[RC] Help please... dark urine! - Sharon Levasseur
Hi all,
This has never happened before so I’m
on shaky ground. Here’s the background… this is probably more
info than you need but here we go!
Sunday I rode Zephyr 10 miles along the
roadside, with an average overall speed of about 5mph. So, pretty slow.
I was using EB Bares on the front feet because he’s been a little sore
barefoot on rocks. He seemed happy and energized. He pooped once,
at 3 miles, and did not pee even though he drank well every chance he
got. That surprised me, because normally in a ride that length he would
poop 3-5 times and pee anywhere from 1-3 times. (Three is rare, and
usually if we’re out a lot longer duration even if we’re moving
slow and not covering much ground!) His pulse was pretty much normal,
especially considering the 100% humidity… it was misting out… and
the fact that he still has a lot of his winter coat.
Tonight I started to do the same loop,
but barefoot because on Sunday I realized it was mostly sandy shoulders. He
seemed much more reluctant to move out and I attributed it to sore feet. We
were still managing an overall pace around 7.8mph. His pulse was all over
the place… he was walking at 70-100, trotting at 108-185, and cantered
once (more forward at the canter than at walk or trot) at maybe around 170. He
drank really well at the first water stop (2.5 miles) and pooped at about 4.5
miles. It was getting dark so I left the roadside to cut through the
woods to home. That’s when he peed. I didn’t hear
anything so I glanced underneath him and caught the last few drips. I
didn’t see a big puddle, just a bunch of droplets roughly the color of
peanut butter or coffee that has cream in it. I was glad I was already
headed home when I saw that! He pooped again a while later but no more
pee, and no more drinking.
When we hit the roadside again we trotted
slowly, or foxtrotted, for the last half mile to the house… pulse over
100 but not unusually high. When we got home his pulse dropped to under
50 just about immediately. I offered water in a bucket… not
interested. Temp was 100.8. Gums were pink and MAYBE slightly
sticky, with maybe a .5 to 1 second refill. (I’m no vet!) I
tried to do the jugular refill thing but didn’t know what I was looking
for. Skin pinch was about .5 to 1 second. Took him down to the
creek for water and again, not interested. I even checked for a sore back/loin
(thinking it might show kidney discomfort?) and there was nothing. Attitude
on the ground is great, perky and alert. Muscles are not stiff, and he trots out normally in
hand. Although… now that I think about it… in the last few
weeks he’s begun trotting just a little disassociated… hind hits
before fore on one side especially, although only by a microsecond. I
really wasn’t worried, his foxtrot is exactly opposite that (fore hits
before hind) so maybe he’s just getting creative.
As a total long shot I got out the KY
Jelly and warm water, and cleaned his sheath. He stood rock still (which
was NOT normal), although he still did not drop. There wasn’t any
more crud in there than usual… some beans but nothing large and obviously
causing blockage… and some of that scaly smegma in the upper
reaches. Really nothing to make me think he was having difficulty passing
urine. (And it wasn’t like he was poising to urinate repeatedly but
getting nowhere with it.)
So. Ideas? Should I be
worried? I can’t easily just haul him to the vet, our situation
around here for emergency vet care isn’t the best.
