Blood chemistry and hematology back. We expected her AST to still be up, because it has a 14 day half life. Sue Garlinghouse on tying up says, "Hence, 50% is gone within 6 hours, 75% is gone within 12 hrs, 87.5% is gone within 18 hrs, 93.75% is removed within 24 hrs, and so on."
However, her CK was at 502, more than twice the upper limit of the reference level of 250. This means that even on Friday morning, after just two days of hand walking, muscle damage was still happening.
The good news is that the rest of her blood results looks great. Dr. Henderson from Rideau St. Lawrence Vet Services says her RBC and hematocrit are what he would expect to see from a fit horse from the track. Her hydration is good and he doesn't see anything that would suggest ulcers as a contributing factor.
He suggested that I stay the course, keeping to about 40 minutes of light work, every other day. On her "rest" day, I am to hand walk her for about 20 minutes and check for any signs of muscle soreness or stiffness. This would suggest that I should slow down the exercise. Otherwise, continue to gently increase the intensity over the next couple of weeks. Then we will check her blood chemistry again.
Went out tonight and hand walked Luba for about 20 minutes with Charlotte up (in shorts rather than a skirt this time). She was quiet, but moving well, overtracking and no issues backing up or turning. She cleaned up her sloppy supper, I buffed her feet, gave her a kiss and headed home.
The results of the mineral panel should be back tomorrow. That will give us more clues as to any kind of potential dietary adjustments.
My horoscope for this week extols the"virtues of careful preparation, rigorous
organization, and steely resolve". I will endeavour to mirror these virtues in my approach to Luba's rehabilitation. This is also in line with the endurance adage "Never hurry, never tarry" and the Roman Augustus Ceasar, kindred of Jupiter, who said, "Make haste slowly".
But, boy, I wish she was better NOW.
Awww, I'm sorry to hear Luba's blood chemistry isn't quite back to normal yet, but you are following all the right steps (thanks to Yoda, Augustus, old adages, and your own knowledge bank) to get her back to normal as fast as possible - without hurrying :)
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