Yesterday I posted about hunting fall mushrooms, the reason that we got interested in hunting them was because of a mushroom incident that happened to our Pastor.
He recently took his little dog out for her morning walk in the yard when she grabbed up something white in her mouth in a playful way. He realized that it was a mushroom and yelled at her to drop it, she did drop it but I guess she didn't drop it quick enough, the damage was already done.
Within 15 minutes she was vomiting and then the bloody diarrhea began. He rushed her to the Vet. They immediately started an IV when he walked through the door with her, she was obviously dying.
They managed to save her life but she certainly would have died if he had not seen her pick the mushroom up and realized how serious the situation was. They later identified the mushroom on the Vet's computer. She was at the Vet's office for a week and doesn't seem to have any long term affects from her experience at this time.
The Vet was concerned that with the rainy weather that we have had this year, these mushrooms are in everyone's yard. He said that it is rare that pet owners actually see their pets eat or play with the mushroom or toadstool. Most of the time people don't know what makes their dogs sick or why they just get sick and die suddenly.
I am not a mushroom expert, so I won't try to educate anyone here on my blog but it would probably be a good idea to do a little mushroom research to familiarize yourself with some of the things that you commonly see in your area. There are some mushrooms that are only mildly toxic and others that are deadly.
As a matter of fact, one of the spring mushrooms that I have enjoyed from the time I was a child is mildly toxic. You would have to eat a lot of them to make you sick. But some of the summer and fall mushrooms that I have never thought about eating are said to be safe and delicious. I have tried eating giant puffballs that grow like pumpkins here in the fall but didn't think that they tasted all that great.
Showing posts with label vet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vet. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Horse Owners Stampede
I was shocked when I read the following article, has this country totally lost its mind? Our Government is sticking its nose into every area of our lives. We can kill our unborn children and I am sure that infanticide of aborted babies who survive the abortion process and euthanasia of the sick and elderly will soon be accepted practices.
The sanctity of human, God given life is no longer guarded or respected by our Government but the life and health of animals are becoming ridiculously guarded by our fearless leaders.
Oklahoma horse owners stampede Capitol | NewsOK.com
When you read the above article you will see that Oklahoma has made it a Felony to float a horse's teeth without a Veterinarian license. What you may not notice is that the law also includes shoeing horses and transferring embryos in cows.
A horse's teeth continue growing throughout their life and can get sharp edges, making it difficult for them to eat. This is corrected by a simple filing of the sharp edges. As far as shoeing goes, I don't know of any Vets who would even want to do that hard and back breaking job.
My Granddaughter currently has a loose tooth. We don't have to take her to a licensed Dentist to pull that tooth, we can pull it and it can cause her pain and it can bleed without being charged with Child Abuse or any type of felony. Oklahoma's horse owners cannot file their horse's teeth or hire someone other than a Licensed Vet to file those teeth. Floating teeth might be annoying to a horse but is not painful and there is no blood. What is wrong with this picture??
Can you even imagine a farrier being arrested and charged with a felony for putting shoes on a horse?
The sanctity of human, God given life is no longer guarded or respected by our Government but the life and health of animals are becoming ridiculously guarded by our fearless leaders.
Oklahoma horse owners stampede Capitol | NewsOK.com
When you read the above article you will see that Oklahoma has made it a Felony to float a horse's teeth without a Veterinarian license. What you may not notice is that the law also includes shoeing horses and transferring embryos in cows.
A horse's teeth continue growing throughout their life and can get sharp edges, making it difficult for them to eat. This is corrected by a simple filing of the sharp edges. As far as shoeing goes, I don't know of any Vets who would even want to do that hard and back breaking job.
My Granddaughter currently has a loose tooth. We don't have to take her to a licensed Dentist to pull that tooth, we can pull it and it can cause her pain and it can bleed without being charged with Child Abuse or any type of felony. Oklahoma's horse owners cannot file their horse's teeth or hire someone other than a Licensed Vet to file those teeth. Floating teeth might be annoying to a horse but is not painful and there is no blood. What is wrong with this picture??
Can you even imagine a farrier being arrested and charged with a felony for putting shoes on a horse?
Friday, March 6, 2009
Foaling Anxiety
I am going to try to answer your questions here, Rae. I don't know what is up with all of the problems trying to leave comments, but I wish they would try to get it fixed.
One thing that you said in your comment was: "So who knows???" and that is a great summery. We have been foaling mares for many, many years and I still get nervous and anxious with each one. I lose many hours of sleep and when I do sleep it is so light that the lest noise startles me. Our foaling stall is right outside our living room door, so that makes it very convenient.
My DH just goes to bed and says, "Wake me up when you see feet." He figures I worry enough for both of us. But if he doesn't have to work the next day he does occasionally set his alarm and checks the mare throughout the night to let me get some rest.
We have had mares foal at all hours, day and night. All mares are totally different but I do take notes on each mare and they usually follow the same pattern year after year. We have one mare who stands and eats hay, stops, yawns, then yawns again, then lies down and pops the baby out. She shows no signs of foaling other than yawning.
We have had mares who just turn and look at their bellies on one side, then turn and look at their bellies on the other side, then lay down and foal. We had one mare who would try to destroy the stall. One of our mares was an embryo transplant mare for many years for a popular show stallion and she thinks that it takes a whole crew of people for her to foal. She will definitely let you know when her time has come, she wants you to hold her hoof and tell her to breathe.
