| 0712Singapore
horse impaction colic, cast, pet health
and welfare educational for animal lovers, excerpts from The Glamorous Vets,
Singapore, sponsored by AsiaHomes Internet. The horse had dehydration "The horse had dehydration," said Ms Newton earnestly while pinching a fold of the skin of the neck of the fifteen-year-old chestnut gelding with a big stomach paunch. The six-inch by two-inch strip of skin did not fall back as expected, indicating that the horse had a moderate amount of dehydration. It was Monday, a day off for the riding club horses. Nobody was present at the stables except for Ms Newton and her two friends who were worried about the health of Threadneedle. For the past six hours, she could not reach me via the mobile phone which had diverted my calls with a message that "add a number six in front of the number you dial." Recently, Singapore's phone system had an extra digit six for all phone calls except mobile phones and diverted mobile calls asking for the extra digit confused callers who would think that the mobile phone number should have an extra digit. Now, it was pitch dark at 9 p.m at the stables as it was a day off for all staff and horses. A cool night after a heavy afternoon thunderstorm. I could smell the freshness of the tall trees and flowers in this picturesque riding club away hidden from high rise buildings. Why was the horse dehydrated when it had food and water and was not exercised? Did it suffer from impaction colic? Its eyes' conjunctiva membranes looked normal under the fluorscent lighting cast from the stable. 
"Threadneedle was panting heavily this afternoon," said Ms
Newton. "He just wanted to lay down all the time. I walked it to
prevent him lying down" The horse behaved as normal as any other
horse. I auscultated his stomach area with my stethoscope.
There was a very faint sound of intestinal movements and it was possible
that the horse had constipation. "He strained and with difficulty, passed out a small ball of stools," said Ms Newton who was the kind of lady who grew up with horses. "It is possible he might have some intestinal pain leading to constipation," I said. I saw only two small dark brown and hard faecal balls on his wood shaving bedding. Usually there will be several yellowish brown softer lumps. "Was the horse using his front legs to rub against the sawdust litter?" I asked Mr Bolkestein, a seventeen-year-old tall lad. He said no. Horses with colic would paw usually. Threadneedle behaved normally, as most horses do, when the veterinarian examined them. It was late at night. Should I stomach tube this horse with water and liquid paraffin to move the bowels or just give him the pain killers? How about the dehydration? What if the horse got worse in the middle of the night and die the next day? Ms Newton had the stomach tube already attached to the pump. She must have seen many cases in South Africa. I checked the stomach tube. She had attached the rounded end with a small hole into the pump. This was incorrect as this end should be into the horse's stomach as it was not sharp. Threadneedle disliked stomach tubes. He lifted his head up although he was exhausted. I offered my twitch which was a one-foot long baton with a loop of rope at one end. Ms Newton twisted the loop of rope round his muzzle. The horse lifted his head up suddenly again and the rope broke. A strangulated line of 0.3 cm cut into his muzzle. This would be a difficult horse to stomach tube. Now, we did not have the twitch. I needed to thread the loop through the small hole of the baton. It was difficult but Ms Newton used the needle from the pain killer injections to push the rope through to form a loop. She was the type who knew what to do. Threadneedle's sudden lifting of his head broke the rope again. What should we do now? We could grab his ears, twist the neck of his skin as I had three helpers. But would it be dangerous as the two ladies were quite dainty, being shorter than jockeys. Jockeys in Singapore should be less than 50 kg in weight and these two Caucasian girls were slim. I did not want them to be injured. Mr Bolkestein went to look for a twitch. He found none but came back with a nylon rope tied to two ends of a horse shoe. That was a great idea. We managed to restrain the horse. On the right side of the nostril, the stomach tube went into the lungs for the three times I inserted the tube. Gasps of breathing air from the lungs could be heard from one end of the tube which was disconnected from the pump. Ms Newton was a good assistant. The horse's head was tilted to the right as my helpers grabbed his ears and the twitch pulled his head down. It could be wrong positioning. Most times, I could stomach tube the horse from the right nostril. I stomach tubed from the left nostril. "Did you hear the musical sounds of the stomach movement?" I asked Ms Newton. I confirmed that the tube was in the stomach. "What happens if the oil goes to the lungs?" the friend of Ms Newton asked. "The lungs would be flooded with oil," said Ms Newton. "It would collapse immediately and die painfully," I said. Hence it was important that the tube be inserted properly. Ms Newton pumped the water and oil into the tube. I held on to the stomach tube at the nostril end as this was the most important connection. Around three quarters of the oil were pumped in before Threadneedle jerked his head suddenly. I guessed my assistants had relaxed their hold on the horse. The stomach tube had come out half of its length. Ms Newton checked for stomach sounds. It was the sound of silence. Should I insert the tube into the stomach again? Would the oil spill over to the horse's lungs if I attempt to stomach tube again? Decisions. Consequences of inhalation pneumonia. Fever and death. I decided that we stopped. "Leave one pail of water and the other pail with some leftover paraffin oil for the horse," I said. Threadneedle was happily drinking some water before we left. No more oily stuff for him. I was grateful to the three assistants who cared so much for a horse which did not belong to them. What was the cause of dehydration? Horse lovers all over the world would walk the horse which had signs of colic for long periods of time to prevent it lying down all the time. The horse had to sweat as it was forced to walk for hours, sometimes, before the veterinarian arrived. This was tradition but it tired the horse a lot. This could be a cause of dehydration. |