We have been blessed with horses that will just walk into any trailer. I love those types of horses! But I guess all horses can't be easy loaders and well, we have one of those now. Or should I say, we had one of those!
One day we spent six hours trying to get this horse into the trailer. We finally admitted defeat, but ended on a good note. I was determine to fix this horse and I decided to listen to the 'old timers'. From my observations, the old timers really do know what they are talking about.
We have been told that if you will feed a horse in a trailer, they will learn to go in and out with no problem. So we put our trailer in the round pen. Then we gutted the trailer so that it was just a ramp going in to an open area. We started by putting the feed on the floor half way in the trailer. After doing that about four times, we put the food on the floor in the far end of the trailer. The horse ate there for about a week.
Next we put the partition back into the trailer and set it up so the horse could only walk up on one side of the trailer to eat. We hung the bucket so that it was close to the horse when he walked into the trailer. Again, we did this for five days, twice a day. Then we put the bucket on the other side of the rail so the horse would have to walk all the way into the trailer to eat. This was good and again, he ate in the trailer twice a day.
The final phase was getting him into the trailer and putting the butt bar up and hooking him up to the chain. Then we put the food in the trailer. He now will load into the trailer with no problems. This has made a huge difference and we are very thankful that we have "old timers" in our lives that are willing to teach!
Showing posts with label Horses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Horses. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Lease a horse...don't buy...
Deciding which horse to buy is a difficult decision. Often, you think you have found the perfect horse only to find out it had some hidden problem or that it just does not get along with the other animals. When that occurs, you now are faced with a difficult decision of how do you sell the horse.
This problem can be avoided by simply leasing the horse with a purchase option. If you lease for six months or a year, you will know if this is the right horse for you. You will know if it blends in well with the rest of the herd and if it has separation issues. You will know if it cribs or is a wind sucker. You will know how he really handles on the trail and in an arena. And the best part is if he is not what you want, you can just return him to the seller! It really is best for the horse, seller and buyer...lease your horse, don't buy!
This problem can be avoided by simply leasing the horse with a purchase option. If you lease for six months or a year, you will know if this is the right horse for you. You will know if it blends in well with the rest of the herd and if it has separation issues. You will know if it cribs or is a wind sucker. You will know how he really handles on the trail and in an arena. And the best part is if he is not what you want, you can just return him to the seller! It really is best for the horse, seller and buyer...lease your horse, don't buy!
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Respect your Veterinarian's Time!
I have never worked for a veterinarian nor am I related to one; however, I do have good friends that have worked for one and I have read books written by veterinarians. One thing that is VERY important to any vet is 'time'. They kind of remind me of OB doctors. They need you to run on time and yet, when they are late, they need your "understanding". My OB doctor over the years was very punctual. Yes, he had a military back ground. Out of 12 years of seeing him through 6 pregnancies, he was only late to ONE of my appointments! That is amazing! And that one time, he was VERY late. No, I was not upset in the least because I knew that when my babies came, he would be there for me too!
So back to the vet...and farm calls. Farm calls are when the vet comes to YOU instead of you going to the vet. When I first had the vet come out to my home 16 years ago, I did not bother having my horse caught and 'ready' to go. I knew my horse and she was an easy catch. But the reality is even though she was easy, it still took 'time'. Maybe only 5 minutes, but it was a waste of the vet's time.
This came very clear the last time the vet came out to the farm about five years ago. We had sheep, cows and horses that were being seen. Lots of blood work was being drawn to verify that the animals were all disease free. I will blog on that topic on another date. We had several Angus cows and steers that needed checking before we blended them with our herd. They were VERY difficult to deal with even though we had a head catch. The visit was taking 'time'. To the point that the vet was taking care of the horse and sheep while we switched cows around. That night was a late night and I was embarrassed by the difficulties that presented.
This past Thursday we needed blood work drawn on our Jerseys, a lump checked on a horse and a goat with a bad ear. We 'thought' about this a good deal and decided to deal with the most difficult animals first: The Jerseys. We were ready to go and when we saw the vet pull through the gate we brought in Laurie Belle. We tied her up, put up the butt bar and grabbed the feed to keep her happy. The vet came over and gave the TB test and then pulled blood. We put Laurie Belle back and next came Jasmine. We put her in the shoot, she had her TB test and then the blood was drawn. Next was Max with a quick neck exam and then the goat. Even though the appointment took about an hour, there was no time 'wasted'. There was an animal ready for the vet as soon as one animal was finished. It made me feel good to understand the importance of really being ready for your vet and for us to be prepared. I'm glad that I read, "I Make Horse Calls" by Dr. Thibeault DVM so that I could learn the importance of respecting your veterinarian's time! Maybe 'my' vet is too!
