Hello, hello! I am back to share another week of awesome adventures with Clinton Vet. After a marvelous first week I didn't think that week two could surprise me with anything out of the norm. Boy was I wrong! Week two brought even more learning opportunities and hands on...or in...experiences.
Monday started out with pregnancy checks and health certificates for some horses going to new homes. It was an exciting start as all of the mares we checked were positive for pregnancies! Since I used to work closely with the mares at the MSU farm, seeing them get in foal is always a treat. The next farm we stopped at belongs to one of my former professors from undergrad. I had the pleasure of following this mare from when she foaled her first filly (thank you social media), throughout her breeding process, and finally getting to see her pregnancy check! The rest of our Monday was filled with some routine vaccines and a lameness exam. It was a fun day, but was just the beginning of our crazy week.
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| Floating with an audience! |
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Believe it or not, that impacted feed
at the top was stuck UNDER the gum-line |
Tuesday began with a longer visit to a local farm for vaccines and dental checks. I first visited this fun farm when I was shadowing Dr. Cynthia back in 2015. Back then we were there to geld a spunky donkey, one of the first times I had seen that procedure performed. Once again I got to experience more firsts at this farm. After checking the horses (and donkeys) teeth we determined that 6 of our patients needed to have their teeth done. The first gelding we looked at had a cracked, and by the smell of it, infected tooth. Dr. Cynthia started to work on removing the tooth when she turned to me and asked if I would like to pull it. I immediately said yes! Now, I am normally quite squeamish when it comes to all things dental related. But, when put to the task of removing that nasty tooth I didn't bat an eye. After some work with the extractors the tooth came out beautifully. Our work continued as Dr. Cynthia started floating the next patient. As she finished up with her she asked if I would like to do the next one. I've watched floats being performed for a while, and have gotten to practice on cadavers during a wet-lab at school. But, I had never had the chance to complete one start to finish. Thanks do Dr. Cynthia's guidance and some willing, once they were sedated, patients I successfully performed my first four floats. It was a blast! How could this week get any more exciting?
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| Its a GIRL! |
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| Helping her into the world |
Well, it got a lot more exciting Wednesday morning. Dr. Cynthia's mare was due to foal during the middle/end of June. Each night Dr. Cynthia would check Sparkyl for changes in her udder, milk composition, and vulva relaxation. Tuesday night she still seemed stable, but when one of the office staff was working outside she noticed Sparkyl was laying down and straining in the pasture. We all rushed out to check and saw little feet emerging. Someone ran to get Dr. Cynthia from her house and the rest of us assessed Sparkyl's condition. She was calm and contracting well but not making much progress as far as moving the foal further out. So, Michelle and I put light tension on the forelimbs and helped little Miss. Indy into the world. It was a beautiful, sunny morning and the foal stood and nursed like a champ. She followed the "one, two, three" rule almost to a T. That is a handy way to remember the post-foaling order of events that should occur. The foal should stand within one hour, nurse within two, and the mare should pass the placenta in no more than three hours. It was so much fun to be a part of foaling Sparkyl out! I have gotten to assist with foaling at MSU, but rarely from start to finish like this one. I am grateful that we were all there and that Dr. Cynthia now has a gorgeous new filly.
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| First Steps! |
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| Healthy placenta |
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