A bereaved donkey who stopped eating when his mum died and developed a stomach blockage is healed – thanks to 24 litres of cola.

Joey, 15, stopped eating properly after he lost his elderly mum Josie in November last year.

The donkey, which lives at Slade House Farm in Sidmouth, Devon, quickly developed a large gastric impaction, which is a solid blockage of food in his stomach.

It meant food was unable to pass through Joey’s small intestine, and he was in real trouble.

So some vets sprung into action and came up with quite an unexpected solution to the donkey’s stomach blockage.

Vet Jamie Forrest said: ‘Our vets rushed into action – giving Joey an abdominal ultrasound and conducting a process called gastroscopy – putting a camera up his nose and into his stomach.

‘Intensive treatment was required to resolve the impaction.

‘As well as pain relief we flushed Joey’s stomach with cola several times a day to dissolve the solid.

‘We used six litres of full-sugar cola a day, spread out over three treatments, for four days to soften and dissolve the impactions in his stomach so the ingesta could once again travel to his intestine.

‘In essence the cola acted like a drain cleaner. It eats away at the firm matter and eventually softens it to a point where it can pass.’

They avoided taking Joey to an animal hospital, which is standard procedure for this, in order to protect him from further stress.

Cola should never be given to healthy donkeys or without being administered by a qualified vet.

During his treatment, Joey was looked after in his barn by dedicated groom Kayleigh Yelland and farm supervisor, Laura Attwood.

Kayleigh said: ‘Joey had been with his mum his whole life, so it was such a massive change for him.

‘He had become quite nervous and didn’t want to be around anybody.

‘Every time we went to see him, we wanted it to be a positive experience.

‘I didn’t want Joey to associate visits from us with the veterinary treatments he was receiving.

‘I used positive reassurance to help him along – I would go in and scratch his neck, reassure him and then walk away.’

And Joey appears to be getting back to his happy self as he’s struck up a new friendship with another bereaved donkey, Ben.

Another donkey Bob, who was Ben’s friend, died at a similar time to when Joey lost his mum.

Kayleigh said: ‘By buddying the two together, we hoped their shared experience of loss would allow them to comfort each other.

‘Their friendship is still flourishing, it’s early days. But I really do think their future as friends looks promising.

‘For example, Joey will eat out of Ben’s bucket because he wants to be next to Ben! Then Ben will follow Joey around.’

Source:
courtesy of METRO

by Lucy Skoulding

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