Proof Positive That All Veterinarians Are Not The Same..You Decide On September 10, 2011 I was on a trail ride with my 4 yr old TWH “Quick.” We were walking along at a slow rate and saw nothing out of the ordinary; the ground looked as clean as my yard and gave me no inclination that we should not go there. One step later, Quick was down to his thigh in a hole and dug himself out with the opposite leg and when he emerged, he was cut to the bone on his left hind fetlock! The cut was about 6 inches long that sort of wrapped around his joint! An old rusty covey pipe was the culprit. We immediately called “My Vet” but due to unforeseen circumstances they were unable to respond at that time. I called another vet (which I will not name) solely due to the emergency of the situation and she came out 2 1/2 hours later. She assessed Quick’s injury, told me that it was bad, and I could see the bone so I agreed with her that it was bad! I was concerned whether or not he had cut the tendons and ligaments in his leg. With some medical education behind me, I knew that he needed sutures, especially because of the closeness to the joint. Well, this vet told me that she could not stitch him because there wasn’t enough skin. I had been putting cold water on it for 2 hours and cleaned it and I knew the skin would pull together. This veterinarian was adamant that it could not be stitched. So she packed it with a wet dressing and wrapped it, gave him a tetanus booster and 1 shot of antibiotics: $389 later she gave me a treatment plan. The plan went as follows: 3 mths in a stall; wrapping twice daily; at least 2 trips per week to her office that was 30 miles away to receive injections that she would not leave with me to give him; and probable 1 year of healing, going back and forth to her office to deal with the proud flesh that would have definitely overtaken his injury site! Then to top it off, she predicted a joint infection that would be very expensive to treat and no riding him for at least 1 yr, if then. Well I guess if you choose to leave a wound that close to a joint open you have a very good chance of a joint infection right? That night on the way home, Dr. Randall Scarrow, (Southside Equine Services) called me and was very empathetic to my horse’s situation. He told me that he would like to come see Quick and I explained that I was very dissatisfied with the treatment and prognosis that I was previously given by the “other vet.” Needless to say Dr. Scarrow and Dr. Lindberg were at my house the next morning 9-11-11. Together as a great team, they put Quick to sleep and sutured his injury inside and out. And might I add, they had no problems with pulling the skin together because there was no skin missing! Dr. Lindberg also stapled between each stitch. She then applied medication and wrapped Quick’s leg. Well, then comes the prognosis this time…Keep the present wrap on his leg as long as it will stay (which turned out to be 5 days); keep Quick in the stall for 2 weeks; Daily antibiotic injections for 5 days (which they left with me to give). During this time, I talked numerous times with Dr. Scarrow and Dr. Lindberg either from them just calling to check on Quick or my calling and asking questions. It didn’t matter how silly I thought my questions were, they were always there and it didn’t matter what time it was! Two weeks later the stitches and staples were removed. This is the point where they told me that I COULD RIDE HIM FOR A SHORT TIME THE NEXT WEEKEND!! This would have been 3 weeks after the injury! During those 2 weeks, I wrapped Quick’s leg only 3 times! At this point in the healing process, he was wrapped for about 3 more days and then they suggested that I put Equaide on the suture line. He has had no more wrapping, just brush on medication to stop proud flesh (granulation tissue) from growing too much and he has not been lame nor had any tenderness in that leg since the 4th day of his injury!I took Quick on a short ride for about an hour on week 3. He did fine with no lameness issues at all. There is still some swelling around the joint, but that is to be expected with the scar tissue in that area. On October 22, 2011, 6 weeks after his injury, Quick and I bit the bullet and went to James River State Park for a ride! Quick was so happy to be out and about again, not to mention me! I was paranoid and thought I was going to hurt him, but he did great and no tenderness or lameness at all!! Now, remember the treatment plan I was given the first time…that’s a drastic change from what I actually had to do, and my horse is fine! Had I not gotten Dr. Scarrow and Dr. Lindberg to treat Quick, we would be going through this for months and months and dealing with ugly proud flesh which would entail a lot of healing afterwards over and over again! At this point, Oct. 25, 2011; all we have is an area about ½ inch wide and maybe 2 inches long that I apply equaide to daily and it keeps the proud flesh from “taking over”. The hair is already growing back! Soon all we will have is a scar for a little while as a reminder! So you decide if you want your horse to have the best and most knowledgeable care available. I made that decision the night that Quick was injured and it was the best decision I could’ve made for my horse! It means a lot when your veterinarian cares more about your horse than the financial gain of a long, drawn out, unnecessary, treatment plan!! THANK YOU SOUTHSIDE EQUINE FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE FOR QUICK! This horse is my best friend and you have made us both extremely happy! My motto..”LOVE MY VET” Back On The Trails, Lynn S. Powell   |
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