Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Momma R!

Hi, everyone!  Today is Momma R's birthday, so first let me send her my love via a nice big clover-slobber kiss!  (She's my mom, so I don't have to be polite!)

I had another adventure today.  I met my new veterinarian for the first time!  Her name is Dr. Long and she took excellent care of me this morning.  The vet had to see me today because my moms found a little blood in the bandages coming off my sore foot.  They knew this wasn't normal, so they called my fabulous farrier friend Jamie, who recommended that Dr. Long take a look.

The news isn't at all good: Dr. Long said that the puncture in the sole of my foot is allowing my corium - that's the inside of my hoof - to drop through the sole!  This sounds very gross, and truthfully it's kind of painful.  Dr. Long told K that this will require some extra daily care for me. 

My moms will need to create a pressure bandage to keep my hoof's insides inside!  To do this, they will apply a Betadine-soaked gauze pad to the hole in my foot.  They will secure the pad to my hoof using Elastikon.  Then they need to wrap my whole hoof in CombiRoll and secure with more Elastikon!  Finally, they will apply Duct Tape to the bottom of my foot to keep the sole dry. 

Dr. Long said I will need the pressure bandage changes daily to for the next six to eight weeks.  She also gave Momma K some antibiotics called SMZ's.  That's short for something.  (Humans have the strangest names for things.)

Fortunately for me, Dr. Long says we caught this problem in time and has given me an excellent prognosis for recovery as long as my foot stays clean and dry.  I know my moms are very concerned about the dry bit.  We've had a lot of rain and my pasture is full of grass and is wet from dew in the mornings.  I overheard K talking with Aunt B (she and Aunt T own the farm where I live) and Dr. Long about shutting me into my run-in at night.  I hope not!  I love my newfound freedom... but if being stall-bound at night helps me feel better faster, I suppose I can tolerate it.

In the meantime, I plan to meander my pasture in search of the choicest grace, gab with the other horses and dogs (both across the fence, mind you), let my moms lavish attention on me, and generally enjoy my summer vacation!

~Polo