First Week Down!

My whirlwind first week at Saginaw Valley Equine Clinic has wrapped up.  After a brief introduction on day 1, I was thrown into the mix. The morning consisted of transrectal ultrasounds on mares that were to be breed.  By assessing follicle size and texture we can determine when a  mare is likely to ovulate and thus when to inseminate her.  To maximize the chance of conception, breeding should occur within 12 hours of ovulation.  After checking all the mares, we began farm calls.  This week we saw a horse with sarcoids on her face and nose.  Sarcoids are skin tumors that are common in horses but rarely life-threatening.  Bovine papillomavirus is associated with sarcoid formation.  Even if there are no cows on the property horses can still acquire the virus.  Dr. Jones had previously  seen this horse and surgically excised the sarcoids but they had begun to grow back so this time she used liquid nitrogen to freeze them.  Fingers crossed those pesky sarcoids are gone for good this time! 

In the middle of the week, we had a rescued appaloosa mare with a foal come in.  The mare was extremely skinny and there was no apparent cause for it.  The first thing we did was use an endoscope (a small, flexible tube with a camera on the end) to examine her stomach lining for ulcers.  Unfortunately, we were unable to get a clear view because the mare had food in her stomach so instead we ultrasounded her abdomen.  With the ultrasound we found she had an abscess on her liver which, sadly, has a poor prognosis. After several days of caring for her, her owner decided it was best she was euthanized.  Although we lost the mare, her foal is healthy and thriving and has a new pony friend and a new goat friend that hang out with her back at her farm.   

The week was fast-paced and the days were long but well worth it.  I'm looking forward to seeing more cases next week!