Good News for Shadow!!!

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lilhorseladie

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Fullerton, Nebraska
Today was the day we were going to have Shadow euthanized. Thanks to you guys, I did a lot of reading up on the medial patellar ligament desmotomy. I met the vet at the clinic before coming to the farm and talked to him about the procedure. At that point he had never seen a locking stifle in a horse. He came to the farm and met Shadow. Being a young, new vet, he is willing to try anything. I explained, that I couldn't spend a whole lot, but if we did this we would casterate him too. He is going to consult with someone and then get back to me. He wants to put Shadow out to do both legs and the castration at the same time. Since this will be his first time at this, he wasn't sure a local was in order. He will be calling me soon. If any of you have a vet who is experienced and wouldn't mind my vet calling him, could you p.m. me the info?
 
I pray for a good outcome on this!!!!
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Staci, good to see you again (well kinda see ya!) could your vet call like Iowa State vet clinic and do a consultation with one of the vets there? This is a great instittuion and our vet will call and discuss things with them there? 1-515-294-1500

also there are some vet forums where they discuss things too. Hope it all goes well! Lavonne in Iowa
 
This is GREAT news!!!! Shadow gets another chance
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I pray your vet can get an experienced vets help! It would be so wonderful if the outcome was good for Shadow
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Please keep us posted! And if for some reason your vet decides he isn't comfortable with it, I hope you can find one who is!
 
I kept overlooking this post because I wasn't sure who "Shadow" was...I'm glad I finally peeked!
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That's wonderful that there may be other options for Shadow, I'm so happy! The vet at the local hospital wanted to lay my gelding out for the desmotomy and was going to charge me a correspondingly large amount of money to do it but after talking to all the people on here who have had it done I looked around until I found another vet who would do it standing up and for a price I could afford. It's a five to ten minute procedure, very quick and easy, and the horse was able to jump in a trailer and ride two hours home as soon as the sedative wore off. I watched him carefully on a video camera the whole way home and he was fine. He was under general anesthesia for the splitting procedure back in October and it really knocked him for a loop- the local with sedative seemed much easier on him judging by his recovery. (I suspect like people some take it better than others. Kody may not have dealt with it well.)

I've only been present at one gelding but since my vet couldn't get a catheter in to lay the horse down he ended up doing that standing up too. Poor horse! Kody is heartily sick and tired of vets at this point.
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It turned out, by the way, that my surgeon is the only one I've spoken with who felt the need to do the desmotomy lying down. She admitted it was because she wasn't comfortable trying to get down that low to the ground and would rather have him up on a table where she could see well and not because the procedure itself required it. I live in a pricey area and managed to get it done for $269, others here have quoted $140. (It costs $500 to have a horse put to sleep in my county!
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Gelding is $250.) I was quoted $300-500 by other vets so there's some price ranges to work with. As for how it's done, make sure the vet sterilizes the area very well then he simply makes a short incision and cuts the medial patellar ligament with a small scalpel, being careful to point the blade away from the joint. The vet who did mine actually put his finger in there under the ligament to make sure it was completely separated from any other parts before he cut it. They do both legs, clean up the blood a bit then take a stitch or two in each side and you're done!

If doing both operations at once I think I'd probably do the gelding first so that if he's standing he can support himself during the pushing and pulling of that procedure and if he's laying down the vet can lift the legs however he needs to in order to reach the testicles without pulling on fresh incisions. That's just me though! The only negative I can think of is that they're supposed to be exercised after gelding and exercise restricted for at least a couple of days after the desmotomy. Plus if he gets swollen from the gelding or has any bleeding, would that affect your ability to keep the other wounds clean? Hmm. Maybe it might be better to do the desmotomy first and make sure it helps him before going to the expense of gelding him. It means two different farm calls, two charges for anesthesia and two sets of antibiotics but it might be worth it to wait a little.
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It's up to you!

If you'd like to speak to the vet who did my procedure his name is Dr. Affeldt in Centralia, WA and his office number is 360-736-3361. He hasn't done very many of these, in fact Kody was his first mini, but his mentor/ partner had done a lot of them and at least he won't make you feel like you're being an awful owner for even contemplating it like so many others will.
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Good luck! Sending positive thoughts to you and Shadow.

Leia
 
Maybe now I can type without being so excited. Ok first of all, My vet has a vet buddy a few miles away who "enjoys surgery". I don't know if he has actually done one of these, I'm guessing not. My vet is more than willing to research into this. He said it would be a couple of weeks before they could both get to this. In the process, the vet brought with him a "helper". This little gal would like to get a mini for her niece 7, and another 3. I'm thinking Shadow would be a great match if this works out. I didn't tell her that, I showed her my other horses for sale, but Shadow would be great for young kids.

Leia, I hadn't thought of the exercise vs. non exercise with all three surgeries. That was the vet's idea thinking he could save a load of my cash by doing it all at once. Because this is new to him, he told me he will charge only anesthesia and time. Not per surgery type of thing.

I feel much more informed and better about everything. Now to make sure when all is said and done he has a great home. I thank everyone here for their comments and help!
 
I'm so pleased that you are looking into all the possible options for your little guy.
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Good for you!! Sounds like this could be a win/win for all of you!
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I appreciate all of the pms and helpful comments I have received! Thanks for all you guys have done. Now maybe Shadow can have the life he deserves.
 
Lots of things to do with minis now a days as far as "fixing" problems. I'm getting the medial patellar ligament destomony done this summer on mine. Called every vet in Utah and southern Idaho until I found one that would actually work on a mini and do it afforably. Amazing how many vets won't work on a mini in general!

I sure hope all goes well with Shadow and he's able to live a happy life!
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I have been in Minis almost 20 years and when I first got my Minis the vets were not real haapy to work on them.I was asked more than once why I wanted Minis.Then they begin to notice that many Mini owners are willing to spend big bucks to take good care of their Minis.When the business began to roll in they soon changed their minds.Same thing happened with farriers in this area.Now they are farriers who would rather do Minis than big horses.
 
Keeping fingers crossed and sending prayers and white light!!!

Robin
 

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