Noodle

WARNING: The following images are graphic and may be distrubing especially to children. Discretion is advised.

Dreamcatchers Equine Rescue handles various forms health issues with our rescues. Often it is starvation, poor hoof care and various forms of neglect.

We also have special cases like Noodle who is fighting Cancer in his sheath.  This is his journey...

Noodle was surrendered to us at in August 2013. He came in "appearing" to be in good shape. His weight was good, his hooves had been cared for, he was even rumored to be a Western Pleasure Show Horse.  All we knew is the lady who surrendered him said she brought him from Arizona and she had owned him for 5 years. She said she couldn't afford to keep him and didnt want to sell him.

September 2013
Noodles initial examination revealed that he had what appeared to be an injury to his sheath.  The vet was called to help treat the wound but upon further examination it was determined to be a cancerous growth.

We immediately began his 3 month treatment with Chemo Cream which is killing his cancer. This cream comes in 2 oz doses and cost $100 per dose.

It was planned for the month of November to sedate him and check out our progress and see how effective the chemo cream was over the past 3 months.

As you can see the weather conditions were not ideal for surgery but we had already rescheduled once due to weather and it just couldn't be put off any longer. Time is now of the essence.

November 25, 2013 Noodle was sedated by the Vet

And the surgery began

The Doctor removed more than 2 pounds of tumor and proud flesh from his sheath

The vet is also ordering more chemo cream so in a few days, once he has started to heal, Noodle will once again start treatment with the cream.

You may ask yourself why we don't just put him out of his misery? All I can say is, spend time with him. He has a huge heart and wonderful spirit. Not once during the three months of treatment and the countless baths and the irritated raw skin from washing off blood and other disgusting stuff, did Noodle try to kick or strike. He would stand perfectly still for all of this including the daily injections of Penicillin for the past 6 weeks preceeding his surgery.

November 26, 2013 The Day after surgery complete with Neck Collar custom made for Noodle by our trainer, Alex Roy.

Bath time with Julie the day after surgery

November 27, 2013 From Julie: "So happy...first day Noodle hasn't been covered in blood in at least a month. I know it's gross to say but this is a HUGE improvement and the swelling is starting to go down. Noodles noodle is getting better YAY!"

December 1, 2013 Noodle's Rehabilitation Begins with Trainer, Alex Roy. The exercise is good and also helps keep the swelling down.

December 8, 2013 As you can see the swelling is continuing to improve, and the healing is everything we've hoped for!!

Julie with Noodle

December 14, 2013  Noodle is recovering nicely. The vet says that he is doing better than expected in this short amount of time. Everything is functioning as it should and we are well on our way to recovery!

January 7, 2014  Noodle is 1/2 way through his 2nd round of Chemotherapy which started on 12/10/13. Chemo will continue until Mid February and then sedation and further surgery to clean up any bad tissue that might be remaining. The Vet is still pleased with his progress!

January 29, 2014  WONDERFUL NEWS! Noodle had his second surgery today. The vet cleaned up the sheath area and did not see any cancerous tissue! He did remove quite a bit of scar tissue and granulated tissue (proud flesh) but he is very optomistic. No more Chemo Treatments, Salt Water Rinses and Exercise to keep the swelling down are the new routines and the hope is that the healing will be similar to a field castration. Here's to a speedy recovery Noodle! We are all pulling for you ...

WARNING: The following images are graphic and may be distrubing especially to children. Discretion is advised

January 30, 2014  From Julie "I wanted to update Noodles status. He is eating and drinking normally. He lunged for 30 minutes this afternoon and is actually moving really well consdering. It helped tons with the swelling. Then per Doctors Orders, I cleaned him up with warm salt water and applied a coat of vaseline/sunscreen to the end of his penis because he can't fully retract it right now. He had a visit with his girl, Passion, and they shared a scoop of feed together. He was such a good boy through all the cleaning and exercise. Just love this guy!"

April 30, 2014 What a difference 2 months makes, unfortunately Noodle has taken a turn for the worse. The Vet came out today to give him an Ultrasound to see how he was progessing.

From Julie " Ultrasound indicated that the tumors were back plus he has an awful abscess and infection that was opened and drained. I have to flush it with betadine solution and then inject penicillin into the abscess pocket. Then he is getting 20cc of gentamicin daily for 5 days. Prognosis is not good. Can’t come to grips with the fact that we will most likely have to put him down. Will focus on fixing infection then regroup and decide what to do from there. "

Pray that our efforts are successful and even though he may never find a forever home, he will have been given the chance that he needs to try. He is a phenominal horse with more heart in his little "hoof" than some people have in their whole bodies.

We will continue to add to this page as Noodle's journey to recovery continues ...

Noodles treatments and surgeries are very costly, if you would like to help us financially to continue with his treatments please click the Donate Button below.

Thank you!

In Loving Memory - May 16, 2014

It is with a very heavy heart that I must share that we said goodbye to our wonderful Noodle last Thursday, the 16th of May. As you all know, Noodle was battling Squamas Cell Carcinoma and the effected area was his sheath and scrotum. We thought we had beat the cancer in February after a 2nd surgery to debride scar tissue and other bad tissue but his surgical wounds refused to heal and after a visit from Alyssa King, DVM to deal with an infection and abscess, it was discovered that the tumors had returned with a vengeance. Noodle was in extreme pain and it led to a diminished quality of life. I have struggled with how to share this for the last several days and it may sound a little sterile but it is the only way I can talk about it without totally breaking down. I became very close to Noodle during his time here and my heart is breaking that we were not able to save this remarkable kind, gentle horse. He has had a huge impact on all the lives he touched while with us and I will always remember his love for "butt scratches". He was a one in a million horse and he is missed every day. Love you Noodle. We will meet again. Julie