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[RC] roaring, surgery, and recuperation - A. PerezWell, I buit the bullet and took Cyclone (aka Idiot Boy) to the Marion Dupont Equine hospital in Leesburg VA for an evaluation. He has been a noisy breather since I got him 2+ years ago, and seems to be getting increasingly exercise intolerant. The hospital was impressive, and I'd like to go back sometime for a full tour. For any of you who ever go to this hospital please note that it is not co-located with the Moravan Park equestrian center (which is what the kind folks at the Leesburg Visitors Center will tell you!). After getting the correct directions at the Equestrian Center, we rolled in 45 minutes late for our appointment, but they took us anyway. Cy was great! For a horse that hasn't been stalled in over two years, he could not have been better about walking into a strange, big building, though doors and into an exam room with stocks and other strange equipment and horses. He and I both wanted to check it all out! He even was pretty good about being scoped - with the hlep of a twich. Gives new meaning to the expression 'up your nose with a rubber hose! It took only a minute to determine that Cy is indeed a roarer, grade 4/4 (I assume that means 4 out of a possible 4 points?). Complete paralysis on the left side. Options are do nothing, tie-back surgery, or a simpler surgery that involves removal of the vocal chaords and other tissue, but no tie-back, and can be done standing. Both require two weeks stall-rest/hand walking post-op and twice daily medication (some sort of drench that the vet says would take two people to administer). The second procedure won't allow him to work 'at speed' but should provide some releif. I'd love to hear from anyone familiar with surgical procedures for roaring and the pros and cons of the two approaches. It's going to take awhile to save the $$ (need to pay off other debts first) and arrange stabling. I'd like to take that time to prepare Cy for the surgery and recuperation as much as I can. Currently he is on 7-24 turn-out, and only gets grass in the summer. I'm assuming winter would be the best time for surgery, as he'd be on grain and hay and the change in diet would be less dramatic. Any hints on how to prepare a horse for two weeks stall confinement? Should I start stabling him for short periods in advance and gradually lengthen them? I also would like to do whatever I can to get him used to the medication routine before hand: any of you vet-types out there who can describe the procedure? Thanks, Amanda ________________________________________________ Get your own "800" number Voicemail, fax, email, and a lot more http://www.ureach.com/reg/tag =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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