People do not understand why we watch our horses so closely and won't leave home if we have one close to foaling but we have had so many times that if we hadn't been there we would have lost both the mare and the foal, we take it seriously because they are our responsibility.
Another sign that you can look for but probably not with Georgia is by opening the vulva. Mares will normally be pink inside but will become very red during or right before labor. Their udder can look tight without being tight also, the only way that you can tell that the udder is strutted to the max is by touching it, again this is probably not possible with your mare.
I would just about bet you that your mare has the same bloodlines as mine. Our mare is a registered TW and she is beautiful but totally nuts, we took her in on trade from someone who rescued her, they thought that she had been mistreated and would come around but she never did and she ended up kicking the lady. From what I have been told about the bloodline they are the smoothest of the smooth but are crazy and very high strung. The good news is that we have had two foals by her and she has not passed this trait down to her foals when bred to a level headed stallion.
We have thirty something horses at the moment and we have had tons of abscesses, we have even had two get abscesses in two feet at once. They are very painful and disturbing to see but they eventually blow out the top of the hoof and all the pain is relieved. You can have a Vet or Farrier open them up but we only did that once because it really didn't help that much.
As for the bute, we don't use it. We do use banamine and it has it's problems too. I have even been told by a Vet that she doesn't recommend the injectable because it can cause a rotting hole at the injection site. We have given a lot of shots and have never had a problem with it but I guess the paste is safer.
One thing that you said in your comment was: "So who knows???" and that is a great summery. We have been foaling mares for many, many years and I still get nervous and anxious with each one. I lose many hours of sleep and when I do sleep it is so light that the lest noise startles me. Our foaling stall is right outside our living room door, so that makes it very convenient.
My DH just goes to bed and says, "Wake me up when you see feet." He figures I worry enough for both of us. But if he doesn't have to work the next day he does occasionally set his alarm and checks the mare throughout the night to let me get some rest.
We have had mares foal at all hours, day and night. All mares are totally different but I do take notes on each mare and they usually follow the same pattern year after year. We have one mare who stands and eats hay, stops, yawns, then yawns again, then lies down and pops the baby out. She shows no signs of foaling other than yawning.
We have had mares who just turn and look at their bellies on one side, then turn and look at their bellies on the other side, then lay down and foal. We had one mare who would try to destroy the stall. One of our mares was an embryo transplant mare for many years for a popular show stallion and she thinks that it takes a whole crew of people for her to foal. She will definitely let you know when her time has come, she wants you to hold her hoof and tell her to breathe.
People do not understand why we watch our horses so closely and won't leave home if we have one close to foaling but we have had so many times that if we hadn't been there we would have lost both the mare and the foal, we take it seriously because they are our responsibility.
Another sign that you can look for but probably not with Georgia is by opening the vulva. Mares will normally be pink inside but will become very red during or right before labor. Their udder can look tight without being tight also, the only way that you can tell that the udder is strutted to the max is by touching it, again this is probably not possible with your mare.
I would just about bet you that your mare has the same bloodlines as mine. Our mare is a registered TW and she is beautiful but totally nuts, we took her in on trade from someone who rescued her, they thought that she had been mistreated and would come around but she never did and she ended up kicking the lady. From what I have been told about the bloodline they are the smoothest of the smooth but are crazy and very high strung. The good news is that we have had two foals by her and she has not passed this trait down to her foals when bred to a level headed stallion.
We have thirty something horses at the moment and we have had tons of abscesses, we have even had two get abscesses in two feet at once. They are very painful and disturbing to see but they eventually blow out the top of the hoof and all the pain is relieved. You can have a Vet or Farrier open them up but we only did that once because it really didn't help that much.
As for the bute, we don't use it. We do use banamine and it has it's problems too. I have even been told by a Vet that she doesn't recommend the injectable because it can cause a rotting hole at the injection site. We have given a lot of shots and have never had a problem with it but I guess the paste is safer.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Corneal Ulcer
While showing a horse to someone on Sunday afternoon, I noticed that several of the horses eyes were watering. One of them had quite a bit a pus in his eyes so I meandered down into the herd for a closer look. His eyes were fine but I started looking at other eyes and was shocked to find Naylor, our two year old, AQHA, solid bay gelding with a painful, runny and milky eye.
This looked very serious and we tried to get him in to see the Veterinarian on Monday but he wasn't available. On Tuesday morning we tried again to get him in to see our Vet and failed. So we called the new Vet who just opened a practice very close to where we live, she is just a young girl starting out and when we had called her once before her prices were too steep for us but we were desperate this time. She said that she could see him at 2:00.
She did a very thorough exam of his eye and diagnosed him with a corneal ulcer caused by an injury of some type, which she wanted to treat very aggressively. Very aggressively means that we have to keep him out of the sun or keep a fly mask on him and give him a shot every day plus put three different ointments in his eye twice per day and two of those ointments 4 to 6 times per day.
It wouldn't have been so hard if we could have put him in a stall and kept him here at the house but he had never been stalled and he wasn't having any part of it. He nearly tore the barn down. Naylor is a very quiet and gentle boy, my DH just got on him and rode off the very first time he was ridden but he didn't like being confined at all.
