Mastitis in a Freisian mare
A young mare had weaned her foal 2 months ago with no problem and suddenly she developed an unexplained high fever while at the trainers barn. While talking on the phone with the owner I asked them to look at the udder and sure enough she had an infection of the mammary gland (mastitis). In cattle this happens quite commonly but in a mare it is much less common and can be a very serious condition that can lead to sepsis. I quickly got to work installing a jugular catheter and starting her on a course of intravenous antibiotics and antiinflammatories. With hot compresses the affected gland softened and we were able to express the milk and pus from the teat. A sterile solution of antibiotic was also infused into the udder via the teat to treat the infection locally. A sample
Of the milk was sent to the lab for bacterial culture and it showed a pure growth of Streptococcus zooepidemicus, a normal skin bacteria that had somehow gained entrance into the gland and subsequently the blood stream. This horse was fortunate to have been treated early and she responded well to the antibiotics over 7 days. By the time I returned in a week she was back to her mischevious self and no trace of an infection could be found. It’s not common for horses to get mastitis but it’s usually soon after they’ve weaned a foal and surface bacteria of the skin gain entrance through the teat into the udder. As the udder in mares is small and tucked up high in the flank it is often not noticed. The two month delay from weaning to the onset of mastitis in this mare is unusual as most symptoms occur soon after weaning. I suspect she may have had a small infection simmering that became a bigger infection once the stress of travelling and training weakened an immune system.
Pasture medication by dart gun
Cows on pasture or range that require antibiotic treatment (pinkeye, foot rot) are a problem when it comes to restraint. With an air powered dart gun the drug can be delivered from a safe distance without stressing the animal or causing further injury. The darts can hold a volume of around 10cc and is delivered in the neck muscle to avoid damage to tissue. A charge within the dart releases the medication as it penetrates the hide and after 10 min the dart will fall to the ground. Note that Dr Mulligan does not own a dart gun so please don’t ask to borrow !!! This specific dart gun is Pneu-dart. https://www.pneudart.com/.
Another great day at the Fall Fair in Barriere. Watching the action from above the bucking chutes and recording some interesting dismounts !
Magic Milk Fever
When a jersey cow becomes paralyzed shortly after calving one thing should enter your mind…milk fever.
The name is misleading because it’s actually not an infection. Milk fever is a metabolic disease whereby the cows parathyroid hormone is unable to mobilize calcium from its bones or rumen to meet the demands of muscle contraction and nerve activity. The only calcium she can get into her body is from eating. Unfortunately cows don’t eat much around calving time and
What little calcium she does have in her blood ends up in the udder for colostrum. Milk fever or Hypocalcemia is the end result. It occurs more commonly in older dairy cows and jerseys specifically. Without calcium the cow can slowly deteriorate over several hours until she passes away.
One of the greatest pleasures in vet med is to get calcium into her vein before this happens. The result is miraculous as she will start to twitch , belch and fart within 20 min of calcium treatment and next thing you know she’s up and standing !! It never gets old no matter how many times you see this !
The hoof crack from hell has been a long journey for both horse and her owner. The following pictures will show the progression over this spring and summer starting with a therapeutic bar shoe, dremelling down to healthy laminae and placing an epoxy patch over top of the crack to stabilize the hoof wall. Along the way there has been some complications with infection and drainage but the progress has been slow and steady as the coronet band produces new hoof wall and will eventually 🤞grow out a healthy foot.
Keep posted for follow up pictures and progress…
Free to a good home: Three barn cats that will keep your mouse and sheep population under control. Litter trained , recently dewormed and friendly as a hyena. Serious inquiries only please ! Cats can be viewed daily at 830 pm at the bottom of my driveway. No children please 😂
One day a week my wife Stacey joins me on the road for the days appointments. I’m very grateful for her help as she keeps me on time and even feeds me a cookie when I’m behaving 🤣
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Wrapping the hock : the finishing touch
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Wrapping the hock: secondary layers
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Wrapping a hock. Primary layer
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Wrapping a hock is not an easy task. I have video taped a recent case and broke it down into 4 parts. This is my technique learned over the years of practice. If anyone else has tips or tricks please feel free to add.
If you had to travel today on the backroads you may have aged a few years. Sheet ice like nothing I’ve ever seen before. With some chains and a bit of extra time I was able to make it to the emergency call and even rescued some stranded motorists in the ditch along the way….Never a dull day 😬
When you need some cream for your coffee look no further than the cow you are preg checking in the squeeze. Thank you Gerald for the hospitality!😀🤣
Happy Halloween! This one is a bit gorey! A bull was attacked by wolves on range and came home with a large abscess on its back leg. Draining of the abscess went a bit sideways when the bull moved and pressured up the spray, nearly dousing my boots and face with foul smelling pus. Wolves can be a major problem on some ranges and they do their killing slowly and deliberately. A bull easily outweighs a wolf but with one well placed bite to the leg the bull will slowly become septic over the course of days to weeks and eventually succumb to their injuries. One of the many examples of the cruelty and adaptability of nature. With the release of this abscess the bull should hopefully make a full recovery
When a horse with a corneal ulcer ( as seen by the fluorescein dye in the picture) has decided you’re not going to squirt any more medications in her eye you have to pull out the big guns…The subpalpebral lavage catheter. The catheter is a long tube that is inserted UNDER the eyelid (Not through the eye as it may appear!!) and allows you to inject medications through the tube and hence onto the eyeball. Kind of like a windshield wiper pump. The liquid antibiotic medications travel along the tube and gently cascades over the cornea. No more fighting and getting medications on the face. It’s not for every patient but for those with severe eye disease or pain it can be the difference between healing the eye or having to remove the eye. See videos in the previous post showing how it is installed