Poor Jake he is hurting. When I went out to do chores yesterday morning Jake was hobbling around. I put him in a pen at the barn, he looked really sore but still using his leg. I checked out his leg and never found anything I thought there was a bit of a rough spot,I figured he must have gotten kicked and turned his ankle trying to get away.......Wrong ....Wrong .......Wrong.... I feel pretty stupid right about now. For most of the day I didn't see any change so I didn't do anything about it just kept him away from the other horses. By nightfall his leg was worse and he wasn't using it much. I knew he was going to have to be looked at by a professional. When I went out this morning there was no doubt that the girls from the Vet Clinic would have to make a trip out. I wasn't even going to try and load him....poor boy and take him in. The girls were quite prompt and good thing too because Jake's temp was starting to go up and his respirations as well. So they gave him a bit of a haircut and poked around and found this hole. These pics are a bit graphic.
Where you see the instrument poking out the other end is where I had felt a little bump the night before, I should have known from his reaction that there was something going on besides swelling. The next pic is of the make shift drain they put in. We used a finger from a rubber glove as a proper drain wasn't stocked in the truck....hey whatever works.
After the drain was in a few stitches at either end to keep it there and done... good as new.
So in spite of my stupidity, and good timing, Jake is already moving around better and should make a full recovery.
11 comments:
You caught it before he had lasting damages , sometimes especially when the hair coat is long ,you can miss things. All you can do is your best. At the end of the day you probably needed tha vet anyway and he is on the mend. Do you know what he did? ran a stick into itor something?
One thing for sure, there is seldom a dull moment on an acreage! Glad that you caught it, and Jake is on the mend! We've been fotunate that the only thing that's gone wrong with the horses is one caught in the fence (no damage, just a long scar on a black horse).
Poor Jake is right! Did they find anything when they cleaned it out? Had to have been a branch or stick, there isn't anything else in their pasture that would do that.
Aawww, poor guy! Good thing you called the vets when you did. Although it looks awful, there probably won't even be a scar when it is healed. An old guy down the road who had horses all his life used to say "there ain't a horse in this world who doesn't think he was born to commit suicide!"
Well Gail that old guy is right. I quite freguently have said horses try to commit suicide from the minute they are born. No they didn't find anything in it thank goodness. I'm sure he will be sore for awhile.
I'm glad you were able to get him fixed right up. Usally those tings happen when You aren't home or the animal is in the back pasture.
Glad you saw and he is now fixed.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Poor Jake. When I first started reading your post and saw that scissors sticking out I though, "Now, how'd he get a scissors stuck inside of him?" lol!
You're not stupid at all. Any one of us would have missed something like that, especially in the winter. Horses are always getting bumps on them and often getting a little sore or stiff. And most vets will tell you to wait and watch and see if a horse improves or gets worse anyway.
You did everything you were supposed to do and now Jake is on the way to healing.
How long will he have to wear that drain?
Give Jake a scritch and a carrot from me, k?
~Lisa
Glad to hear he will make a full recovery, so what was it? A clot?
I guess he gouged himself on a tree? or stump? We don't have a lot of bad things on this property so I guess it was just a fluke, these guys are always scratching on bushes ,trees etc. the infection had set in and that's what was making his leg swell up. As soon as the vet hit the right spot pus starting coming out...it was kinda funny cause we all said at the same time " Gouge"
Looks like a good piece of work..Horses can do the darndest stuff. I hope he recovers okay:)
LOL at myself...I just posted a comment about your greenhouse on the wrong post...MORE COFFEE PLEASE!!!
Poor Jake...it's a good thing that you keep a close eye on your critters. That's a bad one! Glad to hear he's on the mend...as with everyone else with the crud you've got going around. I would have been tempted to tell the trainer to keep the horse until he got over it. Too bad for you.
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