TGIF!!

So I would just like to start by saying that my hands are bleeding because they are so dry :( That may be the only thing I dislike about Alberta.

Secondly, today was interesting....

Question : When and where is a colic BOUND to happen?...

Answer: In the middle of a WIDE OPEN field while there is a blizzard happening and it's minus 35...THATS WHERE.... ( long story short...the poor horse got euthanized :( he was so far gone by the time we got there, his temperature was below the scale on the Hg thermometer, every breath he took was laboured, and just shaking from head to toe.)

After lunch I set up the surgery room for impending colics...(This weekend we are having a cold snap, and apparently it's good to be prepared for these things)

Although I have been on call for a few nights now since Ive been here, there hasnt been anything happening...UNTIL TODAY!

BEFORE closing, we got 2 calls saying that theyd be arriving after hours. The first one arrived around 545, nothing too exciting about that case. the other however... that was DEFINATELY exciting!

This gelding comes in with a "puncture wound". Blood frozen and clotting down the length of his right hind leg, his sheath swollen and a lot of ventral edema! Guess what I found when I was cleaning up the wound??... YELLOW OOZE!! ( VT girls know what Im talking about... )

So we took some blood, and I went to do his PCV, which was 55 ( 60 = death) and his TP was 5.5( low). His temperature was also very low, and his heart beating irratically. I went and grabbed some LR fluids to heat up. Thats when the vet came in and grabbed a probe. Would you believe that the puncture was ~30 cm long?!? CRAZY! I left the room for a minute to go and spin down some blood and when I came back from doing that....I walked into the treatment room to see the vets HAND in the WOUND. That's right...HAND IN THE WOUND. And you wouldnt believe what she found in there..... no word of a lie, I kid you not! A ~ 4-5 inch long BRANCH! Naturally....I had to take a picture of it :) I didn't put it on my computer yet, so when I do, you'll be the first to see it!!! Needless to say hes staying the night.

Tomorrow is a short day, with just a few treatments planned, but as Im sure you can imagine from the business of the past 5 days, ANYTHING could happen tommorow and I wouldnt be surprised in the least!