Midwest Equine

WOUNDS. Treating them does not need to be complicated. In fact, wound healing if a fairly simple process if you understand the way a horse’s tissue reacts to trauma and inflammation. This is a wound that was not seen by us until about 5-7 days after the initial injury. The first photo was the initial presentation to us, and the following two were taken within two weeks post treatment. If you have a wound that does not seem to be improving, please seek medical attention. A few simple things will likely make a large impact on how well the wound heals and re-epithelializes.

What vaccines should your horse be getting? The answer to this question is generally simple-your horse should be getting the “core” vaccines once a year (reference left side of image) at minimum. What about the “risk” vaccines on the right hand side? These should be discussed with your veterinarian. Depending on your horses travel/competition schedule, immediate surrounding environment, and activity of other horses housed near yours he/she may recommend different vaccines. In the Ohio region a discussion of botulism, influenza, EHV, PHF, and strangles is usually warranted. Knowing when and why these should be considered (or not considered) is the key to owners making their own educated decisions about which vaccines are best for their horses. We will try touch on a few of these over the next week to help educate owners.

This poor broodmare was the recipient of some vulvar trauma from a pasture mate. Dr Drew sutured her back together and she healed very nicely. Appropriate and adequate reconstruction is critical in maintaining a tight vulvar seal. This will help to keep bacteria from entering the vagina/uterus and creating any increased risk to the developing fetal membranes and/or fetus.

This is a great example of a deep corneal ulcer.

What is a corneal ulcer?

It is a scratch on the surface of the eye. In this photo you can really appreciate the depth of the area that is void of epithelium (think of the surface of the eye as clear skin that has a wound). This is a very painful process due to the rich amount of nerve endings within the “skin of the eye” that causes tearing and squinting. We will often use a stain call fluorescein stain that sticks to these defects. This stain helps us detect much smaller ulcers that can be hard to see with our regular instrumentation.

THESE ARE EMERGENCIES.

Please don’t wait to seek medical attention if your horse is squinting and tearing. A prompt diagnosis and comprehensive treatment plan are essential is saving the integrity and ultimately vision of these eyes.

www.midwestequinevet.com
614-318-3360

Breeding season is here and picking up quickly. Call us with any questions or concerns regarding your broodmare, stallion, or new foal. We are here to help! (614) 318-3360

Laceration repair of a lower eyelid. This is a somewhat common ocular emergency in our world. This dude tore about half of his lower lid from the corner (lateral canthus) downward. It was cleaned, debrided, and sutured back together using very small suture. You can see some conjunctival swelling (puffy pink tissue) in the post repair photo-this will go away in a couple of days! No damage was done to the eye when the lid was torn, so he is comfortably resting while his body heals the damaged tissue over the next 7-10 days!