Since my Husband was going to be working all week, I didn't want to have to deal with him getting himself in trouble or hurt in the stall, so we stuck a fly mask on him and turned him back out with his herd. His herd doesn't want anything to do with him and treats him like he has cooties or worse.
They are savage, vicious and down right nasty to him. They bite him, kick him and chase him. He is totally confused and so pitiful, these were his best friends. We take the mask off of him at night and they are all happy to see him. Then the next day it's the same old battle.
This has been difficult for us, having to walk so far to get him in the dark and bring him back to the house. We have to twitch him to get him to hold his head still to put all that stuff in his eye. Tonight it was raining and cold, we drove to the top pasture and my DH had to walk out into the herd to find him, which isn't easy in the dark, he went right past him to another bay horse. Then he had to bring him back to me and the Blazer headlights to do the dirty deed.
What is shocking about the whole thing is that he never tries to get away from us when we come after him with a halter and lead rope. Sometimes he even sees us coming and walks to meet us. I don't understand why except that he loves to be petted and loved on, he doesn't exactly like having his eye messed with or getting a shot though. We have tried giving him some grain as a reward for his good behavior but he won't eat it, he just wants to get back to the herd after the loving and petting is over.
The Vet called to check on him yesterday evening and I didn't get her called back until this evening. I told her that we weren't seeing much improvement except that he doesn't act like it is hurting as much. She said that we wouldn't see much yet but that he should start keeping it open more, even if it does continue to water and look white. She said that it might even take a couple of months before all of the milkiness goes away.
I have to say that she impressed me, she is a very empathetic Doctor, her eye watered the whole time that she worked on Naylor's watery eye, plus she didn't charge us too much and that earns her a lot of points.
This looked very serious and we tried to get him in to see the Veterinarian on Monday but he wasn't available. On Tuesday morning we tried again to get him in to see our Vet and failed. So we called the new Vet who just opened a practice very close to where we live, she is just a young girl starting out and when we had called her once before her prices were too steep for us but we were desperate this time. She said that she could see him at 2:00.
She did a very thorough exam of his eye and diagnosed him with a corneal ulcer caused by an injury of some type, which she wanted to treat very aggressively. Very aggressively means that we have to keep him out of the sun or keep a fly mask on him and give him a shot every day plus put three different ointments in his eye twice per day and two of those ointments 4 to 6 times per day.
It wouldn't have been so hard if we could have put him in a stall and kept him here at the house but he had never been stalled and he wasn't having any part of it. He nearly tore the barn down. Naylor is a very quiet and gentle boy, my DH just got on him and rode off the very first time he was ridden but he didn't like being confined at all.
Since my Husband was going to be working all week, I didn't want to have to deal with him getting himself in trouble or hurt in the stall, so we stuck a fly mask on him and turned him back out with his herd. His herd doesn't want anything to do with him and treats him like he has cooties or worse.
They are savage, vicious and down right nasty to him. They bite him, kick him and chase him. He is totally confused and so pitiful, these were his best friends. We take the mask off of him at night and they are all happy to see him. Then the next day it's the same old battle.
This has been difficult for us, having to walk so far to get him in the dark and bring him back to the house. We have to twitch him to get him to hold his head still to put all that stuff in his eye. Tonight it was raining and cold, we drove to the top pasture and my DH had to walk out into the herd to find him, which isn't easy in the dark, he went right past him to another bay horse. Then he had to bring him back to me and the Blazer headlights to do the dirty deed.
What is shocking about the whole thing is that he never tries to get away from us when we come after him with a halter and lead rope. Sometimes he even sees us coming and walks to meet us. I don't understand why except that he loves to be petted and loved on, he doesn't exactly like having his eye messed with or getting a shot though. We have tried giving him some grain as a reward for his good behavior but he won't eat it, he just wants to get back to the herd after the loving and petting is over.
The Vet called to check on him yesterday evening and I didn't get her called back until this evening. I told her that we weren't seeing much improvement except that he doesn't act like it is hurting as much. She said that we wouldn't see much yet but that he should start keeping it open more, even if it does continue to water and look white. She said that it might even take a couple of months before all of the milkiness goes away.
I have to say that she impressed me, she is a very empathetic Doctor, her eye watered the whole time that she worked on Naylor's watery eye, plus she didn't charge us too much and that earns her a lot of points.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Nerve Damage?
As you may have noticed, I have not been faithful to my everyday blog lately. We have had some extra stress in our lives lately that I haven't written about here because it was just too sad and painful.
Garnet, one of our weanlings came down with either some kind of sickness or an injury, we are not sure what happened. We suspect some kind of nerve damage. It started out with him just not being able to stay with the foals. He is the oldest and had always been their leader and led them in running and playing. He would nicker at them but was reluctant to move and when he did move he took baby steps and acted as if every one was painful.
He had swelling on both sides of his neck like hard ridges, and one shoulder blade was much lower then the other. He acted as if all four feet were sore. We put him in a stall and started him on Banamine every four hours. He would not lay down, he didn't lay down for several days.
After awhile the ridges on his neck finally disappeared and his shoulder blades started looking normal again. He was able to flex his neck and lay down. Then his hind ankles started swelling, then it moved from his ankles to his right hind hock and his left hind thigh. His left hind thigh became so swollen that we were afraid that the skin would bust open.
