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On Monday, April 7, 2003 we were blessed with the birth of a very special little Jack. Karen arrived home from work around 7:30 AM and did not see Jemima out in the pasture. When she located her in the barn Jemima was standing over an almost totally white baby who was curled up next to the wall. Karen picked up one leg to see what we had and ran to the house to yell into the back door that we had a baby Jack. She then returned to move momma and baby to the big barn where we are set up for babies. When she went to pick the baby up she realized his mouth looked different somehow, but it wasn't until she picked him up that she saw the extent of the birth defect. Grayson was born with a cleft palate. His lower jaw never formed completely and was split into a "V" shape. His tongue and lower lip were also split. It was obvious that he had not been up and nursed yet so we took him to our vet, who recommended that we take him to Performance Equine Associates. The folks at Performance Equine took us in as soon as we arrived and called their surgeon in to look at Grayson. He said that he could fix the problem but the cost was much more than we could afford. Grayson did have a suckling response and the surgeon suggested we attempt to let him nurse if possible. He also said if that didn't work that we could give Grayson to them and someone would pay for his surgery. We took Grayson home to try and let him nurse but he was unable to nurse because of his split jaw so we spent the next 36 hours bottle feeding him every two hours. Unfortunately he was aspirating milk, coughing, and rattling in his lungs. We were afraid he would develop pneumonia so we chose to give him up to save his life. As soon as we arrived at Performance Equine Grayson was given antibiotics and they were going to tube feed him until his surgery. We went to visit Grayson a few days after his surgery and he looked great. He was drinking out of a bucket and running and kicking all around his stall. The Doctors and their staff at Performance Equine Associates are incredibly caring people and we are so grateful for their kindness to us and especially to Grayson. He would not have made it without them. We miss him terribly but know that this was the best thing that we could do for him. Isn't it incredible how terribly attached you get to these precious babies in such a short time? Grayson has touched our lives in a very special way. 15257 US Hwy 377 Whitesboro, Texas 76273 (903) 564-7443 |