Little Poppy and her scoliosis

Our darling, little Poppy was born to her rescued mama, Carrots, back in November 2018 with severe scoliosis. At the time our vet warned us that as a little foal, life would be relatively easy for her but the problems could come as she grows. The main concern is that her poor little spine could pierce one of her organs.

Thankfully so far, although Poppy’s spine is so severely crooked that it has limited her growth meaning she remains a fairly small and misshapen little donkey looking rather like a small gnu, there are currently no obvious major concerns.

She is showing no signs of any pain or discomfort and she runs and plays occasionally in her own little limited way and absolutely loves attention. However, we have to constantly watch her very closely to look for any new signs of distress and we do feel concerned because we know it’s possible, and highly likely, that she could take a turn for the worse at any moment.

When Poppy was just a few months old we had a special X-ray taken so that the vets could see how extensive the curve of her spine was and how it might be affecting her. They agreed that the result of that X-ray back then showed them that there was nothing that could realistically be done for her and that it would be a case of monitoring her as she would grow.

Now that she has grown to what we believe is her full size, we would really like to have an updated X-ray, if only to enable the vets to see the latest development of her spine and how close it might be to any organs. The cost of this X-ray would be approximately 750 Israeli shekels (£170 / $230 / €193) and any donation that could (or already have been) given towards this cost is so deeply appreciated.

Even though we know that whatever the condition of our little Poppy’s spine might be now, there is nothing we are logically able to do to positively change things for her, but it would still be helpful to know where things may be heading.

There are those who think that the kindest thing to do would be to let Poppy go and we are only too aware of that. At the moment however, we feel that until such a time will come when she may show definite signs of reduced quality of life, it is not the right thing to do. Very sadly we do know that the only thing we can do, if and when life may prove to start getting intolerable for her, will be to let her go peacefully with her mama Carrots by her side.

WE THANK YOU FROM OUR HEARTS FOR ALL YOUR LOVE AND CRUCIAL SUPPORT 🙏🏼♥️