Beamer is a pretty unhappy puppy these days. Carefully taking of his blanket had him almost sitting on his ass ... I decided to just clean his ears and let it be. Especially his left ear is very sore and it looks like there is not a spot left that appears to be aural plaques. After cleaning though, I noticed that on his right ear where the ridges had come off there was still some white covering the area and I dabbed a little bit of the cream just on those spots. Now it will be a month of healing and then a reassessment.
I am out of the Buthorphanol and will have to get some more if I see the need for cleaning during this period. Mostly I want to give his ears the chance to recover and start healing so I'm done messing with them from now. In the worst case scenario I will have to start again in a month but hopefully this will only be on small localized area.
I have no pictures from today but it pretty much looks the same as last Sunday (day seven). See you in a month ...
November 19, 2011
November 16, 2011
Day eight: Not much change ...
So today's treatment was pretty uneventful. No struggles, no almost falling. The ridges in his right ear have come out by themselves and both ears are very sore. He holds them limp sideways like a sad dog shaking them as to get rid of the pain. Of-course shaking makes it hurt more and makes him look even more sad.
I think I'll give him a month off and cut it short when this week is done rather then extending it for an extra week. The ears are oozing and I think he needs a break. Hopefully they will start healing up and I don't have to pick up the schedule again. We'll see by the end of the rest week how to proceed.
I think I'll give him a month off and cut it short when this week is done rather then extending it for an extra week. The ears are oozing and I think he needs a break. Hopefully they will start healing up and I don't have to pick up the schedule again. We'll see by the end of the rest week how to proceed.
November 13, 2011
Day seven: Could it realy have been this easy all along ?
After two finished treatment weeks we are half way. This is week three and it is definitely following the good old, has to get worse before it gets better routine. His ears are full with crusts and he continuously wants to shake his ears from the moment I get him out of the paddock. Brushing his upper neck where the halter is buried in mud is a challenge a sign that his ears are really bothering him. But he knows now that being on the cross-ties and getting a grooming is not the time for ear wrestling and he lets me clean him up.
After the ride I give him the 4 ml of Xylazine and the 1 ml of Buthorphanol. I let him be while I put the tack away. When I get back to his stall I find him with his nose in the feed bin, his head against the wall and wobbling on his legs. He is actually snor(t)ing his left over supplements from the bottom. Since he is tucked into the corner I sneak my hand trough the feeding hole to clean out his ears with a wet napkin. It is coming off reasonably easy and I probably took at least half a cup of crust out of both ears. He is still not quite agreeing with all this and has made some steps trough his stall freeing up space around him. This now allows me to get in there with him without running the risk to get crushed into the water buckets.
This resisting he gives me is barely worth mentioning considering what he was doing before. It is merely a putting his head up or shaking his ears. But when I insist and continue to clean he settles down again and lets me finish. After I got all the stuff that would come loose removed, I put a nice layer on both ears making sure to get all the surfaces covered.
And then, Oh my gosh it's done !!! This was a breeze !!! Happy that finally we are getting into a routine that works I take the pictures and let him be.
The nice thing of doing it IV is that the drugs act almost instantly and he is back to eating in a hour. This is something I can work with. I just wish we had started off this way. I might add an other week just to make up for the first half hazard week. On the pictures you can see the left ear has two spots on top that have evaded treatment. His right ear still has two ridges of original crust that have not come loose yet. Aside from taking a knife (no I will not attempt that) and cutting them off I will have to wait and keep putting the cream on and around it. Hoping it at some point will soften enough with the inflammation and come off. I also don't seem to be able to get a sharp shot of the right ear, not sure what's up with that.
After the ride I give him the 4 ml of Xylazine and the 1 ml of Buthorphanol. I let him be while I put the tack away. When I get back to his stall I find him with his nose in the feed bin, his head against the wall and wobbling on his legs. He is actually snor(t)ing his left over supplements from the bottom. Since he is tucked into the corner I sneak my hand trough the feeding hole to clean out his ears with a wet napkin. It is coming off reasonably easy and I probably took at least half a cup of crust out of both ears. He is still not quite agreeing with all this and has made some steps trough his stall freeing up space around him. This now allows me to get in there with him without running the risk to get crushed into the water buckets.
