I changed Stella's bandaged for the first time last night. It took me about 20 minutes to cut through all the damn layers of gauze, vetwrap, cotton batting, etc., and I'm damn lucky I didn't have another injury on my hands.
The original wound. You could see the extensor ligament when the vet was cleaning it up.
The staple job. It was rather lovely and pretty when it was done.
The wrap job the vet did. He used a BUTT-TON of bandaging (for those of you unfamiliar with a butt-ton, it's about half a shit-ton).
She was seriously doped out. In order to make the cleaning ordeal a little easier, they sedated her, but she's a HUGE lightweight when it comes to sedatives. They gave her a 1/4 of the normal loading dose and she still was about the fall over. Silly mare. They also gave her an IV Bute injection, an antibiotic injection and a whopping syringe of penicillin (like, this thing scare ME...) She was sweating like a pig after the sedative wore off, too. Not uncommon, but I was a little concerned given how hot it's been here.
She's not too enthused about stall rest; I've actually been turning her and Ernie out in the round pen in the indoor arena to let her move a bit. I understand the point of stall rest, but given the location of the wound, the fact that it's wrapped and protected, and the fact that the round pen is small, I'm OK with her being out. I'm a HUGE proponent of avoiding stall rest if at all possible: Ernie's practically severed suspensory ligament was given a slim-to-none chance of healing, and it did...with only a month of actual stall rest and 6 months of limited turnout. Movement does wonders for the horse's body, and I can't imagine it's any different when the horse is injured. (Obviously, in some cases, complete immobilization is necessary...this, in my opinion, however, isn't one of them).
Now that I've found you, I have gone back in time to look at older posts. How funny that you mentioned Ernie's suspensory and your decision to limit stall rest and go ahead and turn him out, because that exact topic came up not long on the Fugly Blog! She is a huge proponent of letting them move, and I agree. It just makes sense to me.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the vet's bandage job and recommendation of stall rest in this case, I say, GOOD GRIEF. I think they're into overkill because of their cover my butt mentality, and concern over being sued/bad-mouthed. I will be interested to see how well Stella healed with your ministrations, and I have a feeling it's "well." :-)
P.S. If you're not a Fugly reader, don't plan on starting now because she's quitting... I am gutted.