He continued to eat grain well but he was losing a lot of weight. He was lying down most of the time and we couldn't get him up but he would occasionally get up on his own after he had banamine. His left hind leg, under the swelling was as cold as ice to touch and he drag that leg when he walked.
I talked to our Vet, who said to switch him to Bute because it is cheaper and might help more with the swelling. We switched and did see some improvement with the swelling. He also told me to start him on antibiotics, so we went from sticking him with a needle several times a day to just once. I crush his bute tablets and put them in applesauce, then syringe them into his mouth, he tolerates it and doesn't spit it out, so I guess it doesn't taste too bad.
He was really having a struggle getting to his feet and he was beating himself all up trying to get up in the stall, so we moved him back out to the pasture. The Vet had told me that there was hope as long as he could still get to his feet with the help of painkillers. But he said that if he got to the point that he could no longer get up, we would probably need to put him down.
This went on for a week and a half and on Wednesday morning, he couldn't get up. My DH was working that day and it was suppose to be sunny and hot. I had made up my mind to put him down that evening if he didn't get up that day. I continued his bute, carrying him water, applying fly spray and blue lotion on his many sores. He is covered in sores from both banging into things trying to get up and from just lying around so much.
But he did finally get up and walked a little bit, so we waited. He has been getting better ever since. He is well on the road to recovery now, he is still walking slow but he is staying with the others and is getting a little ornery about taking his medicine which is a good thing. I can, however, spray him with fly spray and blue medicine anywhere, anytime and he likes being brushed and having his throat scratched. So this horrible experience has been a benefit to a colt who would not let you touch him before he got sick.
Garnet, one of our weanlings came down with either some kind of sickness or an injury, we are not sure what happened. We suspect some kind of nerve damage. It started out with him just not being able to stay with the foals. He is the oldest and had always been their leader and led them in running and playing. He would nicker at them but was reluctant to move and when he did move he took baby steps and acted as if every one was painful.
He had swelling on both sides of his neck like hard ridges, and one shoulder blade was much lower then the other. He acted as if all four feet were sore. We put him in a stall and started him on Banamine every four hours. He would not lay down, he didn't lay down for several days.
After awhile the ridges on his neck finally disappeared and his shoulder blades started looking normal again. He was able to flex his neck and lay down. Then his hind ankles started swelling, then it moved from his ankles to his right hind hock and his left hind thigh. His left hind thigh became so swollen that we were afraid that the skin would bust open.
He continued to eat grain well but he was losing a lot of weight. He was lying down most of the time and we couldn't get him up but he would occasionally get up on his own after he had banamine. His left hind leg, under the swelling was as cold as ice to touch and he drag that leg when he walked.
I talked to our Vet, who said to switch him to Bute because it is cheaper and might help more with the swelling. We switched and did see some improvement with the swelling. He also told me to start him on antibiotics, so we went from sticking him with a needle several times a day to just once. I crush his bute tablets and put them in applesauce, then syringe them into his mouth, he tolerates it and doesn't spit it out, so I guess it doesn't taste too bad.
He was really having a struggle getting to his feet and he was beating himself all up trying to get up in the stall, so we moved him back out to the pasture. The Vet had told me that there was hope as long as he could still get to his feet with the help of painkillers. But he said that if he got to the point that he could no longer get up, we would probably need to put him down.
This went on for a week and a half and on Wednesday morning, he couldn't get up. My DH was working that day and it was suppose to be sunny and hot. I had made up my mind to put him down that evening if he didn't get up that day. I continued his bute, carrying him water, applying fly spray and blue lotion on his many sores. He is covered in sores from both banging into things trying to get up and from just lying around so much.
But he did finally get up and walked a little bit, so we waited. He has been getting better ever since. He is well on the road to recovery now, he is still walking slow but he is staying with the others and is getting a little ornery about taking his medicine which is a good thing. I can, however, spray him with fly spray and blue medicine anywhere, anytime and he likes being brushed and having his throat scratched. So this horrible experience has been a benefit to a colt who would not let you touch him before he got sick.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Can't Catch A Break
Miracle was just doing wonderful and then she went been down on us again. She woke up this morning and took three bottles in a heartbeat. She took her last bottles at 9:00 AM then when I went out to check on her at 10:30 AM she was lying flat out on her side panting like a dog and chilling. She was too weak to lift her head.
I took her temperature it was nearly 104º. So I went to work on her, I had my DH prop her up onto her stomach instead of the flat out on her side position with a bale of straw and put a blanket her. She wouldn't take a bottle or hold up her head, so I used the drench gun on her. I gave her a mixture of strong black coffee, molasses and some whiskey that I got from my neighbor.
Then I did two things that I was not sure was the right decision but I was desperate, I had my husband give her a shot of LA-200, a long lasting antibiotic that I use on my goats, even though she is on some type of medicine for the bladder infection that the Vet gave us. I also gave her some children's liquid ibuprofen. I don't think you are suppose to give it to animals but that is what I had on hand.
I very slowly gave her pedialyte drenches several times, letting her rest about 30 minutes between each drench. Then I drenched her again with the equal parts of the warm coffee, molasses and whiskey mixture.
I let her rest and waited to see what would happen and I finally started seeing her breathing start to slow down and she started lifting her head. Before long she was on her feet. She was slowing improving throughout the day but then had a little relapse this evening but not nearly as severe.
