Our Harley got hurt.

[Petra]

Harley has a huge rip on the side. He did it on the stall gate.
He is going to need stitches. Can't get hold of my vet.
I got a flat on my trailer. Huby is trying to fix it so we can take him in first thing in the morning.
I'll get pictures later.

[WashingtonBay]

Oh dang... I'm sorry. Never good timing is it.

[CaddoCinnamon]

Sorry to hear that Petra I hope he heals up quickly.

[Petra]

WB, thanks! True...I think I should write a memo for my horses with vet clinic hours on it.
He just had to wait until the vet goes home.
I hope I'll catch him there in the morning. I don't really trust other vets. I'm not even sure if there is another big animal vet in the area. My husband doesn't think the tires would hold all the way to the city and tire shop is closed on weekends! Grrr
---
Thanks Dotty!

Anyways here are some pics:
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=8852&stc=1&d=1284770864
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=8853&stc=1&d=1284770864
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=8854&stc=1&d=1284770864

[oursarge]

Oh Poor baby, I hope he'll be OK. Does your vet have an emergency #? Mine knows I'm so paranoid I have his home and his cell #. I had to call the office the other day and the receptionist said she'd call him and I said I had his cell # she told me then go ahead and call him since she'd just call his cell so I might as well do it and then we didn't have to play phone tag, our vet is used to being called out at all hrs of the day and night. He was on a farm call early yesterday when I called yet again. I don't do it often but it was an emergency. I sure hope your baby will be OK, I didn't look at the pictures real good because I might pass out but just from what I saw quick it looks bad. Give him a huge hug and I hope the vet will be there first thing in the a.m..

[WashingtonBay]

Yikes... Thing is, I'm not sure he's gonna be able to stitch that! Especially come morning. I don't know if that flap will still be alive enough. We'll see. It may just have to heal as is.

What is it? Big ugly wound week on the forum?

Don't answer that! No more!

[WP~Paint]

Oh my goodness, I saw this on Facebook and shot over here to see more info. I hope they can stitch him up and make him better. I look forward to updates of him healing up fast!

[Petra]

Yikes... Thing is, I'm not sure he's gonna be able to stitch that! Especially come morning. I don't know if that flap will still be alive enough. We'll see. It may just have to heal as is.

What is it? Big ugly wound week on the forum?

Don't answer that! No more!

Yea I know...
Besides my vet is not a big fan of stitching wounds if they can heal without.
There is another vet in town that does ER. Bad thing is that he is not very good and charges an arm and a leg on weekends. I know it would heal without stitches, but it will leave an ugly scar. It's not any deeper than Trigger's was last year. Not sure if you still remember that one.


Thanks WP!

[vicklynn]

Oh my, Poor baby. I also was wondering if your vet has an emergency number.
That looks icky.
I hope he heals up well, and soon.

[WashingtonBay]

I do remember Trigger's last year. Well, may not scar too bad. Hope not. Will check back tomorrow.

[Remali]

Oh no, that is quite a nasty looking gash. I hope your vet can get out there soon, I know what you mean about "other" vets. I wonder too, if you wait till morning it may be to late to suture it. Harley is a beautiful horse by the way!!

[Petra]

Vicky, Thank you.
I had his # on a magnet on my refridgerator. I searched everywhere, it has disapeared. And of course my son has no idea what I'm talking about... *sigh*
I searched online, and only clinic # is listed.
It will have to wait until the morning.

[Petra]

Oh no, that is quite a nasty looking gash. I hope your vet can get out there soon, I know what you mean about "other" vets. I wonder too, if you wait till morning it may be to late to suture it. Harley is a beautiful horse by the way!!

Thank you Remali. I know ...the more I think about it the more I'm thinking that it would be probably better to leave it opened. The only advantage of stitches would be a smaller scar. But I think it would heal better this way.
Harley would go nuts if I kept him stalled for few weeks and if I leave him out I'm almost positive he would rip the stitches.
When Trigger got hurt last year my vet advised me to leave it opened. And he was right. Trigger didn't even need any antibiotics. I sprayed it with Granulex twice a day and gave him a tetanus shot and he healed up without any complications.

Well I'll see what the vet will say in the morning.

[vicklynn]

My vets office number will have a recording with an emergency number if needed.
Did you try calling the office?

[oursarge]

Yikes... Thing is, I'm not sure he's gonna be able to stitch that! Especially come morning. I don't know if that flap will still be alive enough. We'll see. It may just have to heal as is.

What is it? Big ugly wound week on the forum?

Don't answer that! No more!

