Week 4 at Oakridge Equine

I should really just call this post Colic Week because I think that is just about all we saw this week! So many colics!

Monday I had off to get some rest and see some of the sights around Oklahoma. I spent most of the day at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, and also made a trip to a Route 66 landmark. A man dedicated his life to remaking mini versions iconic route 66 landmarks and has them on display not far from the clinic. Although a little past their prime, it was still really neat to see.

By Tuesday we had about five colics in the clinic already and took more in just about every night. By Friday every fluid stall we had was occupied! This called for lots of late night fluid changes and tubing and a few emergency surgeries so it was a tiring week to say the least!

In addition to the colic cases, we had a mare with pretty bad founder who had just foaled. The foal was adorable and I enjoyed spending time bottle feeding her while we cared for the mom. Unfortunately it was decided euthanasia was in the mare's best interest, but the foal was placed with another mare who took her in and she is expected to do just fine.

One of the more interesting surgeries we did was a laproscopic bilateral cryptorchidectomy. This was really neat to see, and the surgery went really well. We also did shoulder arthroscopy on a foal. It turns out getting into the shoulder joint is not as easy as the distal limb joints!

This week I spent some time helping with MRIs to see how they are done and how the anesthesia is run. I am really grateful for the interns who have helped me learn more about running anesthesia and monitoring the horses and I have even been able to put some artery lines in. It is much trickier than you would think!

The rest of the week was filled with pretty routine lameness exams, lacerations, puncture wounds, arthroscopies, arthrodesis, some foals with respiratory problems, sequestrums, and rechecks from surgeries we had seen a few weeks ago. It is nice to be here long enough to not only see some patients go home, but to see how they are doing several weeks later when they come back.

Friday I got to go on a farm call to look at some fillies with a respiratory bug and do some coggins. Although it was very hot and muggy outside, it was nice to get out and see some of the Oklahoma countryside!