So back to the vet...and farm calls. Farm calls are when the vet comes to YOU instead of you going to the vet. When I first had the vet come out to my home 16 years ago, I did not bother having my horse caught and 'ready' to go. I knew my horse and she was an easy catch. But the reality is even though she was easy, it still took 'time'. Maybe only 5 minutes, but it was a waste of the vet's time.
This came very clear the last time the vet came out to the farm about five years ago. We had sheep, cows and horses that were being seen. Lots of blood work was being drawn to verify that the animals were all disease free. I will blog on that topic on another date. We had several Angus cows and steers that needed checking before we blended them with our herd. They were VERY difficult to deal with even though we had a head catch. The visit was taking 'time'. To the point that the vet was taking care of the horse and sheep while we switched cows around. That night was a late night and I was embarrassed by the difficulties that presented.
This past Thursday we needed blood work drawn on our Jerseys, a lump checked on a horse and a goat with a bad ear. We 'thought' about this a good deal and decided to deal with the most difficult animals first: The Jerseys. We were ready to go and when we saw the vet pull through the gate we brought in Laurie Belle. We tied her up, put up the butt bar and grabbed the feed to keep her happy. The vet came over and gave the TB test and then pulled blood. We put Laurie Belle back and next came Jasmine. We put her in the shoot, she had her TB test and then the blood was drawn. Next was Max with a quick neck exam and then the goat. Even though the appointment took about an hour, there was no time 'wasted'. There was an animal ready for the vet as soon as one animal was finished. It made me feel good to understand the importance of really being ready for your vet and for us to be prepared. I'm glad that I read, "I Make Horse Calls" by Dr. Thibeault DVM so that I could learn the importance of respecting your veterinarian's time! Maybe 'my' vet is too!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
How to Detect Ulcers in Horses
When a horse has an ulcer, it can be very difficult to detect. The signs are often subtle and can indicate other problems. If you have been following this blog long, you know that Max has been dealing with diarrhea since the first week of January 2011. He is still dealing with diarrhea.
Most horses would have been dead by now, but Max is like the energizer bunny...he just keeps going and going and going! Until last week, that is...he could no longer walk...he could not lay down, because then he would not get up...he stopped eating...he stopped drinking...I knew this was the end.
I called the vet on her cell. Yes, I now have a direct line to reach the vet at any time. I told her that after two hours of trying, I could not get Max to walk. We broke down the round pen and brought it to the horse. I also told her that he was stretching in an unusual manner...like a dog! He would lean WAYYYY FORWARD...and then WAYYYYYY BACKWARDS...as far as he could go. And then he would lift his head WAYYYY high, like he was trying to see something far off. Each time he did this, I was so afraid that he was going to fall because he had no coordination. He honestly was walking like a drunk!
My vet asked how quickly I could get to her office. My reply: 15 minutes. She said good. When I arrived, they handed me a bag of Ulcer Guard. She instructed me to give him 1/2 a tube each day on an empty stomach. I knew this was probably our last option.
When I arrived home, I gave him his medicine right away. Since he had not eaten in over 24 hours, I knew I was giving him the medicine on an empty stomach. Within 24 hours, I saw some improvement. I began to hope...again. From the 24 hour to the 48 hour time span, I saw the MOST improvement! His coordination improved greatly and his appetite returned with vigor! He is now eating six pounds of feed per day and cleans his hay up most of the time. He is beginning to walk with confidence and his poops are solid cow pies! My only concern now is his water consumption. He is drinking about a gallon of water per hour. This has been going on for about two days. I have sent a message to the vet and I will let you know what she says about his increased water consumption. For now, he is doing better...and once again, I have great hope that he will make it through this just fine!
Most horses would have been dead by now, but Max is like the energizer bunny...he just keeps going and going and going! Until last week, that is...he could no longer walk...he could not lay down, because then he would not get up...he stopped eating...he stopped drinking...I knew this was the end.