This resisting he gives me is barely worth mentioning considering what he was doing before. It is merely a putting his head up or shaking his ears. But when I insist and continue to clean he settles down again and lets me finish. After I got all the stuff that would come loose removed, I put a nice layer on both ears making sure to get all the surfaces covered.
And then, Oh my gosh it's done !!! This was a breeze !!! Happy that finally we are getting into a routine that works I take the pictures and let him be.
The nice thing of doing it IV is that the drugs act almost instantly and he is back to eating in a hour. This is something I can work with. I just wish we had started off this way. I might add an other week just to make up for the first half hazard week. On the pictures you can see the left ear has two spots on top that have evaded treatment. His right ear still has two ridges of original crust that have not come loose yet. Aside from taking a knife (no I will not attempt that) and cutting them off I will have to wait and keep putting the cream on and around it. Hoping it at some point will soften enough with the inflammation and come off. I also don't seem to be able to get a sharp shot of the right ear, not sure what's up with that.
Left ear:
Right ear:
November 5, 2011
Day six: And so the pedulum swings
Armed with drugs and syringes and a plan I head to the barn. I'm glad I can still get his bridle on albeit by taking it apart. And that I can keep riding him trough his treatments. First he gets to work and then it is my turn.
I prepare a syringe with 1.5 ml of the Butorphanol and 4.5 ml on the Xylazine. I decided to give him 0.5 ml more of the Xylazine as he did not get the 1 ml of goodies he got before his dosing on Sunday. However I'm not sure how much Butorphanol he got that time .... I give him the whole mix IV.
Within minutes his head goes down and his legs wobble. As the vet had told me that's how you want them, worrying about keeping balance. Well we got that down.
I put on my gloves and get the clippers ready. When I open his stall door and try to clip his ears, he does a step forward. At least his hind legs do. Somehow he lost the connection between his front legs and his brain and they did not get the memo. I'm now trying to hold up my 1,000 + lb horse who seems destined to go head first with his nose into the pillows. Problem is there are no pillows just a concrete floor ... Thanks to two fellow boarders (you know who you are, Thank you !!!!!) we manage to prevent him from inflicting full frontal destruction. With two of us leaning into his front and the third trying to spread his legs backwards we get him to back up a step.
I get a quick first treatment in and with his head tucked against the stall door I let hem be for a bit. After a short rest I get to work again. He is more balanced now but still tries to get a step forward. Again we lean and make him move back. The sedation is definitely working and the anesthetic has kicked in as well. Now I really go to town and pull of all the slimy gooey scabs. I put an other layer of cream in the nooks and crannies and clip some additional hair a little shorter.
This was a good day ... Maybe next time stick to the 4 ml of Xylazine and less of the Butorphanol. I will have to call the vet about that one. Here the half way pictures. Two more treatment weeks to come before we take a month rest and let it heal.
I prepare a syringe with 1.5 ml of the Butorphanol and 4.5 ml on the Xylazine. I decided to give him 0.5 ml more of the Xylazine as he did not get the 1 ml of goodies he got before his dosing on Sunday. However I'm not sure how much Butorphanol he got that time .... I give him the whole mix IV.
Within minutes his head goes down and his legs wobble. As the vet had told me that's how you want them, worrying about keeping balance. Well we got that down.
I put on my gloves and get the clippers ready. When I open his stall door and try to clip his ears, he does a step forward. At least his hind legs do. Somehow he lost the connection between his front legs and his brain and they did not get the memo. I'm now trying to hold up my 1,000 + lb horse who seems destined to go head first with his nose into the pillows. Problem is there are no pillows just a concrete floor ... Thanks to two fellow boarders (you know who you are, Thank you !!!!!) we manage to prevent him from inflicting full frontal destruction. With two of us leaning into his front and the third trying to spread his legs backwards we get him to back up a step.
I get a quick first treatment in and with his head tucked against the stall door I let hem be for a bit. After a short rest I get to work again. He is more balanced now but still tries to get a step forward. Again we lean and make him move back. The sedation is definitely working and the anesthetic has kicked in as well. Now I really go to town and pull of all the slimy gooey scabs. I put an other layer of cream in the nooks and crannies and clip some additional hair a little shorter.
