A 17 yo Gelding became obruply lame while trotting on a rocky terain. He is Bright alert and responsive. Lameness 5\5. Responsive to hoof teseter, on the solare surface, especially on the medial side and the toe area. After a mild trim job, in hope of finding an abscess some hemorage and bruising was found on the medial side and the toe area of the sole.

We grade lamness from 1-5/5. 1/5 wouild be a very mild lameness, very hard to recognize. 5/5 is a horse that in not bearing any wheight on the leg.

We apply hoof testers on the foot to get a inflict a painful responce. A horse that is doing well will not respond at all to the hoof testers if used currectly. when there is a responce, we know where to look.

It was decided to take x rays.

On the x rays a fracture was noted on the medail side going toward the toe area. It is a oblique fracture that does not involve the Coffin joint.

In these fractures we are worried about the involvement of the joint and the age of the horse. There was no involvment of the joint so teh chances of recovery are good although the horse is 17yo and this means that the bones heal slower and weaker thana younger horse.

a bar shoe was placed on the hoof and a cast was applied. Usually ether woiuld do but I thoufght that the bar shoe was not suffitieant, that the clips on the side did not hold the hoof tight egnoth. The idea is to make sure that there is a minimal amount of movement inside the hoof capsula.

After a two weeks the horse did not show a lot of improvement. After a mounth time the horse improved dramatically and today a is turned out after only two and a half mounths from the injury.

A 5 yo mare flipped on her back after after trying to be taken off the trailer forcefully.

a fluid filled pocked was felt on the dorsal part of the lumbar region. The fluid filled pocket kept getting bigger throughout the next two weeks.

On palpation there was movement of fluid inside. aspiration of bloody fluid was obtained, what seamed to be whole blood.

The hematoma was surgically opened and drained, a penrose drain was left in. The pocket was flushed with antibiotics and saline. After a 3 dais the drain was taken out.

The opening closed nicely. DMSO and Cortisone were applied daily to reduce the thickness of the capsula that formed from the hematoma.

A 7 yo QH mare, 4 month pregnant.

Bladder eversion is mostly associated with parturition and third degree perineal lacerations. This just goes to show that horses don’t always read the books we do. The Bladder was in this position for about a year and a half. She was bread this way. 4 months pregnant.

The Bladder is reverting through the urethral sphincter so that exposed mucosa extends beyond the ventral commissure of the vulva.

An attempt to reverse the bladder back in its place was made at first, successful, it did not last long. After 2-3 hours the bladder was out again. DMSO and Cortisone were used to diminish the inflammation of the bladder, What seamed to be making the mare strain again and again an by this reverting the bladder was the palpation of the neck of the bladder. Local lidicaine was used as well.

On the third days a foley catheter (could not find one so I used a small tracheal tube intended for small animals) was placed inside the bladder (after replacing the everted bladder, which took a good hour). The cuff was inflated. A pursestring suture was placed around the the catheter. This suture helped keep the catheter in place and the urine dripping only from the catheter. The mare stopped straining and urine was coming out of the catheter. DMSO, lidocaine and Cortisone were used in the first 24 hours after surgery, to reduce the inflammation and the straining from the stimulus of the neck of the bladder.

Three weeks have passed and the mare is doing well.

The hard part to for the repair with wires was the fact that the fracture involved the third incisor as well which meant that simple fixation by anchoring the broken off mandible to the contralateral incisors would not be enough and there was a need to anchor the pice to the premolars as well. Very tricky business.

At first I anchored the fracture to the left side incisors by using a 16 g needle to guide me, passing the wire through it. I passed the needle in the space between the incisors, where the gum line stars. I anchored it in two places and tightened it into place.

The second part was very tricky, especially because the Colt was only sedated and not in general anesthesia. This does inflict a lot of pain and they do respond to almost every movement. I try to spray carbocaine where I think is necessary, to minimize movement. For pain I gave banamine full dose and some torbugesic. To get to the gap between the 2nd premolar and the 3rd, the approach is from the side of the mouth. A skin incision is made and then with blunt dissection a needle is passed through the cheek where the gap between the premolar lies. This is very difficult but keep in mind that this is possible (does not seem to be sometimes).

Wait 6-8 weeks to take out the wires, the time they start to get loosened

This is a filly that got hurt from the fence while trying to flee from her owner that was making an effort to catch his 2-yo filly that has never been handled. There is a lesson to be learned here…

The pool from the fence went through all her superficial ad deep muscles in the flank area and cheeped a piece ot her transverse process of two lumbar vertebrae. Through the incision palpation of the intestines, uterus and ovaries was possible. A 7- 10 inch hole was palpated. On palpation of the wound and the internal organs, no damage was noted to the viscera and other organs in the abdominal cavity.

On the first examination the wound was very contaminated so it was decided not to close the wound. Debridement and primary closure was made, with intention of reassessing the would in three days time. IV fluid therapy and antibiotics were administered at this time. IV and IM antibiotics were given daily for a period of 10 days.

Remarkably the filly remained alert and responsive. No other major abnormalities were noted except for the great discomfort that the wound was causing her. Her heart rate was mildly high (56 p/m) and a slight fever was taken at the time (38.8c).

A week after the initial treatment granulation tissue and contraction of the space that was left open inside the wound led to closure of more than 65% of the space left from the trauma.

The wound was bandaged every three days (for economical reasons, after hospitalizing her was not an option). The space was packed with gauze soaked in saline and antibiotics.

We are still far from the end but it looks promising. Amazing what the body can heal with just the help of fighting infection and stabilizing the animal initially. Contraction of the musculature did most of the primary closure of the dead space left after the injury. granulation tissue will fill in the rest, from inside out.

Very interesting.

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