I called the vet on her cell. Yes, I now have a direct line to reach the vet at any time. I told her that after two hours of trying, I could not get Max to walk. We broke down the round pen and brought it to the horse. I also told her that he was stretching in an unusual manner...like a dog! He would lean WAYYYY FORWARD...and then WAYYYYYY BACKWARDS...as far as he could go. And then he would lift his head WAYYYY high, like he was trying to see something far off. Each time he did this, I was so afraid that he was going to fall because he had no coordination. He honestly was walking like a drunk!
My vet asked how quickly I could get to her office. My reply: 15 minutes. She said good. When I arrived, they handed me a bag of Ulcer Guard. She instructed me to give him 1/2 a tube each day on an empty stomach. I knew this was probably our last option.
When I arrived home, I gave him his medicine right away. Since he had not eaten in over 24 hours, I knew I was giving him the medicine on an empty stomach. Within 24 hours, I saw some improvement. I began to hope...again. From the 24 hour to the 48 hour time span, I saw the MOST improvement! His coordination improved greatly and his appetite returned with vigor! He is now eating six pounds of feed per day and cleans his hay up most of the time. He is beginning to walk with confidence and his poops are solid cow pies! My only concern now is his water consumption. He is drinking about a gallon of water per hour. This has been going on for about two days. I have sent a message to the vet and I will let you know what she says about his increased water consumption. For now, he is doing better...and once again, I have great hope that he will make it through this just fine!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Day 35 of Colitis X
My horse has been through so much and now he is now fighting Colitis X. This is a fancy way of saying he has sever diarrhea with an unknown cause. Interestingly enough, it has a fatality rate of 100% after three days. Max has been fighting this for 35 days so far. As you can tell, he has forgotten to read the Merck manual!
We have tried every medication on the market. We are now trying old time remedies. We have been giving him yogurt with raw eggs. And we have been giving him buttermilk and eggs. Last night I gave him dried cabbage leaves which he will not eat, so I guess that is not going to work. I have been mixing enzymes in his morning yogurt. I think I will increase that to twice a day.
Is what we are doing working? Only time will tell. What we have observed in the past 9 days since Max was discharged from ICU and brought home is he will now eat. He is now eating 1.5 quarts of oats per feeding. We are now feeding him three times a day. He won't eat anything but oats...so oats it is for now. I do have barley on order and I will introduce that later this week.
Another improvement: He only goes potty once an hour to an hour and a half. It is a LARGE volume that he will pass...like a gallon or two at a time. Before he had a continuous drip and passing of gas. Now things are staying in his system longer. I'm hopeful that is a good sign.
Today I will be adding Slippery Elm to his morning yogurt. I'm hopeful that will benefit him. I will let you know later this week how things are going. We continue to take this one day at a time. I'm thankful for each day that I have my horse and I keep praying for his diarrhea to be cured. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
We have tried every medication on the market. We are now trying old time remedies. We have been giving him yogurt with raw eggs. And we have been giving him buttermilk and eggs. Last night I gave him dried cabbage leaves which he will not eat, so I guess that is not going to work. I have been mixing enzymes in his morning yogurt. I think I will increase that to twice a day.
Is what we are doing working? Only time will tell. What we have observed in the past 9 days since Max was discharged from ICU and brought home is he will now eat. He is now eating 1.5 quarts of oats per feeding. We are now feeding him three times a day. He won't eat anything but oats...so oats it is for now. I do have barley on order and I will introduce that later this week.
Another improvement: He only goes potty once an hour to an hour and a half. It is a LARGE volume that he will pass...like a gallon or two at a time. Before he had a continuous drip and passing of gas. Now things are staying in his system longer. I'm hopeful that is a good sign.
Today I will be adding Slippery Elm to his morning yogurt. I'm hopeful that will benefit him. I will let you know later this week how things are going. We continue to take this one day at a time. I'm thankful for each day that I have my horse and I keep praying for his diarrhea to be cured. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
I Make Horse Calls: Book Review
I attended the Alabama Horse Fair earlier this month and while there, I met the author of the book, I Make Horse Calls
, Marcia Thibeault, DVM. She was working her booth selling the books that she has written. After speaking with her about her books, I purchased the first book in her series: I Make Horse Calls, Living a Dream With Horses. She said many moms have purchased the book for their homeschooling children. She also assured me that I would not have to worry about the language in the book, unlike other veterinarians that have written books. And she was right!
