Help Save the Life of Pogo the Miracle Pony

Below are a few parts of Pogo's story: a short story for those who don't need all the details, a long story with more details, and a Q&A for those more curious about the veterinary/medical considerations of Pogo's case.

Pogo was purchased to work with clients who have suffered from trauma, social isolation, managing the stress of being "different", and other psychotherapeutic purposes at Natural Wisdom Counseling LLC.

A photo taken during our Christmas picture shoot!

The Short Story:

Pogo is a three-year old pony who was rescued from the Kalona Slaughter Auction in June 2019 by a non-profit named For the Love of a Slaughter Horse. Unfortunately, because Pogo is intersex/hermaphroditic, people were not interested in adopting him because he is "so different". However, we were looking for a therapy horse with a good, curious mind and calm personality. Despite being only 3, Pogo blew us away and won our hearts immediately. And he fit in with us, our family, and our work! I quickly started calling him Pogo the Miracle Pony because he works miracles on people's hearts.

We adopted Pogo December 1, 2019 and he almost immediately became a farm favorite and showed a particular skill and interest in working with young children. A true therapy horse! We brought Pogo in to the hospital for a relatively straight-forward procedure on Wednesday, had complications by Thursday morning, and almost came to the point of ending his pain / life on Friday. However, Pogo continues to show us that he has the will to recover and appears to be making what might be a miraculous recovery.

Giving Pogo the chance to survive these complication may require a minimum of 5 more days of hospitalization (estimated at about $500 per day if he does not get more critical). Please help us give him the chance to fulfill his purpose to bring love and healing to others. We believe his work here is not done yet! On top of us covering the already existing medical bill ($2,900--the surgery was just supposed to be $900), we are trying to raise $2,500 to help cover the minimum cost of the next five days of treatment to try to bring Pogo home.

Jess and Pogo had a special bond from the start.

The Long Story:

Upon veterinary recommendation, we brought Pogo to the UW-Madison hospital for surgery on January 8th. His "castration" was deemed important because of increased long-term health and behavioral risks as a crypto-orchid. We also found a growth/mass that needed to be removed and have a histopathology run to determine the type and whether it is cancerous or needing additional immunotherapy treatment. This was initially the vets' biggest concern because it appeared to be a sarcoid and they can be very aggressive.

On the afternoon of the 8th, the vets called to tell us that not only is Pogo a rare horse, but a very rare horse: they were unable to complete the gonad-removal surgery due to his unique presentation (and were able to attempt the surgery under surprisingly low sedation). They wanted to attempt the surgery again from a different direction the next morning. On the plus side, the sarcoid was successfully removed and they felt confident about the margins they were able to extract. By morning, Pogo had spiked a temperature and was showing signs of colitis. The prognosis seemed optimistic and we were prepared to move forward with his healing. However, as of the morning of the 10th, Pogo's colitis had progressed to a blood infection (endotoxemia), causing laminitis (a very painful and potentially serious condition) in his front feet. They had been checking him hourly overnight, so upon the first sign of pain and bounding digital pulses, began preventative treatment with special boots and icing. It is because of this preventative treatment that we are hopeful that the laminitis has not caused permanent damage and that he has the potential for a pain-free, healthy future.

We have decided to continue treatment and monitoring due to the hope of the vets and the positive signs, and attitude that Pogo continues to show, despite pain and a high temperature.

Pogo taking a rest after surgery.
Pogo up and perky as we left at 5:00pm on Friday the 10th.

Q&A
Why did Pogo develop colitis? Sometimes, horses have sub-clinical levels of bacteria and are "carriers" for the bacteria until they are exposed to stress. The vets believe that based off his presentation, he had salmonella in his colon that brewed into an infection over the course of the 3-hour surgery. Salmonella requires a minimum of 24 hours to culture and will be confirmed as early as the morning of the 11th. It is also a bacteria that is slow to respond to antibiotics.
Once a horse has laminitis, aren't they always predisposed to it in the future? Not always! Apparently, this is more the case with metabolic laminitis (caused by sugar digestion). In Pogo's case, the laminitis is due to toxins being dumped from his colon into his blood stream. So, assuming that we are still in the early stages of the laminitis, like a broken arm, once the lamina is healed, he is at no increased risk!
What are the other signs you're seeing that indicate hope for recovery?
1) Pogo's bowel sounds are returning to normal and are less watery sounding even though he has not had any explosive diarrhea -- this means that his colon is starting to work and he is absorbing the fluids rather than dumping them into his blood stream. This should mean that the toxins that prompted the laminitis will stop as long as he continues to progress in this direction.
2) Once hydrated through IV fluids, all of Pogo's other organ function has returned to normal.
3) Pogo is only showing signs of laminitis in the front feet currently and not the back feet.
4) Pogo is eating, drinking, peeing, and has normally formed, solid poop! This has been the case most of the day today (Friday). You should have seen his eyes burst open with excitement when we brought in his grain from home!
But what about considering this horse's pain and suffering?! We are tracking that. We have spent hours with Pogo daily at the hospital and are carefully monitoring every setback and progression. We will continue to do so. At the first sign that Pogo has permanent damage in his feet, which would cause long-term lameness and pain, we will stop this GoFundMe and allow him to pass on peacefully.
Jess and Pogo having a serious conversation about the importance of eating.