Grow Wings or Get a New Horse

Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I scheduled the vet for Tuesday the 8th. He was an hour and 15 minutes late for our 3 p.m. appointment. I guess it could have been worse, considering the nature of his job! 

He was much more pleasant this time around. Maybe he's not a morning person? He asked how I was, and I said, well, I was hoping to not have to see you again so soon, but otherwise, I'm fine. He laughed, and asked how long it had been, so I told him he'd last been there on November 18. He did the calculations quickly, asked when she'd first appeared lame again...barn owner and I agreed about 3 weeks ago. He sort of cringed, and when I said I had really hoped I'd get more time out of the injection, he said, well, you should have. I asked if there was a chance it would last longer this time, and his reply was a rather cheeky, it's not unheard of, but she's just as likely to grow wings. I had to laugh. I said, if you can help her grow wings, she won't really need her legs at all...problem solved!

So, he sedated her...bratty mare pulled and backed away but didn't do anything more than that. Then he started scrubbing the leg. When he was satisfied it was clean enough, he twitched her, handed me the end of it, and prepped the gigantic needle. Two minutes and it was done. We walked back to the stall while he wrote the invoice.

While I was writing the check, I said, "So what is your recommendation if I only get another two months from this steroid?" 

He said, "Get a new horse." Then he kind of smiled and said, "I'm not trying to be mean, there are a few other options you can try...I would recommend trying the Adequan route at least once, but if this doesn't work, it's unlikely you'll be able to keep her sound. The good news is, you know where the lameness is. The bad news is, there is clearly a lot of damage in that joint."

"Is it worth it to try to put her out to pasture?"

"Anything is worth a shot, it's a matter of what you can do. Will putting her out make her sound? Probably not."

So, there you have it. I had my fingers crossed twenty times each that I'd start to see results this weekend, but I just got a phone call from the barn owner about 20 minutes ago, saying they found Promise upside down, cast with her leg in the gate this morning. How she got there, we'll probably never know...I guess it's fair to assume she rolled too close, but that's not like her. 

She has a big gash over her right eye, and some swelling. The vet is on her way there to check it and probably stitch it.  Promise was not very willing to walk this morning, and was understandably very sore. A good horse mom would have clarified that it was in fact the right leg in the gate...but in all honesty, I was too shocked to ask the question, and a part of me really doesn't want to know right now. I am staying at work for the time being...but told the barn owner to call me if she needed anything at all. 

She's been given some banamine, and a blanket, since she was soaked from the rain this morning.

I will go up after work and look in on her. Right now I just have my fingers crossed she hasn't damaged her eye, and that she won't colic from the stress.


UPDATE:
The theory is that she was kicking at the horse whose stall she was near, got her leg stuck and flipped herself. No idea if that's actually what happened, but seems like it's completely plausible.


Her eye required 3 stitches, but doesn't appear to have any damage to the cornea. Her leg has superficial scratches, but nothing deep. Both areas are swollen, but there is no way to know how much she did to the leg without waiting a couple of days to see how she feels...because we don't know how long she was in that position or how much she struggled. Vet didn't feel any sign of fracture.


She has to have drops in her eyes several times a day, and has been given a prescription for banamine, since we don't want her on bute. She will also be getting oral antibiotics to prevent infection in the eye. Stitches can come out in 10-14 days, and barn owner seems to think she can remove them so we don't need to have the vet back out. 


She was quite anxious for breakfast by the time they were done, and ate all of it. So, that's a good sign.