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Location: Gainesville, TX | So, hubby and I left around 3 PM on Friday afternoon to go to Georgia to pick up my new broodmare. She's broke and cute. Her new barnname is Cadence.
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/dancing+with+shawne
However, when we got there, she was quite a bit beat up from the guys' mares and much ribbier than the pics he sent me (above). It's pretty natural for this to happen and she wasn't in horrible shape, so I just figured plenty of groceries. We had picked a few spots to stop at on our way back home and finally left his place around 4 PM on Saturday evening, mare in hand, intending to drive all night. We had blanketed her from the weather, put shavings in the trailer and gave her some hay. She handled the trip pretty well it seemed. But in the last leg (just last couple hours), we hit freezing rain. This must have caused her to drop her head hard into her hay bag or something. When we unloaded her at 6 AM on Sunday morning, her left eye was huge and swollen shut, her right eye had a lot of discharge. I called two vets to see who could come out quickest (she refused to load in the trailer because she couldn't see). Finally at 9 AM someone made it out (note: I had not slept since about 7 AM on Saturday). He looked at her and said she had two corneal ulcerations and he worries about pseudomonas (or melting cornea). He put in lavage systems and gave her some banamine. We are now treating her round the clock every two hours with six different medications. We did worm her and are trying to slowly get her back on grain and her weight up too.
Any prayers for my girl would make me feel good. She's sweet as can be and I've been excited about her since we decided to purchase her a couple months ago. I've even already got the stud fee paid. I really don't want her to lose her eyes. She does have another vet visit Wednesday morning. Some of the swelling has gone down a very little bit in her left eye. 
Edited by oija 2014-02-10 10:32 AM
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| Prayers, hope your sweet girl is ok :) |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | Poor girl :( get some sleep lady! I bet she's appreciating all the TLC she can get :) |
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 Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | Prayers for her healing and a better prognosis. She is a cutie for sure. |
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 Buttered Noodles Snacker
Posts: 4377
Location: NC | awww I am sorry to hear that. She is super cute in those pictures. I hope her eyes heal up fast and we get some good updated pictures of her after you give her a little TLC. Prayers sent.  |
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I Really Love Jeans
Posts: 3173
Location: North Dakota | She must have had eye problems before you purchased her?! Riding in the trailer isn't enough to cause puss and an infection in the eyes, even if she did hit them on something. Just keep treating her like you are and she will be fine! I am glad you got her! Let us have a pic of the new baby next year! |
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 Expert
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Location: Somewhere around here | Sending prayers your way! |
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 Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | angelica - 2014-02-03 8:43 AM She must have had eye problems before you purchased her?! Riding in the trailer isn't enough to cause puss and an infection in the eyes, even if she did hit them on something. Just keep treating her like you are and she will be fine! I am glad you got her! Let us have a pic of the new baby next year!
I'm picturing freezing rain blowing through trailer slats and her pushing her face into her hay to protect herself from the rain. Prayers that she recovers with eyes and vision intact! |
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Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | Three 4 Luck - 2014-02-03 8:54 AM angelica - 2014-02-03 8:43 AM She must have had eye problems before you purchased her?! Riding in the trailer isn't enough to cause puss and an infection in the eyes, even if she did hit them on something. Just keep treating her like you are and she will be fine! I am glad you got her! Let us have a pic of the new baby next year! I'm picturing freezing rain blowing through trailer slats and her pushing her face into her hay to protect herself from the rain. Prayers that she recovers with eyes and vision intact!
This is what we think happened. We were riding in our two horse slant which is pretty enclosed but I think the wind drove it through more and she put her head down. Normally we put a fly mask on one in our big trailer if the windows are down because they are so big but have never had any trouble in this type of trailer. NEVER making that mistake again. We felt sick. |
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 Hog Tie My Mojo
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Location: Opelousas, LA | Prayers for your girl
Does your vet have her on Banamine?
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 Elite Veteran
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Location: Do I hear Banjos? | What a pretty mare. Hope she heals fast and you can save her vision.
I can tell you from experience that the key to saving the eyes is persistence and dedication on the eye treatments. My guy managed to damage his cornea so deeply that it was down to the last couple of layers before rupture. He had the lavage tube in and I did treatments every 4 hours for 11 weeks. And I was instructed to keep him as quiet as possible. It was so tough as it was mid winter as well and the tube kept freezing.
