****a bit graphic, blood mostly****
So last Monday I took Dee to Justin's to gather his cattle, she was super good (if missing a bit of steering and her stop was pretty slow (but I knew about the stop)) But she was tossing her head, I just thought she was wanting me to let her go faster, and it was chilly and she was fresh. Well after we were done, I went to take of the bridle and noticed she had a giant lump in her mouth about the size of a golf ball. It was on the inside of her lip. Boy did I feel bad, it probly hit the bit every time she moved. No wonder the head tossing. Well I made an appointment with the vet, couldn't get in till the next Monday. I wasn't overly worried as she was still eating and acting normal so I just waited.
By the time Monday rolled around a big chunk of it had just died and fell off. It was gross, like a big string...eww, glad the vet pulled it off and not me. He figured we had to get rid of it and send it away for testing just to make sure we knew what it was.
She was pretty sleepy which was good, easier to do surgery on if shes not wiggling and she is a wiggler. He froze it and waited a bit the cut it off. Wasn't gonna suture or anything. He has this stuff its lidocaine with epinephrine in so it is a painkiller and slows blood. He put that on but there was one little vein spurting out so 3 stitches went in. And shes on uniprim until the bottle is empty, which I hope is soon as its a pain cause she's a slow eater
She was a super good patient. Didn't even care we kept bothering her mouth, even before the sedation. He was worried it was a tumor when I first got there, but the more he thought about it he thinks something went up in her lip and fat got pushed out the hole. He said its seen a lot in cows but not much on horses. But we are getting it looked at through a microscope anyways just in case.
He checked her teeth while we were there and couldn't find any points or anything bothering her so we left it at that. Sure didn't seem to even notice anything was amiss when I unloaded her she went straight to the grass so I let her eat her fill and put her back with her buddies who were missing her (or jealous about the grass more likely) While I was there I got a call from the farrier he was just leaving the neighbors and so he come over and did my ponies (except Dee of course) before I even got home. Pretty awesome, since my last farrier quit without notice (I was pretty mad about that)
While I was there I mentioned I wanted to get Razz and Jessie in for teeth and the export examination. He likes them in sooner then its all ready when I wanna go so we booked Wednesday.
Down I went, another hot day but I opened the vents and the screens in the trailer. Wasn't too bad in there when we got to town. First Razz. Her teeth had a few points but not bad. He gave her a regular dose of sedation but with the hot weather and her being kinda calm she about fell over, good thing the stocks hold her up. It worked out OK though cause he has so draw her for the paperwork and she stood super still while we looked all over for white spots and whorls and everything.
Shirley was gonna borrow Jessie so she was coming in but last week she got a new horse so Jess just got her teeth done. They really needed to she had a start of a sore on her one cheek, not a callous yet but was working towards it. Shes good now for a while. Which I hope lasts as I may not use her again till fall....Have to see how everything is working out with Chili and Dee
Jessie also got the regular dose and I had to hold her head upright while he did the teeth, she was just laying it to the side, lol. I said we should get her a pillow ;)
Even afterwards I had to stay a half hour so she could wake up a little, she finally put her tongue in her mouth and quit leaning on the halter so much. I loaded them and then went to the grocery store. Its tough to keep fresh stuff around when we were at brandings forever and not cooking.
