**WARNING** photos of gorey wound
A few months ago Monty caught his back leg in barbed wire out in his field. He had a deep cut to the front of his hock and we were concerned about joint infection and trauma to the structures in that area. He was transported to our clinic for radiographs and daily antibiotic injections.
Wounds such as this one take a long time to heal. Monty has spent several weeks on box rest with weekly bandage changes from our vets.
As you can see from these photos the wound opened up and looked A LOT worse before it looked better again. This is typical of traumatic wounds, especially ones over a joint.
Monty was such a good boy for our vets and we are so pleased he has made a full recovery - albeit with a nice big scar to show for it!
There’s lots of important anatomy on our horses legs so please check your fields for loose barbed wire or sharp objects.
Today's lameness investigation had to be temporarily postponed while the geese had a gander round the car park 😱
Many feeds these days are designed to be fed soaked. If you feed any of these it is particularly important to ensure that it is properly soaked before feeding and also that it is kept securely stored in the feed room so marauding escaped ponies can't help themselves. If it is eaten unsoaked the food can rapidly swell within the horses oesophagus and stomach causing blockages. This often leads to a condition called choke. Horses often present looking distressed and uncomfortable, and often have large volumes of saliva and sometimes food material coming down their noses.
Archie managed to escape from his stable and helped himself to some unsoaked feed. He was found to have given himself an oesophageal blockage and had to visit the surgery to have it cleared. We passed a small camera down his nose and into his throat which allowed us to then use water to slowly soften and break up the blockage and flush it out. The blockage extended over 80cm down his throat and took quite some time to flush out. He has since fully recovered, but horses affected in this way can be at risk of damage to the oesophagus itself, as well as a risk of pneumonia after inhaling food particles.
If you suspect your horse has eaten unsoaked feed or has choke please ring your vet to ask for advice. Do not attempt to flush water down yourself, as this is unlikely to help and can increase the risk of pneumonia.
Georgie had far too much fun draining an abscess today 😁
Ragwort Poisoning 🌼
•Ragwort is the most commonly known poisonous plant to horses and our vets have noticed it shooting up over the last few weeks whilst they are out doing their calls!
•Ragwort is a common weed that many horse owners are good at identifying due to its bright yellow flowers 🌼
•There are several species of ragwort ALL are toxic at ALL stages of growth and when dried.
•When ingested it is highly TOXIC to horses and can lead to fatal liver failure.
•We advise that you manually remove ragwort plants (be sure to use gloves) to keep your horses safe. Make sure the whole plant including the roots are removed as young ragwort is better tasting
Mia & Perry having a snooze after their routine dental exam this afternoon. The hay bale makes a perfect pillow! 😴
For anyone that didn’t know, we have resumed routine dental work so please call the office on 01928 787500 for any enquiries.
Thank you to our wonderful clients for their cards and gifts, especially the chocolate! The office will close tomorrow 24th at 12pm and will reopen on 27th at 8.30am.
We hope you won’t need us, however in case of an emergency, please phone the office on 01928 787500 for the duty vet’s phone number.
Merry Christmas 🎄🎉
Here are best friends Snowy and Jack doing some join up for exercise in the school while the weather has been freezing! 😀
This is a short clip that shows a case of Equine Motor Neuron disease we have recently been dealing with. This is fortunately a rare disease that is primarily associated with a deficiency of vitamin e. This can be either due to a lack of supply of vitamin e or an inability of the horse to absorb it even if given sufficient levels. Fortunately vitamin e is readily available in grass and other fresh forage, and most equine feed is well supplemented with it, however those on restricted turnout should always be given a supplement or balancer as dried forage such as hay only contains poor levels. It can take many months or even years of restrictions before clinical signs become apparent. This pony shows very typical signs of the disease - 'elephant on a drum' stance, weight shifting, muscle tremors, sweaty patches, weight loss and general weakness. Treatment is reliant on supplementing them with high levels of vitamin e, however sadly the long term prognosis for these cases can be poor with many being euthanased within the first 6 weeks. Others may stabilise or even resolve completely but they are often at risk of relapse in the future.