She is taking her bottles again and my DH said that he will help me feed her tonight, so that I can get some rest.
I took her temperature it was nearly 104º. So I went to work on her, I had my DH prop her up onto her stomach instead of the flat out on her side position with a bale of straw and put a blanket her. She wouldn't take a bottle or hold up her head, so I used the drench gun on her. I gave her a mixture of strong black coffee, molasses and some whiskey that I got from my neighbor.
Then I did two things that I was not sure was the right decision but I was desperate, I had my husband give her a shot of LA-200, a long lasting antibiotic that I use on my goats, even though she is on some type of medicine for the bladder infection that the Vet gave us. I also gave her some children's liquid ibuprofen. I don't think you are suppose to give it to animals but that is what I had on hand.
I very slowly gave her pedialyte drenches several times, letting her rest about 30 minutes between each drench. Then I drenched her again with the equal parts of the warm coffee, molasses and whiskey mixture.
I let her rest and waited to see what would happen and I finally started seeing her breathing start to slow down and she started lifting her head. Before long she was on her feet. She was slowing improving throughout the day but then had a little relapse this evening but not nearly as severe.
She is taking her bottles again and my DH said that he will help me feed her tonight, so that I can get some rest.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Limp but Alert
Topaz survived the night! She had been totally stiff all over but now she is limp. She can't hold her head up and she can't suck now. But she is still swallowing well when I squirt the goat's milk in. I always start out with some nutri-drench before each feeding.
She nickered at my DH twice last night, that is an improvement. She had stopped nickering all together. One eye looks really bad from rubbing on the straw while seizuring, but we are praying it isn't damaged too badly. I must admit that I didn't think she would survive the night, I know the Vet didn't.
She nickered at my DH twice last night, that is an improvement. She had stopped nickering all together. One eye looks really bad from rubbing on the straw while seizuring, but we are praying it isn't damaged too badly. I must admit that I didn't think she would survive the night, I know the Vet didn't.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Head Trauma
The Vet says that Topaz has head trauma, which was what I was afraid of, he thinks that either the mare was having a hard time keeping track of both of them and stepped on her or the other foal kicked her in the head.
He put her on steroids and said that she has no infections and is not dehydrated, but we had to separate her and I am going to have to bottle feed her, if she survives.
The Vet said that this is only the sixth set of twins that he has seen in his career. It will be such shame to loose Topaz to a head injury when she has beat the odds on everything else.
He put her on steroids and said that she has no infections and is not dehydrated, but we had to separate her and I am going to have to bottle feed her, if she survives.
The Vet said that this is only the sixth set of twins that he has seen in his career. It will be such shame to loose Topaz to a head injury when she has beat the odds on everything else.
Not out of the Woods
We are not out of the woods yet with Topaz. She has been doing wonderfully and my husband said that we were out of the woods with her. She was running and playing this morning at 7:00 then at around 10:00 when I went back out she couldn't get up, I tried to help her but I just couldn't do it. She finally did get up on her own but she was wobbling all over and holding her head at a strange angle. I have called the Veterinarian and he is on his way.
More later...
More later...
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Morning
This is my registered TWHBEA (Tennessee Walking Horse Breeder's and Exhibitor's Association) or Tennessee Walker.
Morning Gold Dust
This is Morning's injured leg after three weeks of treatment. I wish I had taken pictures when this first happened, you would not believe that it would ever look this good.
About three and a half inches of bone was exposed from top to bottom of the injury, there were two grooves in the bone. There was a large flap of skin that hung down under it. The Vet thought that the flap would have to be cut off at some point, but it seems to be reattaching. If you haven't read my other blogs about Morning's injury and treatment they are located here:
My DH was able to remove the bandage yesterday without the twitch but Morning was a nervous wreck as usual, she is just more relaxed with the twitch on. A friend of mine was here the other day when we changed her bandage and commented on how crazy she is, and was amazed at how she visibly relaxed when the twitch was applied. Her muscles stop quivering, she loses the wild look in her eyes, she lowers her head and stands still.
Morning Gold Dust
This is Morning's injured leg after three weeks of treatment. I wish I had taken pictures when this first happened, you would not believe that it would ever look this good.
About three and a half inches of bone was exposed from top to bottom of the injury, there were two grooves in the bone. There was a large flap of skin that hung down under it. The Vet thought that the flap would have to be cut off at some point, but it seems to be reattaching. If you haven't read my other blogs about Morning's injury and treatment they are located here:
My DH was able to remove the bandage yesterday without the twitch but Morning was a nervous wreck as usual, she is just more relaxed with the twitch on. A friend of mine was here the other day when we changed her bandage and commented on how crazy she is, and was amazed at how she visibly relaxed when the twitch was applied. Her muscles stop quivering, she loses the wild look in her eyes, she lowers her head and stands still.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Skinny Horses
When I seen the Vet the other day, I asked him about the number of skinny horses that he was seeing. He had told us earlier that he thought that it would really get bad this year because of the hay situation. But he said that he hadn't seen any that were real bad and that things hadn't gotten as bad as he had thought that they would. Hardly any calls for neglect or abuse and the ones that he checked out were just a little on the thin side but not starved nor neglected. But then he said that he hardly ever sees real skinny horses until March and April.