Not to steal Petra's thread but it is big ugly wound or just bad luck with horses week on the forum, right now we are dealing with maybe having to have my baby's eye removed. We've been Dring it since June and it's just getting worse, he now has uveitis, glaucoma and a cataract. I've had 4 opinions on it at this point plus a consult with Cornell. My vet and the other vet in his office who does large animals have now put him on Predinsone and anti biotics, if we don't see some improvement he will have to be taken to Cornell to be evaluated and chances are his eye will have to come out. They have run out of ideas.

He has always flared in the summer and is OK in the winter, I hope so much for a frost to see if he'll clear up but if he's in pain we won't be able to wait. There are not alot of options for a horse with these problems and he's only 7 yrs old. My heart is ripped out. The poor vet I was on the phone with her yesterday crying like an idiot.

We don't have a trailer so I'd have to ask my best friend and we would have to hope her truck is working and can make the long trip. My other horse is so attached to Sarge I don't know how he'd take Sarge going to the hospital. My friend has lots of horses and ponies and said she'll bring some over to see who he gets along with best since we can't take him to the hospital too. I have done nothing but cry for days. It has been a horrible week. It was bad before but it's so much worse now.

I do hope Harley is better soon, it looks nasty the little bit I saw of it before I couldn't see more or I'd pass out. Hugs to him. Seems if there is one thing for them to get hurt on they will find it. Sorry to put Sarge's problems on here but I just wanted to say it has been a miserable week for horses, so many of us are dealing with bad things. I wish it would let up. I just hope your baby will be fine, he's the cutest little buckaroo, he's so precious.

[gaited07]

Oh poor Harley:( Hope the vet can get it stitched up for you (him)

[Buckpoco]

Oh, that's nasty. I bet Vetericyn would work wonders.

[Petra]

Vicky, of course I called the clinic. Several times. Sometimes he is there after hours, so I was hoping to catch him.
They don't have voice mail. He doesn't do ER calls officialy.

Buckpoco I have a really good experience with Granulex. I used it on all kinds of wounds and all kinds of animals. It worked great!

[vicklynn]

Well darn. Im sorry.

[Petra]

Thanks Vicky. :)

Annie, I'm so sorry to hear about Sarge's eye problems!

[Fork]

That looks like what Tiara did a few years ago. :( There was no way for us to stitch it up, so we cut off the excess skin and let it heal on its own. She stayed inside for 8 weeks. We watched really closely for proud flesh. She ended up developing proud flesh the first time I sent her out (4 weeks later) so I had to bring her back in for another 4 weeks.

I recall cleaning it out using an ointment and some Betadine twice a day. It was really saddening to have to be pushing my fingers into her side. Ostrich oil really helped the healing process, toward the end. :)

ETA:

Oh, that's nasty. I bet Vetericyn would work wonders.

This is what I used! It worked beautifully.

[ownedby7horses]

awww, poor baby. I hope he heals up nicely for you. He's a good lookin dude though!! ;)

[AppyLady]

Poor Harley! Fortunately, wounds like that heal quickly and with little scarring. I think your vet is smart -- I'm not a fan of stitching wounds either.

[Petra]

Thanks you everyone.
AppyLady, my vet is great, I wish I managed to get hold of him. :(
Well I never managed to reach my vet. I even found his home #, but nobody answered. So I'm taking him to the other vet even though he doesn't have a very good reputation. I tried to call few others in the area, and nobody seems to be opened on Saturday.
My trailer doesn't have very reliable tires. DH fixed the flat, but doesn't trust it to go on any long trips. This vet is only 10 minutes drive from here. I called there. Sounds like they want to stitch him up.
I'll update when we get back.

[Petra]

So I am back from the vet. Harley was such good boy. He loaded and unloaded great. Than just waited there patiently.
I really don't like this vet. We spent an hour and half waiting. We were the only people there...it took them that long to figure out how much to charge us!. He really didn't do anything, just gave him a shot and gave us antibiotics.
He would have stitched him up if I wanted to. I really didn't want to take the risk. He has a very bad reputation around here.
My husband had to take off work to go with me. His coworker's words were "What are you going in there for? I wouldn't take a cat there and I don't like cats."
They told me that I need to wash the wound out with peroxide twice a day. Were planning to clean it with peroxide right there. Not sure why, because the wound was already cleaned out. I have no problem cleaning it.
I said I'll clean the wound myself at home and I don't want to use peroxide. So they gave me bad looks. I asked for more Granulex since I'm almost out. At least they had that.
The bill was $182.
If it was my vet I wouldn't pay more than $90. I'm still going to call my vet on Monday and consult with him.
When I looked at the receipt, it shows the vet gave him 4in one shot that I normally give my horses twice a year. I know it has a tetanus in it, but I don't think it's strong enough. When Trigger got hurt my vet made me give him an extra tetanus shot.
I'm not too happy, because he asked if Harley had his shots, and I said he did. I told him I just need a tetanus shot. :(
He could have at least told me what he is giving him.

