Our equine vet, Dr. Bill Brown, came out today to look at several of our horses. In fact, our list for Bill had 13 items on it! Some were minor issues (health exams on recent arrivals, re-checks on earlier cases, etc.), while others were major, such as laminitis in Rosie and an eye problem with Honey. (And one of our blind geldings turned out to have a potentially cancerous growth on his penis, but it's a good thing I didn't get any photos of that, huh?)
In this first photo, Bill is examining our blind American Quarter Horse mare Honey, who developed a very painful left eye ... so painful we had to sedate her for the exam. Otherwise she wouldn't let you get near it.
We'll end up having to remove Honey's eye. We don't like doing it, but sometimes it's the only option left, and if the eye is blind anyway, the only thing the horse knows is that the pain is finally gone -- and for that, they are grateful.
Rosie, another blind Quarter Horse mare who came a few weeks ago, seemed 'ouchy' on her feet from the minute she arrived. We attributed this initially to the fact that she had her hooves heavily trimmed the day before she was trailered out to us, and that can be a recipe for hoof problems. (Don't trim before you trailer!)
So we kept Rosie in a corral for weeks (green grass can exacerbate some hoof diseases like laminitis), treated her with an anti-inflammatory, and she seemed to get better. But just when we thought Rosie was finally over it, she'd have a flare-up. Thus it was time to get a definitive diagnosis.
From his exam Bill determined Rosie does have laminitis, a painful inflammation of the laminae, the soft tissue or membranes that hold the coffin bone to the hoof wall. And in bad cases, the coffin bone can rotate out of its normal position, causing increased discomfort and complications. The only way to find out whether rotation has begun is to X-ray the hoof, which is what we did today. We couldn't process the radiographs at the ranch, so Bill will call us tomorrow with the results.
For Rosie, this will mean special pads for her feet, corrective trimming, and other disease management techniques to help her cope with this problem.
After reading about a vet visit like today, plus all our other recent veterinary cases, it may not surprise you to learn that we've spent $19,464.68 (to be precise!) on veterinary care so far this year!
I hope these two lovely ladies feel better. They are in the right place to get their special needs attended to.
Posted by: Leilani | July 26, 2006 at 07:27 AM
We hope Honey & Rosie are feeling much better soon. They are both such beautys. We are so glad that they are at the RDR getting the wonderful attention & care, with love that they deserve. Nobody does it better!
Hugs to all,
ginger & Tobias
Posted by: ginger & Tobias (the greythound) | July 25, 2006 at 06:11 AM