This books is VERY informative without being dry. Her heart is to teach about horse care and she succeeds, even with this book just like she did as a veterinarian. She often uses common terminology and then educates one on the proper medical terminology. She teaches about the importance of having a relationship with your veterinarian and the benefits of regular horse care. She shares her real life experience of progressing to and through vet school. And she does all of this while maintaining the reader's interest and being entertaining! That equals one talented author!
So, do I recommend this book? YES! My thirteen year old son will be the next to read this book and then we will read it as a family read-a-loud. More importantly, I'm looking forward to purchasing the next book in her series: More Horse Calls A Dream Fulfilled
Once you read her book, share with me your favorite story. I would love to hear from you!
, Marcia Thibeault, DVM. She was working her booth selling the books that she has written. After speaking with her about her books, I purchased the first book in her series: I Make Horse Calls, Living a Dream With Horses. She said many moms have purchased the book for their homeschooling children. She also assured me that I would not have to worry about the language in the book, unlike other veterinarians that have written books. And she was right!This books is VERY informative without being dry. Her heart is to teach about horse care and she succeeds, even with this book just like she did as a veterinarian. She often uses common terminology and then educates one on the proper medical terminology. She teaches about the importance of having a relationship with your veterinarian and the benefits of regular horse care. She shares her real life experience of progressing to and through vet school
. And she does all of this while maintaining the reader's interest and being entertaining! That equals one talented author!So, do I recommend this book? YES! My thirteen year old son will be the next to read this book and then we will read it as a family read-a-loud. More importantly, I'm looking forward to purchasing the next book in her series: More Horse Calls A Dream Fulfilled
Once you read her book, share with me your favorite story. I would love to hear from you!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Alabama Horse Fair
I went down to the Alabama Horse Fair this weekend. It was another great horse fair with lots of great speakers, clinicians and VENDORS! If you live within five or six hours or even 8 hours of Montgomery, Alabama, you should really consider attending next year!
I saw Amber Mathewson who owns Trouper. Amber competed about 18 months ago in the Extreme Mustang Makeover and that is where she first met Trouper. She had 100 days to take this wild horse and train him to accept a saddle, rider and a variety of situations. She did a wonderful job with Trouper who stole her heart and will stay with her forever!
At the horse fair, Amber was representing Redmond, a salt company. She has been using this all natural product for about six months and has really become a believer in the benefits of this product. So much so, that she brought this product to the horse fair to share with everyone who will listen...which included me! I have used Real Salt for my family for years; now I'm giving it to my animals! I'm looking forward to seeing improved health as these animals consume what Yahweh created for them! If you are interested in learning more, here is their website: Redmond Natural Equine Salt & Minerals. And while you are at it, join their facebook fan page and tell Amber that the Townsons referred you!
The other reason that I attended the horse fair is because I was very interested in another product: EquiPride. I'm a member of a trail riding Yahoo group and one of the members has spoken VERY highly of EquiLix. Michele has been using this product for a couple of months now. When she first put this product out for her six mares, they ate a good bit of it and the 125 pound tub lasted six weeks. The second tub she put out has lasted those same six mares twelve weeks. Wow! Think of that! She is ONLY feeding this product and hay: THAT'S IT! Nothing else and her older horse is GAINING weight during the winter months. I found this INCREDIBLE! And they have products for sheep, goats and cows...so you know I brought some of this home to see how our animals will respond. I'm hoping that I will see a weight gain on our cows that are destined for our freezer. I'll keep you posted.
A pleasant surprise was meeting Dr. Marcia Thibeault, DVM. She has authored several books about real stories from her veterinarian practice. I purchased I Make Horse Calls and am looking forward to reading it this week. I'll let you know how I enjoy it in a couple of days.
Those were the highlights of my 'vendor' experience at the horse show. Thank you for reading this blog and if you have any questions about these products, let me know. I'll do my best to answer them for you. Have a great week!
I saw Amber Mathewson who owns Trouper. Amber competed about 18 months ago in the Extreme Mustang Makeover and that is where she first met Trouper. She had 100 days to take this wild horse and train him to accept a saddle, rider and a variety of situations. She did a wonderful job with Trouper who stole her heart and will stay with her forever!
