For those that know Bert and are interested he's had a rotten few months we decided to get his foot x-rayed as he seemed to be getting a lot of abscesses, lame for a couple of days then okay for months.
The vets at the Dick found infection behind the hoof wall and it was tracking all over the place, they proposed cleaning out the infection by removing part of the hoof and excising the infected area.
All good and well, insurance agreed, vets happy, Bert looking forward to six months off, so the operation was carried out and was very successful.
However, his recuperation includes the fitting of a plaster cast to the hoof to provide stability, there’s a piece of hoof missing, a inverted V from about half way up the hoof to about 60mm at the bottom.
So after ten days hospitalisation Anne and I collected Bert, with a very pretty cast, and took him home for box rest.
Later that same night the immaculate cast was at one end of the stable and his lordship at the other, not a mark on the cast just no horse attached.
Immediate panic attack, especially after I got a look at the ‘excised’ area, so cleaned out the wound, packed it with gauze and bandaged it tightly, contacted the on duty vet and arranged to take him back the next day.
This time we got to observe the fitting of the cast, very professionally carried out another immaculate job.
Later that same night, 3hrs after getting home, the immaculate cast was at one end of the stable and his lordship at the other, not a mark on the cast just no horse attached.
This time I slipped the cast back on and bandaged it in place, contacted the on duty vet and arranged to take him back the next day.
So Bert was kept in for a few more days, a shoe, of types, fitted and a new cast fitted with a hospital plate for access.
The good thing is he gets out for a good while, as long as it’s dry. The bad thing is we get to take the plate of every other night to treat the wound.
However the prognosis is good and we expect to have him sound for Christmas.
David
