Meet Irish,

He is the barn favorite and everyone’s heart horse. He has started the riding careers of many youth in Napa Valley. He has been the best horse anyone could ask for and is 12 years young. Irish, this past week, started to slowly not feel well. I have spent the last 96 hours by his side without sleeping much. Here is the story of this past week.

Wednesday, it was noticed that he started to stop eating, and a vet was consulted. We were told to keep a close eye on him and monitor. Thursday, he stopped altogether. We then consulted another local vet who came out and provided care for what seemed like the signs of colic. We were told to continue to closely monitor him, and he should improve within the next 12 hours. As the hours went on, he continued to get worse. Nothing was helping, his fever continued to skyrocket, and he continued to deteriorate.

We then consulted UC Davis and were told if we could get him in a trailer and over to the campus, this was his best shot at survival. With patience and perseverance, we were able to get him standing long enough to get to the campus. He was immediately checked into their ICU and started on fluids as he had stopped drinking as well. After extensive testing, it was deemed he has a severe case of colitis, which, if left untreated, is deadly. He has undergone blood and plasma transfusions as his white blood cells are almost nonexistent at this time. Irish is still in critical care and will need more transfusions, continued IV fluids, nutrition, and medications, which also means he will need to stay admitted to the campus.

We unfortunately just do not have the funds needed for all of his immediate care. Any help is greatly appreciated to help us save our amazing horse.