At the horse fair, Amber was representing Redmond, a salt company. She has been using this all natural product for about six months and has really become a believer in the benefits of this product. So much so, that she brought this product to the horse fair to share with everyone who will listen...which included me! I have used Real Salt for my family for years; now I'm giving it to my animals! I'm looking forward to seeing improved health as these animals consume what Yahweh created for them! If you are interested in learning more, here is their website: Redmond Natural Equine Salt & Minerals. And while you are at it, join their facebook fan page and tell Amber that the Townsons referred you!
The other reason that I attended the horse fair is because I was very interested in another product: EquiPride. I'm a member of a trail riding Yahoo group and one of the members has spoken VERY highly of EquiLix. Michele has been using this product for a couple of months now. When she first put this product out for her six mares, they ate a good bit of it and the 125 pound tub lasted six weeks. The second tub she put out has lasted those same six mares twelve weeks. Wow! Think of that! She is ONLY feeding this product and hay: THAT'S IT! Nothing else and her older horse is GAINING weight during the winter months. I found this INCREDIBLE! And they have products for sheep, goats and cows...so you know I brought some of this home to see how our animals will respond. I'm hoping that I will see a weight gain on our cows that are destined for our freezer. I'll keep you posted.
A pleasant surprise was meeting Dr. Marcia Thibeault, DVM. She has authored several books about real stories from her veterinarian practice. I purchased I Make Horse Calls
and am looking forward to reading it this week. I'll let you know how I enjoy it in a couple of days.Those were the highlights of my 'vendor' experience at the horse show. Thank you for reading this blog and if you have any questions about these products, let me know. I'll do my best to answer them for you. Have a great week!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
So...What Exactly Happened To Max...And How Do YOU Prevent Clostridial Myonecrosis In YOUR Horse?
Clostridial Myonecrosis in horses is highly fatal. As I did research, one study stated that the fatality rate is 90%. That statistic really speaks volumes for how agressive this disease is to a hors
Clostridial Myonecrosis is the same as Blackleg in cattle. It is also called gas gangrene. When my vet lanced Max's abscess, she said gas came rushing out of his neck. I hope she was wearing a mask!
So how did Max, my four year old quarter horse gelding get clostridial myonecrosis? We will never know for sure, but he fit the 'mold' to come down with it. If you read the link that I posted earlier, Clostridial Myonecrosis Study you will see that the study included 37 horse, of which 27 survived. That is a 73% survival rate which is astounding! The median age of the horses in the study was three with the range being from six months old to twenty years old. This is SIGNIFICANT.
To calculate the 'median' age, you rank the age of the horses, from smallest to largest. Then you take the number of observations, 37, and add 1. This is because it is an 'odd' number of observations. Take the resulting number, 38 and divide by 2. The median age of horses in this study is at the 19 observation point which is three. So think about that...the middle observation of the ranked data was three years of age! THIS IS A YOUNG HORSE DISEASE!
The next important point to notice is that the majority of horses were being treated for colic. The horses were given an injection of 'something'. Some horses received Banamine injections or vitamin B injections.
It is also important to note that cleaning the injection site with alcohol will NOT kill the spores that cause Clostridial Myositis.
Breed and gender do not influence which horse will acquire this disease.
So back to Max...at the time of presentation with Clostridial Myosisis, he was 4.5 years old. Remember, this is a young horse disease: he fits. He presented with signs of colic on December 7th. The majority of horses that contract this disease are being treated for colic. I suspect that when a horse has colic, that their immunine system is more suspectable to this bacteria. Some university needs to study that hypothesis in my opinion. On December 7th, I gave him a shot of vitamin C; BUT I tried to load vitamin B1 in the shot only to discover the bottle was empty. So there was vitamin B1 contamination. I DID clean his injection shot with alcohol, BUT I used a 3/4 inch needle. I have since learned that you should ALWAYS use a 1 1/2 inch needle on a horse.
That's it. That is what happened to cause Max to come down with this deadly disease. It does not sound like much, does it? But is was enough...
What would I do different? I would NEVER give a young horse an injection to treat colic unless my vet told me to. I would never give a young horse an injection of vitamin B. And I will NEVER use a needle shorter than 1 1/2 inches long on a horse again.