This was a good day ... Maybe next time stick to the 4 ml of Xylazine and less of the Butorphanol. I will have to call the vet about that one. Here the half way pictures. Two more treatment weeks to come before we take a month rest and let it heal.
Left ear:
Right ear:
November 2, 2011
Day five: We're still not there ...
The trip to the barn was hopeful as I had a good feeling after the last treatment on Sunday. With the syringes and bottles of drugs in the bag I arrived at the barn. First the Dermosedan gel under the tongue as this might add to the sedation when in combination. 20 min later I gave him the 6 ml Xylazine and 1.5 ml of butorphanol both IM. Since the same drugs IV (4 ml Xylazine and ?ml of butorphanol) worked within 5 min on Sunday I did not expect to have to wait too long.
Over the next hour his head dropped down to about chest level and he showed the characteristic head shaking and droopy eye, but there was not much else going. Thinking IM just takes a little longer then IV I wait patiently. When after the 60 min he starts to roam and look for hay scraps I fear we might have a problem. I decide to give him more Xylazine but IV this time and prepare the syringe with 2ml. After all as a trained Phlebotomist how hard can it be giving an IV injection to a horse compared to drawing a neonatal blood sample ??? I don't dare to give him more as I don't know what is still in his system and I don't want him to drop down. Luckily within min he starts to wobble on his legs and his head is about a foot from the floor drooling.
Okay we're ready ... I put on my gloves and prepare the cream. But Oh boy ... the moment I come close to his ears his head is up with still wobbly legs and there is no way I can get to his ears. I hang on and manage to get a glob in his left ear old style ... For his right ear I try the other old trick of blind folding but he knows now what is up and runs blind into the wall. I manage to get a blob into his ear but kind of halfheartedly ... We're now at a stand off and look each other in the eye. He's weary, I'm about to cry ... Within 30 min of giving the 2ml IV he's poking around and looking for hay again. I give up for the day.
This is NOT how I had imagined this treatment to go. Disillusioned I drive home and ponder over what happened. I think the 6 ml IM was not enough and had left the system mostly by the time I gave the 2ml IV. This then in it's turn was not enough to sedate him and there we were.
Writing this I'm a little more calmed down about it and have a plan for Saturday. He'll get both the Xylazine 4ml and 1.5 ml butorphanol in his veins. If that does not work we'll go back to the drawing board and I sure hope we'll get all treatments done before we run out of drugs that work.
Over the next hour his head dropped down to about chest level and he showed the characteristic head shaking and droopy eye, but there was not much else going. Thinking IM just takes a little longer then IV I wait patiently. When after the 60 min he starts to roam and look for hay scraps I fear we might have a problem. I decide to give him more Xylazine but IV this time and prepare the syringe with 2ml. After all as a trained Phlebotomist how hard can it be giving an IV injection to a horse compared to drawing a neonatal blood sample ??? I don't dare to give him more as I don't know what is still in his system and I don't want him to drop down. Luckily within min he starts to wobble on his legs and his head is about a foot from the floor drooling.
Okay we're ready ... I put on my gloves and prepare the cream. But Oh boy ... the moment I come close to his ears his head is up with still wobbly legs and there is no way I can get to his ears. I hang on and manage to get a glob in his left ear old style ... For his right ear I try the other old trick of blind folding but he knows now what is up and runs blind into the wall. I manage to get a blob into his ear but kind of halfheartedly ... We're now at a stand off and look each other in the eye. He's weary, I'm about to cry ... Within 30 min of giving the 2ml IV he's poking around and looking for hay again. I give up for the day.
This is NOT how I had imagined this treatment to go. Disillusioned I drive home and ponder over what happened. I think the 6 ml IM was not enough and had left the system mostly by the time I gave the 2ml IV. This then in it's turn was not enough to sedate him and there we were.
Writing this I'm a little more calmed down about it and have a plan for Saturday. He'll get both the Xylazine 4ml and 1.5 ml butorphanol in his veins. If that does not work we'll go back to the drawing board and I sure hope we'll get all treatments done before we run out of drugs that work.
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