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06/21/2002: "Going To The Dentist - Horsy Style"

Well, actually the dentist came to them - in the form of my wonderful Dr. Conley. Ami wasn’t due for her annual dental checkup until fall, but Indy was dropping SO much food I didn’t want to wait that long to have his mouth checked out. And, I CERTAINLY didn’t want put a bit in his mouth.

My intuition was right. Dr. Conley looked in there and found a rather large hook on a premolar and points “all over the place,” as he put it. No wonder he was dropping food! Doc got all that corrected in short order. I could tell by the way Indy kept running his tongue around his mouth after he ‘woke up” that he could certainly tell that his teeth felt different. He was still getting used to them this morning at breakfast, but he was already hardly dropping any food at all.

Ami didn’t need much, but Doc said she could use a little touch up in the very back. The first time he looked at her - gee, must be six or seven years ago now - he found some large hooks in the back. So, we’ve had that under good control by having her checked annually.

I had also wanted Dr. Conley to come out sooner than later because I have been concerned about Indy’s castration incision. He was gelded on April 9th, but was still having some drainage right at the front of the incision. It wasn’t sore or anything, and he certainly wasn’t touchy about it. Quite the opposite in fact. It seems to itch, and he is ecstatic when I clean it for him. I just seemed to me that it wouldn’t be normal for the wound to still have drainage. Again, I was right.

After examining the area, Dr. Conley said he had what was known as a “serous cord.” It’s not a common complication of castration, but Doc says he sees a couple a year. It seems that the cord on one side hung down far enough through the incision that it managed to get infected, although the incision itself healed up around it.

What he will need to do is put Indy completely under and repeat the castration on that side. He will make an incision, and cut the cord again above the area of infection. He said this wasn’t a life-threatening situation or anything like that, but it did need to be taken care of. He said he could do it right here, so we will schedule it with him - hopefully for next week. It has to be a day without rain, because he will just lay Indy down on the grass.

I want to get this done ASAP - obviously! - but for several reasons, not the least of which is that I just want it over with. I’ve had too much stress lately to be able to cope with much more. I want it over, and Indy up and prancing around. Besides, it’s bothering him. It itches, and the drainage draws flies. I wipe it off every day - sometimes more than once - and up Swat around the area, but it’s still bugging him quite a bit.

Speaking of a day without rain… I just don’t know WHEN we’re going to be able to get our hay in. Fortunately, we still have a lot of the hay we bought last year when we didn’t get a second cutting, and Indy and Ami are more than happy to eat their hay “on the hoof” as it were. But I’m afraid to allow Ami 24/7 access to the grass, and even Indy’s eating quite a bit of hay because the bugs drive him back into the barn. I feel bad about complaining though. At least we have grass - that’s a LOT more than many of my friends out West. And, we will be able to get hay one way or another. I don’t know WHAT they’re going to do in the Plains States. Horrible situation - not even counting the fires.

I guess we had better count our blessings for they are many.