Blind Laddie Visits His Doctor

I hauled a trio of blind horses into Missoula today to see Dr. Erin Taylor at Blue Mountain Veterinary Hospital.  Laddie, shown above, was one of the horses making the trip.  He needed to see Erin for a couple of reasons.  He has a lingering lameness problem in his front left leg from an arthritic knee; Erin had injected his joints with cortisone a few months ago, and that had really helped.  In the past few days, however, he had developed a pronounced limp in that leg.  Of course, by today when it was time to visit with his doctor, he wasn't limping at all.  (Just like taking your car to the mechanic, you know?)  Because you want to use the steroid injections only when absolutely necessary, and keep the intervals between treatments as long as possible, Erin recommended we continue monitoring Laddie, use an anti-inflammatory (bute) to keep him comfortable, and see how he does.

The other issue with Laddie was a suspicious, abnormal growth on his left eyelid that we noticed yesterday.  Because of his coloring, he's at greater risk for skin cancers, so we wanted to have Erin remove it and send it in for a biopsy. 

In case you're wondering, Erin is not choking dear old Laddie in that photo at the top.  She's tying off his jugular vein as she injects a sedative into him.  Laddie needed to be thoroughly sedated before Erin could cut the growth out of his eyelid.

In this photo Erin is scrubbing his eye while Julia, one of the vet techs at the clinic, holds Laddie still.

Laddie is truly one of the sweetest, gentlest horses we have.  He's also the smartest horse at the ranch.  He can a) open doors, b) turn gate handles, and ... we learned to our chagrin ... c) even unhook the safety latches we installed once we learned about his ability to do 'a' and 'b'.  These are all the things we tell people that blind horses don't do.  But he is the only one we've known who can do them, so I think this is a case of the exception proving the rule.  (Maybe.)  Meanwhile, Laddie has repeatedly earned the nickname we gave him early on, Laddie the Lock-picker.

The other two horses making the trip were Darby, also in for a recheck on a lameness issue, and her sidekick little Brynn, who was along only to keep Darby company.  (Translation:  Keeping Darby mellow.)  Brynn enjoys Darby's friendship but wasn't sure why she had to tag along for the ride to the clinic, since she's spent more time in veterinary hospitals in her first year of life than the average horse spends in an entire lifetime.

Comments

[Boundforglory]

I hope lock pickin' Laddie's biopsy comes back clean and that he and Darby feel some relief after a cortisone shot; or whatever the good Dr. Taylor prescribes for their lameness.

[Shirley & James, Portland, OR]

Thanks for the updates. Your photos are always so clear. I feel like I could reach in and pet each horse, dog or kitty!