Goodbye Gordo

March 13th.

We unexpectedly had to say goodbye to Gordo tonight. We assumed he was colicing, on necropsy, gas colic was confirmed, but the original culprit of all was “fatty liver.” I’ve read many many stories of donkeys with hyperlipemia and always thought it was “weird” we have never had a issue with this.

I imagine Gordon’s started last weekend when he was moved from the pen he stayed in with his two girl pals into the adjoining mini pen so his diet could be better regulated. He paced the fence line for two days and I finally decided he just needed to be kept with them as he was not “getting over it”. He likely was eating very little during that time and as the days went on he continued on that path.

Obese donkeys can be even more susceptible to this, and unfortunately Gordo was very much over weight.

If we had not done a necropsy we wouldn’t of discovered this. We are so thankful to have a knowledgeable vet, who is always willing to learn more.