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Post by larkspurco on Sept 22, 2006 16:30:18 GMT -5
Yes, I've always felt that people who abuse animals should be rewarded in kind, ten-fold.
I posted pictures of the lump on COTH - opinions are divided between strangles and tooth issues. I talked to Margaret awhile ago and she saw some horses come into the feedlot with strangles, with a draining abscess in the same spot. Actually, I think strangles would be preferable to an impacted molar, as long as he is feeling good. And provided he doesn't "share" it with my horses.
The vet ran a fecal and did not find any eggs. They re-ran it just to make sure but still didn't find anything. So at least he isn't full of worms and will be able to handle a normal de-wormer.
He looks and acts perky enough. He talks to me alot. Last night he drank less than half of his water -- I'm hoping it's a good sign.
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Post by schwung on Sept 22, 2006 16:37:30 GMT -5
Holly - I forgot, is the lump draining, or hot? Is it hard or soft?
The reason I ask is I recall now that one of the horses I got from the feedlot had several lumps in the same area, but they were all firm, movable, and cold. My vet didn't think much of it, said it could be scar tissue from a previous strangles outbreak or tooth abcess.
Also - good news about the lack of worms, that is a relief! Are you going do the Panacur on him then?
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Post by larkspurco on Sept 22, 2006 18:40:30 GMT -5
The lump is hard and cold. About the size of a big egg or a small lime (yummmm, lime, gin and tonic, yummm...).
The vet said I could use any de-wormer. I thought I would wait until the ulcers in his mouth are healed. Also, he doesn't like stuff in his mouth, so I'm going to do apple sauce practice on him first.
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Post by cat67 on Sept 22, 2006 19:46:27 GMT -5
Sunline has lumps that my vet thought were leftover from having had strangles in the past. She QT'ed for 7 weeks before coming home so she definitely did not have strangles incubating.
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Post by larkspurco on Sept 23, 2006 13:05:05 GMT -5
So the vet came out and lanced and drained huge globs of pus, so it was an abscess after all. She will culture to see if it was strep or strangles. We had to give him three shots because he was impossibly uncooperative, not mean but throwing his head all over. We think Spark was feeling just FINE.
She opened it up really big anticipating that he won't let me flush it - I'll do the best I can. It needs to stay open for three days. She will come back in a week or two to float his teeth and vaccinate.
His drinking and peeing has normalized in the last 36 hours, so the vet did not think blood work was warranted at this time. He has no fever and continues to eat and feel good.
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Post by pdevlieg on Sept 23, 2006 13:58:45 GMT -5
Excellent news on the young man - I'm glad he was feeling well enough to make you work for your treatment! I am sure getting good food was a transition to his system. Possibly that was part of his increase in water intake.
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Post by larkspurco on Sept 24, 2006 23:44:53 GMT -5
It was a nice day today so Desert Spark finally got a bath. He stood perfectly still while my husband held him and I scrubbed him all over with betadine shampoo. Afterward I had a good time peeling off all the dead skin and old scabs while he dried out in the sun and grazed. He felt quite pretty and full of himself, and I have to say he does look better clean. He'll need another bath to get the rest of the scurfy skin off his back and rump.
The bonus feature to the bathing project was the discovery of the "poor man's warm water horse bath." I can't believe I didn't figure this out sooner. Here's how it worked: We hooked a garden hose to the valve on the hot water heater in the basement. This is the valve at the bottom of the tank, used for draining it. We ran the hose out the patio door and filled a muck tub half-way with hot water, then added cold from another hose to make warm.
I then proceeded with the bath using a smaller bucket and sponge/scrubber while my husband held the horse (while making comments such as "this is like polishing a turd"). When I went to refill the tub, I discovered the water was no longer hot, but a perfect warm bath temperature. We were scratching our heads wondering why, then figured it out. The intake valve to the hot water heater is at the bottom of the tank, so after you drain some hot water out, the new cold water mixes in and the water drawn from the bottom is warm.
So, if you have your horse at home and can run hose from your hot water heater, you can give your horse a nice warm shower!
Just thought I'd share the tip.
Holly
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Post by cat67 on Sept 25, 2006 1:38:08 GMT -5
Thanks for taking such good care of him!
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Post by schwung on Sept 25, 2006 1:48:43 GMT -5
Yes, Holly, thank you!! You'll also note that I'm keeping track of your updates on his very own blog on our website. How is it going with the abcess? Is he letting you clean it/keep it open?
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Post by larkspurco on Sept 26, 2006 0:34:38 GMT -5
Oh, the abscess .... well ... eww. I tried three times to irrigate it. He was not exactly "into" it. Each time I got nasty stuff all over my clothes and shoes, on my face and once in my mouth (yum). Fortunately, the vet made a pretty large hole, anticipating that he would not cooperate. It is still open and draining, so I think it's okay. As for the abscess on his hoof, it looks pretty clean. I am wrapping it and keeping an Easy Boot on him. He was still sore walking around barefoot in the grass. I think it's just the big-ass hole in his sole. I'll keep the boot on for a few weeks. Here are a few pictures of his feet: s73.photobucket.com/albums/i213/hfournier/Desert%20Spark/?action=view¤t=frontsB4trim.jpg&refPage=&imgAnch=imgAnch1
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Post by safehorses on Sept 28, 2006 0:24:39 GMT -5
Thank you for all you've done for Desi, Sparky, ya know...
Hey, how's he doing today? I think about him a lot...thank you for all you've done for him!!!
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Post by schwung on Sept 28, 2006 0:43:44 GMT -5
I just saw the photos (missed those before).
You know, that LF before the trim is strange - I see what you were trying to tell me about his bars, its way overdeveloped on the left side (outside?) which you would think would have made him pretty unbalanced. I wonder if that had anything to do with the abcess. Fortunately, after the trim and the removal of the excessive bars he looks pretty even.
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Post by schwung on Sept 28, 2006 14:22:07 GMT -5
Update from Holly:
The abscess culture was sent to CSU and results are expected Friday. I finally broke down and turned him out in the paddock today (I'm home) so am taking a bit of a risk on him contaminating something. But I really think if there were something to catch, my horses would have already caught it by now.
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Post by horsepoor on Sept 28, 2006 18:47:40 GMT -5
Hi all-it is Horse_poor from COTH, as the name indicates-this horse is the spitting image of Aero i6.photobucket.com/albums/y208/mavw1971/aerostall.jpgI simply cannot get a horse right now, but I need to help this boy-can I sponsor him? Buy him a blanket? A new halter? Donate money towards his care? Help out in anyway from Minnesota?
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Post by schwung on Sept 28, 2006 19:00:02 GMT -5
Welcome horsepoor!! You can absolutely contribute toward's Sparky's care. I can put you in touch with Holly (or you can, LarkspurCO from COTH, same name here), or you can donate to SAFE via paypal or snail mail ( safehorses.org/safe/help.htm) and indicate that it is for Sparky's care. We don't have an individual horse sponsorship program set up, but I think its a great idea! We'll have to work on that.
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