So, I explained from experience why this happens. Starting in March and carrying on into April our own horses start losing weight. The reason that they do this is because the new grass starts coming on and they get a taste of it, then nothing else satisfies. You can continue to feed hay or have free choice hay out for them but they won't eat it because the grass is just so much better and they are bored with hay by this time anyway. The new grass doesn't have much nutrition and is sparse, so they start to fall off in weight.
The Police start getting a lot of calls for horses and cattle being out, because they start pushing on their fences to reach that grass that is growing thick and untouched on the other side, it is greener too, by the way.
So, I explained from experience why this happens. Starting in March and carrying on into April our own horses start losing weight. The reason that they do this is because the new grass starts coming on and they get a taste of it, then nothing else satisfies. You can continue to feed hay or have free choice hay out for them but they won't eat it because the grass is just so much better and they are bored with hay by this time anyway. The new grass doesn't have much nutrition and is sparse, so they start to fall off in weight.
The Police start getting a lot of calls for horses and cattle being out, because they start pushing on their fences to reach that grass that is growing thick and untouched on the other side, it is greener too, by the way.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
My Bad Day
It all started out warm and comfy, snuggled under the blankets, sleeping like a baby, then the door burst open and my out-of-breath husband says, "You are going to have to come and help me, we have a severely injured horse." Well this isn't unusual because I get awakened by this tone of voice regularly but it is usually announcing that we have a foal on the way or horses out.
It was still dark when I stumbled out of bed and went to the junk room where bandages, vet wrap and other medical supplies are kept, however the room had been recently rearranged by our youngest son trying to run an extension cord. So, it took me awhile to move a few boxes in order to find the things that were needed.
I usually get up slowly and in stages in the morning because of my back, I drag myself out of bed and make it to my computer chair and take a few pills to deaden the pain, then I sit there until I can stand upright and can actually walk. There was no time for that this morning, so I wasn't standing or walking upright.
Somehow, as it turns out the electric fence had been unplugged and something had broken a fence wire and drug it into the broodmare lot where the pregnant mares are awaiting their due dates. It could have been a deer, they tend to tear down most of our electric fences. The mares have to be kept in a dry lot or as it is now, a muddy lot, so that they have no access to fescue grass or hay. Fescue causes all kinds of foaling problems and since fescue is everywhere, the only answer is to put them in a lot with no grass and feed them only grain and hay without any fescue in it.
Morning is my beautiful black registered Tennessee Walker mare and she was the one who got the wire wrapped around her hind ankle. It is a very nasty injury, we brought her into the barn to look it over and she was unable to flex her foot forward, so we knew she had a damaged tendon, the cut was to the bone and all the way across the front of the leg and partially around the side and down. We wrapped a disposable diaper around the leg and then wrapped it tightly with vet wrap.
Morning is due to foal on March 12th, so we called the Vet and had him come down at his convenience, since we knew that he would not be able to do much with it. We have been through these types of injuries before. But we still wanted his opinion.
My husband had left for work and I was waiting for the Vet, when I heard our Stallion talking to the remaining three pregnant mares, who are just across the fence from him. There was a bit of squealing, so I went to check and he was in the lot with them. In the darkness my husband had thought that the wire had come from the other side of the pen, since fence was down on that side, but it was also down on the stallion side. So, I had to walk out there on the frozen, uneven mud to make sure there was not anymore wire in that lot and to see if anyone else had gotten injured.
I wrapped up the downed wire as best I could and made sure that the mares could not get out on either side and left the Stallion in with them because there was also wire on the ground on his side of the fence that I didn't want to deal with because I had a splitting headache.
In the mean time, my little Angel (the dog), had seen her chance to slip in the barn and grab some good stuff to chew on, so I had to chase her down and scold her. Then I fed the goats, chickens, dogs and cat and watered everything.
I finally made it back into the house to make me some coffee but then I heard the Vet coming down our driveway, so I bundled back up. Did I mention that it was 19º with a wind chill of -40º? Well, that is what it felt like!
Morning is a very nervous horse, who only likes my husband even though she is technically mine, her heart belongs to him. She does not like strangers at all and she really thought the Vet was stranger than most. The Vet said that anytime a tendon is damaged like her's is, it makes them panicky because they no longer have control of the foot or leg. But I told him that she was born panicky and this was just typical "Morning" behavior.
She had stood fairly quiet while my husband had wrapped her leg but she just knew that this man with the knife in his hand was going to amputate. He finally got the wrap off, but only because he is very good at what he does and has had a lot of practice with stupid horses.
Then he did horrible things to her poor leg, like rub the bone and pull the extensor tendon out to show me that it had been completely severed. He also said that she had grooved the bone in two places. He said that she would probably heal back alright, and that the injury was high up enough that she wasn't in much danger of getting infection in the ankle joint.
We have had these types of injuries before and they seem to heal up with just scarring to remind you that it ever even happened. It is the cuts on the back of the legs that usually make a horse lame for life.
So, then the Vet and I discussed and solved all of the world's problems before he attempted to rewrap her leg, we were doing pretty well with her until the horse-eating chickens came into the barn, then we had to regroup and try again, we finally got it wrapped. Then he gave me my instructions of changing the wrap daily and penicillin for 10 days, we had already given her a tetanus anti-toxin before he came.