Max has now been at Williamson's Equine Hospital for 41 days. The range of hospitalization in the study was 1 to 63 days with the median duration being 12 days.
When I took him into the hospital, he was swollen in his neck (about twice the normal size), his head and his chest. His chest looked like he had TWO balloons hanging down. It was horrible! Max could hardly walk and he was grinding his teeth due to pain.
The veternerian knew exactly what we were fighting. We both knew Max was fighting for his life. Neither of us expected him to live. Dr. Williamson told me I would have to leave Max and with tears in my eyes, I said what I thought might be my last goodbye.
Max started to show good improvement. An abscess formed and the vet put a drain in Max's neck on the 12th. I thought I would be able to bring him home on either the 16th or the 17th of December...then the phone rang. It was the morning of the 14th. Max had taken a turn for the worse. The vet said he could hardly walk and he was now swollen down to the coronet band of BOTH front legs. She was starting him on a different antibiotic. She prepared me for him not making it through.
She did not call. I did not call. I waited...AND PRAYED. Many people have prayed for both Max and Dr. Williamson. The next call came in on the 18th. Dr. Williamson said that he had responded well to the new antibiotic and that he should be able to come home around the 23rd! What great news!
Around the 21st, Dr. Williamson did surgical debridement. When she finished cleaning the wound in Max's neck, you could have put a softball in his neck and it would have had room to rattle around! It was a HUGE hole!
We cleaned the barn. We cleaned Max's stall. We were set for him to come home! Then we had a personal family emergency which required Max to stay longer at the equine hospital. This was a blessing in disguise because he needed another drain. I was hopeful that he would come home the second week of January, but then the diarrhea started. Dr. Williamson stopped his antibiotics in an attempt to get the diarrhea under control. As of January 13th, it was not undercontrol. She said it would just take time...which I understand.
Right now, it looks like Max will survive and have a full recovery. As I hear news, I will update the blog on his condition. If you would like to learn more about this disease, here are two more excellent articles. If you own a horse, please take time to read this information. A quick response is essential if your horse is going to survive...as well as an EXCELLENT vet...and LOTS of prayers!
Here are the other articles:
Clostridial Myonecrosis
Clostridial Myonecrosis is the same as Blackleg in cattle. It is also called gas gangrene. When my vet lanced Max's abscess, she said gas came rushing out of his neck. I hope she was wearing a mask!
So how did Max, my four year old quarter horse gelding get clostridial myonecrosis? We will never know for sure, but he fit the 'mold' to come down with it. If you read the link that I posted earlier, Clostridial Myonecrosis Study you will see that the study included 37 horse, of which 27 survived. That is a 73% survival rate which is astounding! The median age of the horses in the study was three with the range being from six months old to twenty years old. This is SIGNIFICANT.
To calculate the 'median' age, you rank the age of the horses, from smallest to largest. Then you take the number of observations, 37, and add 1. This is because it is an 'odd' number of observations. Take the resulting number, 38 and divide by 2. The median age of horses in this study is at the 19 observation point which is three. So think about that...the middle observation of the ranked data was three years of age! THIS IS A YOUNG HORSE DISEASE!
The next important point to notice is that the majority of horses were being treated for colic. The horses were given an injection of 'something'. Some horses received Banamine injections or vitamin B injections.
It is also important to note that cleaning the injection site with alcohol will NOT kill the spores that cause Clostridial Myositis.
Breed and gender do not influence which horse will acquire this disease.
So back to Max...at the time of presentation with Clostridial Myosisis, he was 4.5 years old. Remember, this is a young horse disease: he fits. He presented with signs of colic on December 7th. The majority of horses that contract this disease are being treated for colic. I suspect that when a horse has colic, that their immunine system is more suspectable to this bacteria. Some university needs to study that hypothesis in my opinion. On December 7th, I gave him a shot of vitamin C; BUT I tried to load vitamin B1 in the shot only to discover the bottle was empty. So there was vitamin B1 contamination. I DID clean his injection shot with alcohol, BUT I used a 3/4 inch needle. I have since learned that you should ALWAYS use a 1 1/2 inch needle on a horse.
That's it. That is what happened to cause Max to come down with this deadly disease. It does not sound like much, does it? But is was enough...
