Eyes, Joints And Teeth. Or, Another Day At The Vet.

This morning I drove a full trailer-load -- three blind horses and one mule -- to our equine vet clinic in Missoula, Blue Mountain Veterinary Hospital.  Two of the horses, Rocky and Shasta, needed surgery to remove painful eyes.  The third blind horse, recent arrival Bo, needed dental work.  And the mule, our lovable old Roy, needed his arthritic joints injected again with steroids.  (He does not play in Major League Baseball so this is okay.)

In the photo above, Shasta has been anesthetized and we've lifted him up off the ground with the ceiling-mounted hoist.  Our equine vet, Dr. Erin Taylor, is in the back in the green shirt; with her are vet techs Tiffany on the left, Courtney in the center and Amanda on the right, holding the controls for the hoist.

In this next shot they've raised the hydraulic surgery table that sits in the floor.  Once the operation is over, they lower the table, with the horse still on it, back into the floor.  Thus the horse is lying on the ground when he starts waking up from anesthesia:

Here Shasta is being lowered onto the table.  Erin and team are pulling him back towards them so he's square on the table.  (Notice I'm not helping, just taking photos.)  We've already added the head rest, and next will come the leg rests:

Now Erin is clipping the area around the eye she's going to remove, while Courtney is setting up the equipment to monitor his vital signs during the surgery:

And then Erin starts her surgery.  Before I knew it, she was finished, the operating table was retracted into the floor, and Shasta was starting to wake up.  I think the entire process took roughly 30 minutes or so:

If that was the main event -- Erin will do Rocky's eye surgery tomorrow -- these next photos show what else went on.  Another of the vets at the clinic, Dr. Doug Reedy, stepped in to float Bo's teeth.  One of the things we really like about this clinic is that there are five vets on staff, so whatever needs to get done will get done.  Thus Doug took care of Bo while Erin worked on Roy.  And Bo needed serious dental work, that's for sure.  It had been a long time, if ever, since he had any dental care.  Doug said Bo had hooks on his teeth that were among the worst he'd seen:

We had last injected Roy's stiff, arthritic joints back in August, and he was due to get some more steroids in him.  It made a remarkable difference for him the first time, and we're delighted the treatment lasted as long as it did. So here's Erin injecting his hock. Yes, that mule does have a head, it's just out of view!

Comments

[bailey]

hi great story and i am glad that the mule had a head, my name is bailey from denver i am 14 and i am leaning toward becoming equine vet and i think that this story and pics really helped me get a good taste in what is in this business. thanks

[Janet]

Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_teeth for some decent information on horse teeth. Look under "Dental Problems" for the hooks that Bo has. There's another reference to hooks under aging the horse, but those are different.

[Nina]

Amazing team of vets!!! Your animals are blessed with such tender care!

[Gena Flatley]

I'm so impressed with your photos and explanations, but I do have a question...

How is it that it does not hurt the horses' leg joints or feet when they lift him by the ankles? Of course they know what they are doing, but I'm confused...

Of course, when I think about it, I guess there is no other way to do it..... from a practical point of view.

Thanks, Gena

[ginger & Tobias (the greythound)]

I obviously know nothing about horses, since you mentioned hooks on Bo's teeth. Huh?
I hope Shasta, Rocky, Bo, and Roy are soon all back at the RDR feeling much better!
Thanks for making sure they get such excellent medical care & being there for them through the proceedures.
Hugs to all,
ginger, Tobias & Tlingit

[Janet]

Poor Bo, with all those hooks. That's probably partly why he's so thin. Those things make eating very difficult and painful.

[Teri Roth]

Just want to echo what Debbie said - I love seeing these pictures and learnign about the work being done.

[The Taylors from Olympic Peninsula in WA]

Eyes , joints and teeth-----how interesting and informative to get a look through your camera , at the procedures to help these guys, even the view from Roys back side is interesting(?) Maybe with his dental work done, Bo will be able to eat more comfortably and gain some weight,correct?It can be a "bear" when your teeth hurt!! Don't know how you do it, taking care of ALL that needs to be done at the ranch!!!! Bless you and stay strong and well . Thank you for everything you do! I strongly suspect the critters know (in their own special way) what you do to help them and that is why they thrive at the ranch. Good job!!!

[Jessica, NL]

Great pics, great story...you're excused Steve :-)! I like the rolls or something between Shasta's legs, to keep them from dangling I suppose?
With Bo's new teeth, I sure hope he starts to do better in the windtunnel later, no more angles and bumpy sides then!
Ofcourse, good luck for Rocky and Roy, too...

[Debbie Burke]

Wow, what a fascinating procedure for operating on horses! You do a great job of explaining what we're seeing in the pix. I'm always learning new info from your blog. Thanks! Hope all the patients are soon back at RDR, prancing and happy.

[Shirley & James, Portland, OR]

This is no small feat doing work on such large animals---these pictures blow me away!