After the Vet left I went back into the house to make me some coffee, but before I did, I looked out the window and seen that one of my goats was out of her pen. So, I bundled up again and made several failed attempts at getting her back into the pen. I won't go into how I finally accomplished it but I was ready for a rest when I was done.
I had just gotten back in the house and had taken off my several layers of warm clothing, when I started hearing a strange sound. I couldn't quite figure out what it was and then I thought that I had better go outside to check it out. As soon as I opened the door I knew I was in trouble because I had heard that sound before. I ran back in the house and bundled up as fast as I could and ran for my husband's persuader stick.
The two stallions had gotten together, there was still an electric fence between them but I was beginning to suspect that it wasn't on since they were both leaning on it to get at each other, but even if it was on, they wouldn't have cared at this point.
I have had this happen to me once before with two stallions when I was home alone, it was impossible for me to separate them by myself and they both ended up a bloody mess and one had a broken jaw before help arrived. We did get them separated but they never did decide who was King.
With that earlier incident in my mind, I just could not let them get through that fence now. I tried to catch the older stud that had been in with the pregnant mares earlier but he would not have it, all I could do was run them from one corner to the other corner and back again, over and over.
Finally, the older stud stopped and came to me and let me halter him and lead him back to the gate that held the mares. I looked at the fence that he had come through and it was still up, so he had to of just walked carefully through it because it wasn't on.
By this time, I was exhausted and so was he, he waited patiently while I tried to get the stupid gate open but the snaps that held the gate closed were frozen. I fumbled with them and banged on them for a long time, then tried to think of another way to get him back where he needed to be. Finally one of the snaps broke loose and I got the gate open.
By this time the sun had just barely thawed the top of the mud, so that it was still frozen hard but slippery. I was so thankful that he is such a good boy and so easy to handle because it took me a long time to walk him across that treacherous lot and back to his pen. After I made it through yet another gate, I walked him along his fence line fixing the wire as we went.
When we made it to his water trough, it was frozen and he started licking around on it, I started pushing on the ice to see if I could find a weak place that I might be able to break it, then just as easy as can be, he put a front foot through the ice and started drinking. I guess he didn't need my help after all.
I went back to the house to make me some coffee, then I thought that I had better take him some hay, so I grabbed a flake and went through the little gate that goes into the broodmare lot, I walked once more across that uneven, frozen and slippery broodmare lot to his fence and threw the hay over.
When I turned around, I saw that one of the mares who could barely walk on the frozen ground had made it to the little open gate and was now free as a bird. Boy, was I mad this time, she knew better than that! All horses can smell an open gate, I think that I need to get a grant and study this phenomenon. I spent the next 20 minutes trying to get her back in the lot. After she was safely back in place and the gate was securely fastened, I went to the house to make me some coffee.
That was when I noticed that the same goat that had gotten out earlier was out again, reminding me to go check to see why the fence didn't seem to be working. After using the same technique that I had used earlier to get the goat put back up. I walked up the hill to the fence charger and sure enough, it was not plugged in. No one knows how the charger got unplugged but it sure caused a lot of problems.
Everything seemed fine at this point and I thought that it might be safe to go inside, take off most of my layers of clothing and fix me some coffee and that is what I did, all except the coffee part, instead I just laid down on the bed and went to sleep. I did make some coffee when I woke up at about 2:00 in the afternoon.
It was still dark when I stumbled out of bed and went to the junk room where bandages, vet wrap and other medical supplies are kept, however the room had been recently rearranged by our youngest son trying to run an extension cord. So, it took me awhile to move a few boxes in order to find the things that were needed.
I usually get up slowly and in stages in the morning because of my back, I drag myself out of bed and make it to my computer chair and take a few pills to deaden the pain, then I sit there until I can stand upright and can actually walk. There was no time for that this morning, so I wasn't standing or walking upright.
Somehow, as it turns out the electric fence had been unplugged and something had broken a fence wire and drug it into the broodmare lot where the pregnant mares are awaiting their due dates. It could have been a deer, they tend to tear down most of our electric fences. The mares have to be kept in a dry lot or as it is now, a muddy lot, so that they have no access to fescue grass or hay. Fescue causes all kinds of foaling problems and since fescue is everywhere, the only answer is to put them in a lot with no grass and feed them only grain and hay without any fescue in it.
Morning is my beautiful black registered Tennessee Walker mare and she was the one who got the wire wrapped around her hind ankle. It is a very nasty injury, we brought her into the barn to look it over and she was unable to flex her foot forward, so we knew she had a damaged tendon, the cut was to the bone and all the way across the front of the leg and partially around the side and down. We wrapped a disposable diaper around the leg and then wrapped it tightly with vet wrap.
Morning is due to foal on March 12th, so we called the Vet and had him come down at his convenience, since we knew that he would not be able to do much with it. We have been through these types of injuries before. But we still wanted his opinion.
My husband had left for work and I was waiting for the Vet, when I heard our Stallion talking to the remaining three pregnant mares, who are just across the fence from him. There was a bit of squealing, so I went to check and he was in the lot with them. In the darkness my husband had thought that the wire had come from the other side of the pen, since fence was down on that side, but it was also down on the stallion side. So, I had to walk out there on the frozen, uneven mud to make sure there was not anymore wire in that lot and to see if anyone else had gotten injured.