What would I do different? I would NEVER give a young horse an injection to treat colic unless my vet told me to. I would never give a young horse an injection of vitamin B. And I will NEVER use a needle shorter than 1 1/2 inches long on a horse again.
Max has now been at Williamson's Equine Hospital for 41 days. The range of hospitalization in the study was 1 to 63 days with the median duration being 12 days.
When I took him into the hospital, he was swollen in his neck (about twice the normal size), his head and his chest. His chest looked like he had TWO balloons hanging down. It was horrible! Max could hardly walk and he was grinding his teeth due to pain.
The veternerian knew exactly what we were fighting. We both knew Max was fighting for his life. Neither of us expected him to live. Dr. Williamson told me I would have to leave Max and with tears in my eyes, I said what I thought might be my last goodbye.
Max started to show good improvement. An abscess formed and the vet put a drain in Max's neck on the 12th. I thought I would be able to bring him home on either the 16th or the 17th of December...then the phone rang. It was the morning of the 14th. Max had taken a turn for the worse. The vet said he could hardly walk and he was now swollen down to the coronet band of BOTH front legs. She was starting him on a different antibiotic. She prepared me for him not making it through.
She did not call. I did not call. I waited...AND PRAYED. Many people have prayed for both Max and Dr. Williamson. The next call came in on the 18th. Dr. Williamson said that he had responded well to the new antibiotic and that he should be able to come home around the 23rd! What great news!
Around the 21st, Dr. Williamson did surgical debridement. When she finished cleaning the wound in Max's neck, you could have put a softball in his neck and it would have had room to rattle around! It was a HUGE hole!
We cleaned the barn. We cleaned Max's stall. We were set for him to come home! Then we had a personal family emergency which required Max to stay longer at the equine hospital. This was a blessing in disguise because he needed another drain. I was hopeful that he would come home the second week of January, but then the diarrhea started. Dr. Williamson stopped his antibiotics in an attempt to get the diarrhea under control. As of January 13th, it was not undercontrol. She said it would just take time...which I understand.
Right now, it looks like Max will survive and have a full recovery. As I hear news, I will update the blog on his condition. If you would like to learn more about this disease, here are two more excellent articles. If you own a horse, please take time to read this information. A quick response is essential if your horse is going to survive...as well as an EXCELLENT vet...and LOTS of prayers!
Here are the other articles:
Clostridial Myonecrosis
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Update on Max
It has been over a month and Max is still at the equine hospital. He had an impaction on December 7th. The 8th I stayed up with him until 1:00 am December 9th. I started to page the vet at 7:00 am on the 9th and finally made contact around 8:30 am. I told them Max was not moving, not eating and not really drinking. He appeared to be blind in his left eye. He was not looking good at all. They told me to bring him right into the vet.
I was doubtful that I could load Max because everytime I approached him, he would turn his hind feet towards me. When I went out, I took a bucket of warm water as it was in the lower 20s...I held it for him...and he drank! I then put a halter on him and started to lead him to the trailer. He was hurting, I could tell. And I also knew the ONLY reason he was following me was because he trusted me.
When we were about ten feet from the trailer, he stopped. I could not get him to move. About that time, my son Bear was feeding his horse, Diamond. I asked him to bring the feed and we used that to tempt Max into the horse trailer. IT WORKED! Max loaded just as faithfully as always. I said a prayer of thanks.
Once we were at the vet's office, we took his blanket off so she could give Max an exam. As soon as that blanket was off, my heart broke. He was so SWOLLEN! The blanket that had been loose the night before was now so tight that there was an indention around his neck: almost a 1/2 inch deep! He could only walk slowly. We determined that he had a reaction to the vitamin shot that I had given him on Tuesday night. Even though I had used a new needle and syringe and wiped his neck with alcohol, the fact that the bottle was almost empty was not good. Plus I used a 3/4 inch needle. I now know that one should always use at least a 1 1/2 inch needle. He ended up fighting the bacteria that causes gangrene.
Here is a link to learn more about what he had: http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/aaep/2002/910102000131.PDF
I will post more tomorrow about Max's fight for life.
I was doubtful that I could load Max because everytime I approached him, he would turn his hind feet towards me. When I went out, I took a bucket of warm water as it was in the lower 20s...I held it for him...and he drank! I then put a halter on him and started to lead him to the trailer. He was hurting, I could tell. And I also knew the ONLY reason he was following me was because he trusted me.
