SO YE TUN CANE KOSOBE WALLAI
Yesterday morning Pudiogou came to tell me that Maobi had developed diarrhoea after their morning ‘promenade’. He had been nibbling at some fresh new grass by the river’s edge.
We sent for the vet Theophile who gave him some injections. Later on Maobi worsened and we found him lying down in his box, clearly in pain and trembling. Theophile returned and gave him pain killing injections. Maobi drank and ate nothing all day, and by the evening he was very weak. Theophile returned yet again before midnight. I wanted to put him on a saline drip, something that is unheard of here in Djenne for horses. Theophile was of the opinion that the night would bring a cooling of the air and the dehydration would not become too severe. We should wait for the morning. Keita agreed, especially since Theophile had no previous experience of putting horses on a drip, and might even worsen the situation. We left Maobi in the open so that he could move freely if he wanted to – it was a beautiful clear night with no rain threatening. We instructed Leon the night watchman to survey him closely; to try and give him water and if he had drunk, some bread, which he normally loves.
Keita and I could not sleep. At two o’clock in the morning the guardian banged on the door with the joyful news that Maobi had drunk a whole bucket of water! Alhamdilullah! We now thought he was on his way to recovery and fell asleep happily.