Lots of Vet Visits

Well it's spring again, I can tell because my checkbook has been getting a work out. Luckily work bonuses happen around the same time as all the Spring vet visits. Cody and Axel had their usual rabies and coggins visit quite a while ago but we didn't have time for the dental work so we scheduled that for April. So now both boys have had their teeth all spiffed up as well as their boy parts. Even under heavy sedation Cody still protested the sheath cleaning, silly old man.

The nice part about appointments with sedation is that I think have horses very willing to stand still while I fiddle around and comb their tails through and clean up bridle paths and all sorts of good things that they usually don't stand still long enough for. Axel hadn't been groomed in quite some time so he had a nice carpet of hair that I was able to remove. Luckily the mud situation isn't too bad this year (yet) so I didn't have to do any more leg shaving (good thing since my clippers died while I was working on Cody's bridle path).

So the day after the dentist appointment the chiropractor came out. Some folks (Jeff) think I'm nuts for having the chiropractor work on the horses but that first time I had Cody worked on he was a changed horse. It may look like voodoo but you can argue with results. Cody had quite a bit "out" for this appointment including his left shoulder so now that he's straightened out maybe he'll pick up that left lead easier? We'll see. Axel only had a bit out and that's pretty normal for him but I figured since he's been limping around for so long getting an adjustment might be a good thing. He may be retired but I'd like to keep him as pain free and happy as possible, plus he'll still be able to take Daniel around for a while. So now all that's left is the rest of the spring shots which I pick up at the Horse Expo and administer myself.

Xrays and Teeth and Shots, Oh My!

Friday I buzzed out to the barn after work to meet up with another vet who was scheduled to do Axel's x-rays since the regular vet doesn't have a portable setup. S and a friend were getting Stitch and Cody ready to go riding but other than that it was pretty quiet on the western front. We went through a whole series of x-rays before the vet's computer decided to lock up and not save any of the pictures we had just taken. Luckily for my checkbook we then only retook a few of the different pictures since we knew what we were looking at. Axel stood pretty well but was getting fairly impatient by the end of the whole ordeal. He kept lifting up his back left foot when we'd barely touch it to put the x-ray sensor close to it.

Cody had gotten himself into something and took a big chunk out of his leg. The best we could figure was he maybe clocked it on the automatic waterer.

So the inital reading from the vet doing the x-rays were that his left knee is worse than his right and his right knee swelling/soreness isn't neccessarily from the arthritis but perhaps soft tissue. We'll see if that clears up with a bit of work and the Adequan. The hind left with ringbone is looking pretty nasty these days. One side is nearly bridged while the other side has a ways to go yet. She thought the joint itself was getting pretty narrow indicating that it was starting to fuse. Apparently as the joint fuses he might turn up lame more often/worse than usual. Once the joint fuses then he should feel pretty good.

So then Saturday the regular vet came out to do teeth and sheaths. Cody went first because we thought he'd be the toughest, might as well get that out of the way right? Cody was awesome. He scooted back a little trying to get away from the filing but hardly acted up at all and took the injection well. He got a little extra bump so the vet could clean his sheath. He had a pretty decent sized bean, maybe a bit bigger than a jelly bean, and a ton of plain ole' junk up in there. So much junk in fact he had an abrasion on his bits from it. So now he's all squeaky clean and I can't wait to see if he's a happier guy on Wednesday. Nothing major in the teeth department, only points this time. The vet had me stick my hand up in his mouth to feel some of the sharp points. I'll admit I didn't feel any points but I was a bit distracted that I had my arm up Cody's mouth and how slimy it was in there, ew. ;)

Axel did fine in the teeth department as well. He just had points as well, one in a not usual spot but nothing scary and both horse's ulcers in their cheeks from last time had heeled up fine. Axel didn't get his sheath cleaned since he's so accommodating anyway, but the vet pointed out where to look for a bean and said Axel didn't have one right then.

Both horses chilled out in the arena for a while to sober up. Walking Cody into the arena was pretty entertaining, he was swerving all over like he was drunk. It didn't take long for both of them to "come to" and get to go back outside. I missed the initial turn out of the new Clyde that J picked up at the sale and Cody and Axel didn't seem to even notice that he was on the other side of the fence. Oh well.

On Sunday we got back from the farm around 8 and ran out to give Axel his first shot of Adequan. He was very good about it and didn't even flinch when I put in the needle, though I wasn't surprised. I'm still a little paranoid, like maybe I didn't pull back enough to really see if the syringe was in a vein by accident, or other ridiculous notions. I'm sure by the time this month is over I'll be a lot less paranoid about giving injections. Once a year doesn't quite have the same effect as once every 4 days.

The Vet Visits

I'm still contemplating how I feel about the new vet but here's the events of yesterday. I got there about an hour early, figured I'd groom and get the horses ready. Groomed Axel first since I planned to have Cody's work done first, I could turn Axel out alone and didn't think he'd work himself into a tizzy at all. They're both still shedding - when will it end? When I was done grooming Cody we hung out with Steele and his owner, eating grass in the yard. The barn owner came out and brought some beers so we stood around and chatted. The vet pulled up and turned out to be a pretty quietly demeanored man and a little scatter brained perhaps. He took care of Steele first since his owner had to leave right away. Cody was next. I explained he hadn't had his teeth done in 2 years and that was the first time in his life. I told him how he had wavemouth and caudal hooks and sores in his cheeks etc. Concern #1, vet said he didn't know what those things were (wavemouth and caudal hooks). So he said he'd feel around and see what he thought. Cody fought this a lot which I was mildly happy about because I figured that meant there wouldn't be any question that he'd get sedated for the floating. When the vet could finally get his hands in his mouth he said he didn't feel any sharp spots and his teeth were as dull as they could be. Concern #2, he also said when he floats teeth he just sticks the float in and files away, he doesn't do much feeling around. He mentioned he prefers to float in the fall and he would take a peek again at that time and maybe run the float around his mouth at that time. On the sheath cleaning front, he seemed to be of the opinion that if nothing is swollen then there's no reason to clean out their sheaths and that even if there's a bean up there it's not hurting anyone (?). He said he'd sedate and do it if I wanted but at that point I figured there's no reason to put Cody through sedation just for this sheath, I just thought since he'd be sedated for teeth why not get it all done. So in the end both horses just got their Rabies shots.

This leaves me with enough money to get the chiropractor to come out. I think if Cody doesn't put on some weight, and the chiropractor doesn't make him feel better, then I might see if I can get Brad out for a second opinion on the teeth later this year. I think this new vet is not an equine dentist and while I'm not willing to put my horses through a floating if they don't need it, I'm not certain he could really tell what was going on by just a quick feel that didn't involve getting all the way to the back. Perhaps next spring or this fall if one of the other boarders has a different vet out I'll meet them and see what I think. The guy was nice and gentle but he didn't seem overly thorough and maybe a little too laid back. Hey he could be right but can't hurt to have a second opinion.