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Discussion on Weanling having poor recovery from surgery.
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Member:
Oscarvv
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Posted on Tuesday, Oct 5, 2004 - 9:41 pm:
Hi DrO,
I will get right to it. My 5 month old colt had an arthrotomy yesterday morning. We brought him home around 2 PM same day and he has not had a single thing to eat or drink since. He is not acting painful but is depressed. He has had 6 BM since...fairly hard and dry. His temp is 99.7, resp 20, hr 40, gut sounds good. Dr came this afternoon (finally) and tubed with oil, 1/2 bucket of h2o and some electrolytes. He pulled blood for a cbc and left ranitidine and gastroguard as the colt has been grinding his teeth.
He is sound on the leg that had surgery and does not favor it at all.
The colt is on no antibiotics and had 1 gram of bute per surgeon this am. He laid down quietly 4 times since yesterday and basically stands with his head somewhat low otherwise.
Do you have ANY ideas what could be going on? What should I have the vet look for. I know this is nowhere near normal and am worried about this colt. Would a liver function check be a good idea? Could ulcers cause this depressed behavior as he is exhibiting signs of having them? How about a rough intubation?
Thank you for your help.
Barbara
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Member:
Dres
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Posted on Tuesday, Oct 5, 2004 - 10:01 pm:
just a thought.. does he have a friend in the stall near by one that he can 'nose'..??
can't hurt the moral i would think..
good luck ..Ann
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Member:
Oscarvv
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Posted on Wednesday, Oct 6, 2004 - 7:11 am:
Thanks for your thoughts Ann, he is next to his best buddy 14 hours a day and a gelding the rest of the time. Our stall walls have bars between them and he can see outside as well. He doesn't have much interested.
AM update - temp 99.6, did not drink any h2o through the night, did not lie down, does have a better interest in eating. He nosed around a handful of grain and finally ate it, is eating a handful of hay. So he seems to be going in the right direction. He had two BM. Still seems depressed. Will call vet to see what they think. I am worried about dehydration and impaction.
Thanks
-B
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Oct 6, 2004 - 8:19 am:
I presume he was bright, alert, and eating well prior to surgery. Assuming such he sounds like he is having trouble clearing anesthetic from his system though electrolyte and ph imbalances in the blood or vascular accidents to the CNS could cause such symptoms.
You are right that at this point, good support (particularly hydration and electrolytes) is important at this point. As long as bowel sounds are good, tubing in water with balanced electrolytes would be an easy way to do this but with the appetite returning, it is hard to imagine that he will not begin drinking on his own.
DrO
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Member:
Oscarvv
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Posted on Wednesday, Oct 6, 2004 - 1:57 pm:
I can't thank you enough DrO.
Today the colt drank about 3 inches of h2o from his bucket and had 20 swallows from his paddock waterer which I walked him out to. He readily ate the handful of grain we gave him for lunch and continues to eat the hay scattered in his stall. He does have a bit of snot coming out of his right nostril, same one they tubed yesterday. Temp remains normal. He has had 3 more BM, pretty normal looking, maybe just a little hard but with oil on them. He is still depressed but not as bad as yesterday. Oddly, he has not been down since yesterday evening.
I received the results of his cbc today and the wbc were low @ 3,700, normal I was told is 9,500-12,500. They think colitis, and were suprised he had no diarhhea. (cbc prior to sx was normal)
The vet came out this afternoon and tubed him with h2o and electrolytes. She said gut sounds were good and maybe just a bit elevated on the left side. Another cbc will be run.
We are hoping he continues to improve.
Thanks again.
-B
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Member:
Oscarvv
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 7, 2004 - 8:51 pm:
Ahhhh, what a relief, bloodwork today was normal, demeanor normal too.  The vet thought he was a little bit quiet but he's a good boy and easy to work with. (I guess we'll see how quiet he is after 30 days of stall rest ;) ) I re-bandaged the leg and there was no swelling or heat.
Though he is getting tired of the Gastroguard, Ranitidine and Banamine all given orally.
-B
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Member:
Hwood
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 7, 2004 - 9:29 pm:
Ahh, Barbara . . . this has been a cliffhanger for me . . . so happy to hear that your little guy is doing better. Get a good sleep tonight . Any pics?
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Member:
Oscarvv
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Posted on Friday, Oct 8, 2004 - 7:46 pm:
Thanks holly, (sorry, capital h is not functioning properly.)
Geeze, I was so worried about him. I did get a great nights sleep finally.
-B
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