Anyways Harley is grazing right now. The vet told me to keep him confined, but I decided not to. He hates being alone. I figured grazing is better for him than stressing out in the stall. He walks slower than usual, but looks OK. The wound is swolen. There are no flies on it at all. I think the Granulex really stinks to them. Harley is really good with cleaning or spraying is wound. It will take a while, but I think he'll be fine.

[WashingtonBay]

Well, it was a great test for Harley, I'm glad he's so good :) I'm sure you'll get it healed up fine.


I am curious, if they didn't clean it out and they didn't stitch it.... what did they do?

[Remali]

Sounds like you did the right thing..... I bet just keeping it clean, it will heal fine on its own. But good idea to check in with your regular vet Monday. Harley sounds like a really good boy!

[oursarge]

Sounds like you can do better than the vet! Some of them are such idiots. We had one that is just an equine vet, not sure how she got to be one since she was afraid of my horse and yes he is a little hard to handle but he's not mean just moves around alot, he'd never hurt anyone on purpose, he loves people! I will only have her again if every other vet is not available. I love my vet but was told how great this lady is so I thought I'd get a 2nd opinion, she was right in the diagnosis but didn't do much, the assistant did most things. At least she came though, most of the vets here travel to the farms the farms don't have to travel to them thankfully since we don't have a trailer. If my baby has to go to the hospital that is going to be traumatic. Anyway hopefully Harley will heal up fast, give him hugs from all of us.

[Petra]

Well, it was a great test for Harley, I'm glad he's so good :) I'm sure you'll get it healed up fine.


I am curious, if they didn't clean it out and they didn't stitch it.... what did they do?

Gave him 4 in one shot and made us wait for 182 dollar bill. :huh:
I did get antibiotics from them and the Granulex spray.

Oh And I forgot ...they didn't give me any needles and syringes for the injectible antibiotics. When I asked for some, they brought me two syringes and 4 needles and told me to cook them and reuse them.:rolleyes:
Right...I'll manage until Monday. I'll get more from my vet.

[oursarge]

That Vet sounds like a real crazy operation. I know you'll be glad when your regular vet is in but we all know that you will give him real good care. It sounds like you probably know way more than the one you went to today. Hugs to the baby!

[AppyLover]

Oh poor baby. I am glad things are ok, but I agree with you this vet is off his rocker and I think you are doing better than he ever would. I am also with you about talkinf to your trusted vet on monday. Good luck and I am sure everything will be fine. (((HUGS))) to you and (((PATS))) for Harley.

[Petra]

Thank you!

And Harley says thank you for all the pats and hugs. :) He got a lot of them today. :)
I am very proud of him. He was so good tonight. He didn't even move when I gave him his shot.
And when I was washing up the wound, he made couple of steps and than just patiently stood there until I was done. I could tell it hurts, because he tensed up. His appetite is good. He tried to walk in to the shed to help himself to more grain. :) He even wanted to play with his grain bucket after he finished eating.
The swelling went down a little. So far he didn't try to lay down so the wound is clean.

[AppyLady]

I'm glad Harley is being such a good boy. I'm sure he'll heal up just fine.

That's why I don't take horses to the vet for injuries like that, especially since I rarely want them stitched. The vet doesn't do anything that I can't do myself, and I work a whole lot cheaper! My vet knows I'm capable of handling most things myself, so when I do bring a horse in, he knows it's an emergency and gets me in right away.

I have an awesome vet, one of the best equine vets in the state. So I'm grateful for that!

[WP~Paint]

I'm so glad he is doing better!

[JackieB]

Good job, Petra. Sounds like you have a great plan for Harley. Sorry about that bad vet. You're betterr off not using him, that's for sure.

[carla]

Bless his heart. :( I saw the pics on FB but I can't reply from the computer.. not sure what the diff is here lol. I'm SO glad to hear he is in good spirits! That has to be a big relief. :)

[Petra]

Thank you everyone!

AppyLady, I know if I got hold of my vet he wouldn't even want me to bring him in...that's how it was with Trigger. He told me the same thing - that there is nothing he would do that I couldn't do myself.

I found out my vet was out of town, that's why I couldn't get hold of him.
He is not money hungry.
Unfortunatelly it happened the worst possible time. I had enough Granulex to spray Harley two more times. And I really wanted a tetanus shot for him. He would have been OK without antibiotics until Monday.
I'm not even sure why does he need two different types of antibiotics. Trigger didn't need any.
I'm not a big fan of giving more than necessary.
My vet has no problem selling me whatever I need without seeing the animal.
Other vets around here will not even discuss it with me if they don't see the animal and if I don't fill out bunch of paperwork first.
I will miss my vet when he retires. :(