I wrapped up the downed wire as best I could and made sure that the mares could not get out on either side and left the Stallion in with them because there was also wire on the ground on his side of the fence that I didn't want to deal with because I had a splitting headache.
In the mean time, my little Angel (the dog), had seen her chance to slip in the barn and grab some good stuff to chew on, so I had to chase her down and scold her. Then I fed the goats, chickens, dogs and cat and watered everything.
I finally made it back into the house to make me some coffee but then I heard the Vet coming down our driveway, so I bundled back up. Did I mention that it was 19º with a wind chill of -40º? Well, that is what it felt like!
Morning is a very nervous horse, who only likes my husband even though she is technically mine, her heart belongs to him. She does not like strangers at all and she really thought the Vet was stranger than most. The Vet said that anytime a tendon is damaged like her's is, it makes them panicky because they no longer have control of the foot or leg. But I told him that she was born panicky and this was just typical "Morning" behavior.
She had stood fairly quiet while my husband had wrapped her leg but she just knew that this man with the knife in his hand was going to amputate. He finally got the wrap off, but only because he is very good at what he does and has had a lot of practice with stupid horses.
Then he did horrible things to her poor leg, like rub the bone and pull the extensor tendon out to show me that it had been completely severed. He also said that she had grooved the bone in two places. He said that she would probably heal back alright, and that the injury was high up enough that she wasn't in much danger of getting infection in the ankle joint.
We have had these types of injuries before and they seem to heal up with just scarring to remind you that it ever even happened. It is the cuts on the back of the legs that usually make a horse lame for life.
So, then the Vet and I discussed and solved all of the world's problems before he attempted to rewrap her leg, we were doing pretty well with her until the horse-eating chickens came into the barn, then we had to regroup and try again, we finally got it wrapped. Then he gave me my instructions of changing the wrap daily and penicillin for 10 days, we had already given her a tetanus anti-toxin before he came.
After the Vet left I went back into the house to make me some coffee, but before I did, I looked out the window and seen that one of my goats was out of her pen. So, I bundled up again and made several failed attempts at getting her back into the pen. I won't go into how I finally accomplished it but I was ready for a rest when I was done.
I had just gotten back in the house and had taken off my several layers of warm clothing, when I started hearing a strange sound. I couldn't quite figure out what it was and then I thought that I had better go outside to check it out. As soon as I opened the door I knew I was in trouble because I had heard that sound before. I ran back in the house and bundled up as fast as I could and ran for my husband's persuader stick.
The two stallions had gotten together, there was still an electric fence between them but I was beginning to suspect that it wasn't on since they were both leaning on it to get at each other, but even if it was on, they wouldn't have cared at this point.
I have had this happen to me once before with two stallions when I was home alone, it was impossible for me to separate them by myself and they both ended up a bloody mess and one had a broken jaw before help arrived. We did get them separated but they never did decide who was King.
With that earlier incident in my mind, I just could not let them get through that fence now. I tried to catch the older stud that had been in with the pregnant mares earlier but he would not have it, all I could do was run them from one corner to the other corner and back again, over and over.
Finally, the older stud stopped and came to me and let me halter him and lead him back to the gate that held the mares. I looked at the fence that he had come through and it was still up, so he had to of just walked carefully through it because it wasn't on.
By this time, I was exhausted and so was he, he waited patiently while I tried to get the stupid gate open but the snaps that held the gate closed were frozen. I fumbled with them and banged on them for a long time, then tried to think of another way to get him back where he needed to be. Finally one of the snaps broke loose and I got the gate open.
By this time the sun had just barely thawed the top of the mud, so that it was still frozen hard but slippery. I was so thankful that he is such a good boy and so easy to handle because it took me a long time to walk him across that treacherous lot and back to his pen. After I made it through yet another gate, I walked him along his fence line fixing the wire as we went.
When we made it to his water trough, it was frozen and he started licking around on it, I started pushing on the ice to see if I could find a weak place that I might be able to break it, then just as easy as can be, he put a front foot through the ice and started drinking. I guess he didn't need my help after all.
I went back to the house to make me some coffee, then I thought that I had better take him some hay, so I grabbed a flake and went through the little gate that goes into the broodmare lot, I walked once more across that uneven, frozen and slippery broodmare lot to his fence and threw the hay over.
When I turned around, I saw that one of the mares who could barely walk on the frozen ground had made it to the little open gate and was now free as a bird. Boy, was I mad this time, she knew better than that! All horses can smell an open gate, I think that I need to get a grant and study this phenomenon. I spent the next 20 minutes trying to get her back in the lot. After she was safely back in place and the gate was securely fastened, I went to the house to make me some coffee.
That was when I noticed that the same goat that had gotten out earlier was out again, reminding me to go check to see why the fence didn't seem to be working. After using the same technique that I had used earlier to get the goat put back up. I walked up the hill to the fence charger and sure enough, it was not plugged in. No one knows how the charger got unplugged but it sure caused a lot of problems.
Everything seemed fine at this point and I thought that it might be safe to go inside, take off most of my layers of clothing and fix me some coffee and that is what I did, all except the coffee part, instead I just laid down on the bed and went to sleep. I did make some coffee when I woke up at about 2:00 in the afternoon.
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