You know when your phone rings early in the morning, especially on a weekend, and it’s the person who takes care of your horse? If you’re anything like me your reaction is “ah, fuck” and in the millisecond it takes to hit the button to take the call, you’ve already run through any and all possible scenarios including but not limited to: colic, broken leg, and struck by lightning.

And while this particular scenario wasn’t any of those things (thank every diety, knock on wood, pick a four leaf clover, stuff a few crystals up your butt, whatever it takes…) this past Sunday Presto did have a fever. While he’d been totally normal the day before, that morning he was picking at his food and seemed uncharacteristically lethargic (any and all brands of lethargy are uncharacteristic for that one), so Megan took his temp. 104.7. Yeesh. She was calling me to tell me what was up and that she wanted to take him to the emergency vet down the road, which of course I agreed. Those symptoms immediately make you think viral and ain’t none of us messing around with that given recent happenings.

They got to the vet, did bloodwork, checked him over, etc. All of his bloodwork looked great, and he had no other symptoms whatsoever aside from the fever and lethargy. He got some Banamine and got monitored for a while. Soon the fever broke and he was back to eating at least, even if a bit more subdued than usual. He didn’t have anything terrible so he got to go back home, with instructions to give him more Banamine if the fever came back and monitor him for any other symptoms. When Presto doesn’t feel good he gets particularly mopey and cuddly (the only time in this horse’s life where he’s ever remotely cuddly) and honestly I’m starting to think he likes Megan better than me (which I am supremely offended by considering how much effort it’s taken me to keep him alive to this point) so of course he wants to cuddle her when he doesn’t feel good. Traitor.

The next day he did get a little bit of a fever again, so he got more Banamine. He’s gradually gotten better though and he’s continued to eat, and he seems to be out of the woods now (thank every diety, knock on wood, pick a four leaf clover, stuff a few crystals up your butt, whatever it takes…).

And because Megan is the best and Presto has a way of working his goofiness under your skin, she went to the store and got him some Oatmeal Creme Pies as a special “feel better soon” snack while he was sick. Coincidence that they actually worked? I think not. OCP’s are magical. Facts. An OCP a day keeps the doctor away, or something like that. Pretty sure that’s how the saying goes.

Of course she’s been offering OCP’s to all of her horses too, because as soon as one of them sees a treat being dispensed you have to give a treat to all of them (horse rules, I didn’t make it up) and now they’re all addicted. Yet another new OCP Club inductee. I think Little Debbie at least owes me some swag by now, considering how many OCP sales my horses have generated.

Hopefully Presto is past this little bug and can get back into the swing of things! The struggles of being a baby horse…