and was not responsive. He had no reflexes and was not in pain. Being a Nurse I felt his time was very short, maybe an hour
or so. A good friend, Jan, refused to let him go. "He is not dying on my watch" was the words she kept saying. She
stimulated him steadily and jolted him back into breathing many times over, that morning. After about 3 hours of this constant
rubbing, warming and talking to him he started to respond a little bit and "Lil Bit" was what Jan would call him.
His heart rate started to come up and stay up although would be irratic for days to come. Slowly, he regained consciousness
and the blink reflex was there. A Milestone! He wanted to suckle but his attempts were feeble. Jan stimulated his suckle reflex
all afternoon. After many attempts he would wiggle up onto his chest for a few seconds at a time before collapsing over and
over. He grew stronger as each hour passed but seemed to want to give up unless Jan was talking to him. The vet called and
was very surprised that Sage was still with us. He came out on his way home and worked with Sage at supper time until he got
him nursing from a lambs nipple. We broke into clapping and joy! Another milestone! He gave him an injection of antibiotics
and we hoped for the best. The vet said to get him out to his mom asap or mom might reject him. We milked the dam every 1-2
hours and fed Sage through the bottle all evening. He got stronger with each passing hour and finally after many, many attempts
could balance himself on his little hooves. We carried him out to the barn at 2am to his mom. His dam, Fancy, you see was
a first time mother but still seemed to understand in all this confusion that we were helping. She cooperated with the milking
and the handling/removing her newborn from her. She trusted and she knew. She accepted him and we balanced him while he nursed
from her. Another milestone! Sage would be unable to get himself up on his own for another 5 days so day and night we went
hourly to assist him to his feet and let him nurse. On day six, he jumped to his feet unassisted. Another milestone and more
joy! Another round of antibiotics and we felt protected once again from new complications. The swelling slowly came out of
his weak, little legs and he has been gaining strength and vitality daily. The vet did a follow up after a week and gave the
thumbs up. We know he is Gorgeous so we didn't need that assessed! lol And Sweet! He is more like a puppy, comes racing over
and vibrates his little nose all over your cheeks and ears. He is one very happy go lucky boy and adores humans. He is extremely
laid back and friendly and loves having visitors. Little Bit would not be here without the expert care and kindness he received
from Greg from the Perth Vet Clinc. :)
email annickarabians@yahoo.com or call Ann at 1 613 259 9165
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