When we were about ten feet from the trailer, he stopped. I could not get him to move. About that time, my son Bear was feeding his horse, Diamond. I asked him to bring the feed and we used that to tempt Max into the horse trailer. IT WORKED! Max loaded just as faithfully as always. I said a prayer of thanks.
Once we were at the vet's office, we took his blanket off so she could give Max an exam. As soon as that blanket was off, my heart broke. He was so SWOLLEN! The blanket that had been loose the night before was now so tight that there was an indention around his neck: almost a 1/2 inch deep! He could only walk slowly. We determined that he had a reaction to the vitamin shot that I had given him on Tuesday night. Even though I had used a new needle and syringe and wiped his neck with alcohol, the fact that the bottle was almost empty was not good. Plus I used a 3/4 inch needle. I now know that one should always use at least a 1 1/2 inch needle. He ended up fighting the bacteria that causes gangrene.
Here is a link to learn more about what he had: http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/aaep/2002/910102000131.PDF
I will post more tomorrow about Max's fight for life.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
A Hard Lesson
Homesteading is not always easy. It is not always fun. Sometimes we make mistakes and others suffer due to our ignorance. That is one of the reasons we started this blog: to help others learn from our mistakes...so you, your family and your animals, don't have to suffer due to ignorance.
We knew the temperatures were going to be low for several nights in a row. Normally we hay our animals twice a day; however, with the temperatures dipping into the teens and twenties for this week, we put a round bale of hay in the big pasture for all of the animals. As we have horses in the pasture, the hay quality is high. Unfortunately, I did not realize that a horse can over eat on hay.
Yep, when my son brought my horse up Tuesday night to feed, he came and got me. My son informed me that Max was not his normal self and that he had diarrhea. Sure enough, my son was correct. I made a quick call to the vet as it was almost 5:00 pm. That is when I learned that horses will eat and eat and eat hay when it is cold out. They often don't drink enough water and they get an impacted colon, which then leads to colic. NOT GOOD.
Tuesday night I gave Max a bran mash and two quarts of mineral oil, plus an injection of vitamin C. He was given Banamine, orally, also. Wednesday morning, he was still dragging his feet, but there was fresh manure in the pen. I gave him an injection of Banamine at this point and headed to town.
The vet reached me as I was almost home and told me I had to get a blanket on him. Since I did not have one, that meant another drive to town. When I left in the afternoon, Max was visibly shaking. I did not arrive back home until 8:00 pm with the new blanket. His head is low, he did not eat all of his meal and he is not drinking. I'm very discouraged. To be honest, I'm concerned I will lose him. How did we get here with a healthy four year old gelding? I let him eat freely of hay when it was cold outside. Please heed my warning: Don't free feed your horse hay, especially if he is not used to it and it is cold outside.
We knew the temperatures were going to be low for several nights in a row. Normally we hay our animals twice a day; however, with the temperatures dipping into the teens and twenties for this week, we put a round bale of hay in the big pasture for all of the animals. As we have horses in the pasture, the hay quality is high. Unfortunately, I did not realize that a horse can over eat on hay.
Yep, when my son brought my horse up Tuesday night to feed, he came and got me. My son informed me that Max was not his normal self and that he had diarrhea. Sure enough, my son was correct. I made a quick call to the vet as it was almost 5:00 pm. That is when I learned that horses will eat and eat and eat hay when it is cold out. They often don't drink enough water and they get an impacted colon, which then leads to colic. NOT GOOD.
Tuesday night I gave Max a bran mash and two quarts of mineral oil, plus an injection of vitamin C. He was given Banamine, orally, also. Wednesday morning, he was still dragging his feet, but there was fresh manure in the pen. I gave him an injection of Banamine at this point and headed to town.
The vet reached me as I was almost home and told me I had to get a blanket on him. Since I did not have one, that meant another drive to town. When I left in the afternoon, Max was visibly shaking. I did not arrive back home until 8:00 pm with the new blanket. His head is low, he did not eat all of his meal and he is not drinking. I'm very discouraged. To be honest, I'm concerned I will lose him. How did we get here with a healthy four year old gelding? I let him eat freely of hay when it was cold outside. Please heed my warning: Don't free feed your horse hay, especially if he is not used to it and it is cold outside.
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