MSU Large Animal Clinic

The first month has flown by and we have has some slow and some very busy days at the hospital. Each day brings some exciting cases, whether they end up staying for a week or just the day. In the past month we have seen a little bit of everything. Recently we had a Belgium mare come for dystocia. She presented in the afternoon, trying to actively push the foal out, this had been going on since about 8 AM that morning. The foal was deceased and after rectal palpation it was determined that they would not be able to pull the foal without anesthetizing the mare. After anesthetizing the mare they attempted to pull the foal, but with rigor mortis having set in they were unable to manipulate the legs and pull the foal out. A fetotomy was suggested. This was the first fetotomy I have seen. Although labor intensive, they only had to partially remove one leg before pulling the foal out. The mare recovered successfully and passed the placenta the next day before heading home. In the past month we have actually seen quite a few dystocias, mostly cows, but I have also assisted with one goat. Fortunately for the mare we did not have to perform a C-section, but most often that is what I have seen performed on the cows and goats.

Aside from daily hospital duties, routine lameness exams, and the occasional emergencies (sometimes not so occasional), I have also had the opportunity to help out with the Equine Theriogenology class. I have assisted with a couple castrations and one semen collection so far. Collecting from a stallion is pretty different than collecting from a bull, but it has been a great opportunity to be able to experience both.

Another interesting case that I have been lucky enough to help out with was a yearling that came in on emergency with anemia. The horse had a PCV of 12%, lactate of 18, and on ultrasound we found the blood swirling in the abdomen. With a highly suspecious diagnosis of hemoabdomen (a abdomenocentesis was never performed to confirm the diagnosis),  based on physical exam (heart rate and mentation), and PCV it was decided that the horse would need a blood transfusion. Luckily at MSU we almost always have universal blood donnor on site and we after some quick math, we were able to transfuse over five liters of blood. A heart rate, respiratory rate, and temperature have to be taken every five minutes when you are transfusing blood. The horse remained stable throughout the entire process and throughout the night. The next morning when I came into work the PCV/TS and lactate were re-evaluated and although the PCV remained fairly low (14%), the lactate decreased drastically from 18 mmol to ~1-2 mmol. The horse was much brighter in the morning and through the next coming days he would be almost back to his normal sassy yearling behavior.