One of the treatments I was instructed to give was to draw his blood and spin it, collecting the serum. That serum was then one of the compounds I was to apply to the eye through the lavage tube. Apparently that is a big aid to preventing further erosion of the cornea. He was getting an antibiotic, and an anti-fungal, the serum, and periodically some atropine. He got banamine IV at set intervals as well. I purchased the hood with the hard protective eye cup and the ability to change out the gauze pads. THAT was a smart purchase. Well worth the money.
It took so long to heal but he now has full vision in the eye and you can barely see any cloudy area at all unless in full sun at the right angle. Consistency in treatment is the key. Take turns...and don't miss a treatment! The little pocket hand warmers work well for thawing the lavage line.
Good luck!
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I Need a Xanax!
Posts: 2774
| She was riding in the trailer non-stop from 4 pm till 6 am without a break to get out and walk around? Maybe I read it wrong.... |
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 Knowledge is Power
Posts: 4051
Location: wherever my daughter's running | Sorry this happened top you. My daughter just finished treating her gelding for this in one eye a few weeks ago. It was a least 4 weeks of meds every two hours. Then they cut it down to every 6 hours then every 4. About 8 weeks total treatment. Vet visits twice a week. He is doing fine now. WIll always have a place in his eye - but can see fine. They drew blood from him and mixed with one of his meds. It really helped. If your vet did not already do that you may want to ask them to do so. |
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 Tried and True
Posts: 21185
Location: Where I am happiest | Prayers for a full and speedy recovery.
What a NICE mare!! |
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I AM being nice
Posts: 4396
Location: MD | Many prayers, my friend! |
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Accident Prone
Posts: 22277
Location: 100 miles from Nowhere, AR | Used2B - 2014-02-03 9:19 AM She was riding in the trailer non-stop from 4 pm till 6 am without a break to get out and walk around? Maybe I read it wrong....
I don't unload horses I'm unfamiliar with or one I'm not certain I can get loaded back up. I'll stop and let them rest in the trailer, offering feed and water inside. |
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 Expert
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Location: Central Texas | Sending prayers for a speedy recovery. |
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Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | Used2B - 2014-02-03 9:19 AM She was riding in the trailer non-stop from 4 pm till 6 am without a break to get out and walk around? Maybe I read it wrong....
No we stopped twice. I think I said we had picked out some areas. Think we stopped twice and let her walk around. She was fine both times, only at home did she have the damage. |
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Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | TrailGirl - 2014-02-03 9:17 AM What a pretty mare. Hope she heals fast and you can save her vision.
I can tell you from experience that the key to saving the eyes is persistence and dedication on the eye treatments. My guy managed to damage his cornea so deeply that it was down to the last couple of layers before rupture. He had the lavage tube in and I did treatments every 4 hours for 11 weeks. And I was instructed to keep him as quiet as possible. It was so tough as it was mid winter as well and the tube kept freezing.
One of the treatments I was instructed to give was to draw his blood and spin it, collecting the serum. That serum was then one of the compounds I was to apply to the eye through the lavage tube. Apparently that is a big aid to preventing further erosion of the cornea. He was getting an antibiotic, and an anti-fungal, the serum, and periodically some atropine. He got banamine IV at set intervals as well. I purchased the hood with the hard protective eye cup and the ability to change out the gauze pads. THAT was a smart purchase. Well worth the money.
It took so long to heal but he now has full vision in the eye and you can barely see any cloudy area at all unless in full sun at the right angle. Consistency in treatment is the key. Take turns...and don't miss a treatment! The little pocket hand warmers work well for thawing the lavage line.
Good luck! Yup we are doing this. We are giving her the serum and gentocin (for pseudomonas). We are also giving a regular antibiotic and antifungal. We switch these out. She gets the serum and gentocin one time and two hours later gets the other two, and on and on in rotation. She gets atropine twice a day, and banamine orally twice a day. We have another vet visit for Wednesday morning. Thankfully her lavage tube seems good and hasn't frozen. We do have her stalled with a fly mask on but I will look into the mask with the eye protection. Where did you get that?
ETA: Hubby and I are switching out at night. Thankfully he's home until 4 or so and can treat her during the day and I can when I get home. We do every other one at night so one of us can sleep a four hour stretch. I'm still only operating on about 3 hours sleep today at work after all this though.
