Weeks 8 and 9 at SVEC

            The last two weeks have been very busy at Saginaw Valley!  This past week we had Dr. Williams, a board certified equine surgeon who completed her residency at MSU start working at our clinic.  We jumped right in and had four surgeries her first week – a neurectomy, a cryptorchid castration, an umbilical hernia, and a splint bone fracture.  The splint bone fracture was anything but ordinary as the mare had been kicked and a piece of the other horses’ hoof became embedded in her leg.  She came into the clinic several weeks ago after the piece of hoof had been pulled from the leg by the referring veterinarian.  She had a bad cellulitis and infection in her leg (including the bone), so we spent much time sweating her leg trying to get the swelling down and antibiotics to control the infection so we would have a better chance of success with surgery.  In surgery, there were additional small pieces of hoof debris that had to be flushed out and the diseased portion of the splint bones was removed.  Despite the 6 inch incisions on both sides of her leg, she came out of surgery well and is on the road to recovery.

            We also have had many interesting medicine cases as well.  A 3 month old Standardbred colt came in neurologic.  The owners found the colt down in the pasture that morning.  He could not stand and was also acting “spacey”.  Their local veterinarian came out and gave him IV DMSO and dexamethasone.  There was no history of trauma, although the owner did see a neighbor’s dog chasing the horses the day before.  When he got to the clinic later that afternoon, he was already significantly improved and could get up and walk but he still didn’t seem right mentally.  He didn’t respond much to the new environment, which was very strange given that he has grown up out on pasture with little handling.  We pretty much just observed him for a few days and gave him dexamethasone and he continued to improve, acting more and more like a feisty young colt.  It was likely trauma versus some sort of encephalitis as he improved with time and steroids, but we will never know exactly what happened.

            Another mare was seen on a farm call with a swollen eye.  Her eye was so large, you couldn’t see the globe and the conjunctiva was protruding from beneath the eyelid.  She was brought into the clinic the next day where the swelling was already much improved.  Upon examination of the eye, we could see she had a severe corneal ulcer and her eye was infected (the cornea was cloudy).  We put a lavage system with a pump in so the medication is continually administered.  She is being given an antimicrobial, an antifungal, and her own serum to help with the healing.  She is also being given banamine orally to help with the pain.  Her eye is healing but still has a long way to go.  I can’t imagine treating such a bad case without the lavage, as their patience for eye meds seems to diminish quickly!