Edited by oija 2014-02-03 10:29 AM
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Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | Yes, 5 cc orally twice a day. We are giving her atropine and banamine at 8 and 8 around the clock. |
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 Cinnamon Honey One
Posts: 6549
Location: between here and there | So sorry! Sounds like you are doing all you can now so prayers she recovers just fine and gives you a nice baby! She sure is a nice looking mare! |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Sorry that this happen to your new sweet mare, prayers that she gets better soon |
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 The Comeback Kid
Posts: 1564
Location: lost in missouri | You ar doing all the right things. glad you are doing the serum from his blood as well. Eyes are one of the bodies features that can heal itself very well with the right support. as u are going thru it and the treatments and days seem to be going on forever just remember they only have two eyes and it would b a bigger pain dealing with a blind horse than dealing with what you are now. If she starts to get irritated and tossing her head when she figures out the meds are coming, trust me she will figure out what u r doing back there at teh end of the lavage tube and since you are doing this by yourself invest in a bag of carrots. when u r getting ready to send the air down the tube to finish getting ht emeds to her eye give her a carrot to entertain her. I had to do the day time meds by myself and this is how i survived my geldings head slinging ****iness. she is gorgeous
Edited by redracinmo 2014-02-03 12:06 PM
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 Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | |
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 Expert
Posts: 1304
| Prayers! |
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Expert
Posts: 1586
Location: west of East Texas | So sorry for your mare. You were so excited about her and I'm sure as proactive as you are with your horses she will be fine in no time! |
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 Voice of Reason
Location: NOT at Wal Mart | Sure hope everything works out for you, hang in there! |
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 Total Germophobe
Posts: 6443
Location: Montana | I'm so sorry to hear that. Prayers are sent. But you need to  as well. |
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 I Am Always Right
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Location: stray dump capital of the world | Sending prayers your way. She sure is a pretty thing. |
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 Ditch the Stirrups
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Location: Sorrow Not! Defending against workplace bullies | |
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Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | We are seeing signficant improvement! HOPEFULLY this keeps up. No drainage tonight and the swelling has gone down considerably. She can actually open her left eye.
Before:
AFTER
Edited by oija 2014-02-04 7:46 AM
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas |
Thats good news, I bet from now on she just keeps on getting better  |
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Veteran
Posts: 160
| Keep treating. I had a mare a few years ago who stuck something into her eye. She was fine at noon then had a big, swollen discharging eye at 5pm. It was deep and we were pretty sure she would lose eye. It took 4 weeks but her eye was saved. She just has a scar on her cornea where the ulcer was. Ulcers can occur very quickly. I work at a vet clinic and we see eye ulcers all the time on horses, doga and cats. |
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| So glad as I read through the posts that you are seeing a significant improvement. I know several horses that have recovered fully from similar eye problems with treatment being done pretty much as to what is being done for your mare. Prayers for continued improvement and a full recovery for this beautiful mare. She looks like an absolute sweetheart!
A good reminder for the rest of us: Fly masks should always be on our horses while trailering. I sometimes let my guard down and don't put them on. I will, from now on, make it a point. The man that owns SR Red Ryder told me that SR lost his eye because of something flying in it while going down the road...he never saw the improvement this mare is having. After learning of that ,I got really good about the fly masks but now realize I've been lax about it lately....time to get back to it.
Edited by runs4fun 2014-02-04 5:47 AM
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Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | I just wanted to let everybody know that Cadence had her second check up this morning. Her eyes look great and they are taking the lavage tubes out. We just have to wait another day or so for her eyes to start responding to light (still dilated from the atropine) and then we can turn her out on pasture. We are going to get her checked again on Thursday and maybe her teeth done. Now our main mission is just to finish restoring her weight (which already looks much better). And then hopefully we can breed her in April without a problem.
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Undercover Amish Mafia Member
Posts: 9992
Location: Kansas | oija - 2014-02-10 10:12 AM I just wanted to let everybody know that Cadence had her second check up this morning. Her eyes look great and they are taking the lavage tubes out. We just have to wait another day or so for her eyes to start responding to light (still dilated from the atropine) and then we can turn her out on pasture. We are going to get her checked again on Thursday and maybe her teeth done. Now our main mission is just to finish restoring her weight (which already looks much better). And then hopefully we can breed her in April without a problem.
So glad to hear that!!!  |
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Member
Posts: 21
| Hope your beautiful girl get better quick!!!
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Good weekend gone bad . . . Another Update