Input needed.....My girl was hit by a tractor trailer and is alive!!!

[eekranch]

Hello everyone. (I know it is long but ... I felt you needed the whole story )
Before her Accident 8/23/2012

Accident 2.24.2013

I have an issue I am very anxious to get some advice on. I have a 14 year old Quarter Horse whose name is Shyanne. She was born from my mare named Dreamer who passed away September 10, 2011. Shyanne was dead when I pulled her from her mother; however I was able to revive her. She has been a great horse with absolutely no issues growing up and now however due to my health I am no longer able to ride her. So she is living her life out her on our ranch where we have 10.50 areas to run and play on with a Tennessee Walker named Tex.
On February 24, 2013 both Shyanne and Tex got out of our fence. (to this date we still have no idea where or how they both got out. No fence was down, all electric was running, the electric box was purchased less than a year before.) Shyanne was hit by an 18 wheeler, yes a Tractor Trailer and she is still with us. For the most part her injuries didnt seem that bad. With my background as a Veterinary Technician I was able to assess her injuries that evening and stitch up her hind quarter that took 28 stitches to close the wound. She had a hematoma just below the vulva that was approximately 2 inches that night but the next day had taken over the bottom of the vulva down to the teats almost to the naval. She had a crack that ran from the bulb along the coronary band to almost the front of the hoof then down to front hoof wall to the bottom. We knew right away she was going to lose 1/3 of her hoof wall but wanted to know what more was going on. I took her to my back up vet (who I will never use again) and he just X-Rayed the hoof only. He said she had a hairline fracture on the coffin bone. Keep shoes on her and she should be fine. Yeah okay. He then spoke with my Farrier and instructed him what to do.
2nd attempt to reset shoes Failed.

Here is the real story NOW.
Farrier worked on her hoof a couple of days after the accident. At the 6 weeks mark the Farrier came out to reset the shoe and well thats when things got really bad. She fought the anesthesia severely and would not stay down for him to work on it. In her efforts or fight the medication she ripped the shoe off thus taking the broken hoof with it leaving the coffin bone exposed. My Farrier at that point said This just went over my head and I cant help you with her any longer. He called out the gentleman who trained him and well I was told the blood flow has been compromised and that she will never be sound again. (NOTE: I realized when the accident happened that she would more than likely never be sound again but since we dont ride her as long as I can at least make her comfortable so she can just live her life out comfortable and IFIF she could ever carry a foal without any issues then maybe.MAYBE we could breed her in the future but not necessary) anyway, I was advised to Euthanize her. I started searching around for a qualified AFA (American Farrier Association) Farrier who deals with specialty cases to come give us their opinion and THEN if nothing could be done we would indeed put her to sleep. I do not want to see her or any animal suffer. Okay after checking with the three AFA Farriers in our area the 1st one said he call this other guy he is more experienced than I am, (Fair enough, very appreciated), I then called the 2nd guy.Oh dear he returned my message after 3 or 4 messages and took all our information (who worked on Shyanne, who has seen her, consulted about her) and never heard from the jerk again ( even checked with those parties and they were never contacted ) the 3rd one was like a dream come true, plus come to find out he used to work with my husband at the gas company before going to school and doing farrier service full time. He recommended taking her to another vet of his choice and everything was reveled. Come to find out not only is the coffin bone exposed but a piece is gone, the Navicular Bone is broke in half, the wings of the coffin bone (aka the Padel Bone) wings have been broken on one side (instep) and the Coronary band has been shifted to the back and to the inside step. The sole has been sloughed off at this point due to the trauma. The new Farrier has cut the hoof wall back to relieve the pressure on the hoof. We have had to keep the hoof wrapped to keep the sole, coffin bone and frog moist until we could figure out our next step. So the injuries of the road rash on the gaskin and the fetlock wounds have been taking forever to heal. Now that the hoof is cut back and desperately needing air to heal the hoof and pastern, fetlock and the cannon are now allowed to heal. (NOTE 2: I contacted my son in law who is a new veterinarian in which I will consult on at times and his recommendation was to put her down. The second vet who called in a Equine Padiatrist both said to put her down. I had Shyanne read to get her point of view and if she was hurting to bad and her response was Focus on my health not my injury) These are graphic...Sorry:

Currently awaiting new appt for this Wednesday.
Her medications I have had her on since the accident have been as follows: Injectable Penicillin 48 hour dose coverage, Banamine, Rompan with Acepromazine along with topical medications: Furizone, DMSO & Swat. After about 3 weeks I changed her from the injectable to oral medications to give her body a relief of all the injections. She was on SMZTMP, bute paste & banamine paste. She was doing so well that I ended up pulling her off the antibiotics and switched to a one time a day 1/4 Previcox which was doing the trick, I also put in her feed B complex compound and herbal joint pain relief.
Okay so here is where I am at currently needed input. She has been doing fantastic. The new Farrier is coming out on Wednesday to put new shoes on her front and back left for support with the H Bar shoe. One of the problems I am having now is for the past two weeks or so our Tennessee Walker has started to kick her in order to make her move is what I was first thinking, but when he cant see her he loses his mind. I believe before he was trying to convince her that she needed to keep moving to help her. It worked great because up until 3 days ago when you lead her she walks with almost no limp. REMARKABLE!! Now day before yesterday he kicked her in the Front Left leg now it is swollen up to double the size and goes from the shoulder to just past the knee and today the swelling is into the cannon. The knee is so swollen that it has a lot of heat in it and some of the air is coming off. I am putting DMSO on it twice a day and hydro surging it twice a day. I started her back on antibiotics and am back to giving her pain meds directly IV. I am giving her SMZTMP and Penicillin. Currently her oral meds are the SMZ/TMP and Forta Flex, B Complex and joint pain.
If anyone has any suggestions to helping my girl I would greatly appreciate it. Again we are not closed minded to putting her down however as long as she is eating and moving and not showing a great deal of pain I feel like she will tell me when she has had enough. I am concerned about the front leg: if there is anything else that can be done that I am not already doing?? The back foot any suggestions on the whole thing?? The swelling is a lot better but just above the coronary band the last two days she has two abscesses spots that have finally come to the surface.
Thanks to all and I appreciate anything suggestions or thoughts. I would love to save my miracle girl.

 

[BrownSheep]

Wow... I'm no help , but , really, wow.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

You are to be commended for being so devoted to this girl. Healing can happen, you're seeing that. Let her tell you if/when it's 'time'. A loving owner can read it in their eyes...

And, get that Tex away from her! Who cares if he goes crazy when he can't see her? This is about Shyanne and she doesn't need any thing else to deal with!

Good luck!

 

[eekranch]

Thank you for the encouraging words and Yes Tex has been dealt with. He can only look at his girl from a distance.

The expert Farrier comes tomorrow so we will see what is up with the hoof but I think it is going to be good.

I will keep everyone posted and again any input anyone can offer WE are grateful for it.

I suctioned about 30 cc's out of her knee today from whatever happened to the front leg. I can sence some of her pain because I am just recovering from knee surgery.

 

[Rachel.And.Yue]

Good luck to you and your miracle girl!

I am sure we are all hoping for good news soon.

 

[eekranch]

The Verdict is in!!!!!
From the time we took her to the second vet for the second set of X Rays we said if she was no better or little improvement we would consider she is suffering at that point and put her assist in her step back to play with her mother and father and all the other ponies that have moved on.

The AFA Farrier came out yesterday, we laid her down to best assist in working on her hoof. I knew what I have been seeing was improvement but not knowing exactly what he was going to cut into I was a smidge concerned. He was extremely surprised as to the growth of the hoof and how the sole IS growing back in. (remember we were told that the Blood Flow to the hoof had been compromised and the hoof would never grow) He was extremely impressed by the amount of hoof growth that had happened in the short 5 weeks since he had cut all the hoof wall off. (Can you I say just how much I LOVE the Foundation Farrier Formula that she is on I had her mom on the same thing when she stuck a 16 lb penny nail up through the coffin bone and the vet school had told me she needed to have a DDF Tenotomy in order to just keep her comfortable going forward, that procedure would cause the hoof to hang. They were wrong we used the Foundation and she was sound again in about 8 months) At this point he has cleaned up the underside of the hoof and set another shoe on the opposite back hoof for support (an Egg Bar Shoe), trimmed the front feet so she is good to for a 6 week period (unless her other shoe comes off).
Back Feet: Front Feet:
After being worked on:

As for the front leg.I was sure that Tex had kicked her however, once she was down on the ground I was able to assess the leg a lot closer then I have been able to and she has been bitten by a SNAKE. We suspect it may have been a copperhead snake. At any rate we are treating her for infection, anti inflammatory and Benadryl (high potency) twice a day and then I put a drain tube in the knee to allow for drainage. As of this morning she is uncomfortable as we expected for today and tomorrow but should be on a good uphill climb after that. Yeah. This is truly a blessing. I always try to stay optimistic but there are times when I doubt myself. Nature is a wonderful thing. I will keep you all posted.
Good Front:

Bad Front:

Again thanks for your input and kind words.

Kathy

 

[ragdollcatlady]

Congrats on the improvement! Glad to hear your girl is getting better. Scary about the snake! Hope everything from here is good news.

 

[violetsky888]

People are too ready to put animals down. If you live long enough and keep pets sooner or later we all are faced with this dilemma. I found a great farrier that save a pony that got dumped on me from a neighbor. It had repeatedly foundered and was suffering with horribly misshapen hooves. My thought was to put her down but it was obvious she wanted to live. I lucked into a great great farrier. If you live anywhere near middle Tennessee I would recommend him. Sometimes you need someone that can think outside the box and isn't afraid to be innovative. (maybe forming a synthetic hoof) Like you I decided to commit myself to just giving the pony a decent life. I in no way expected complete recovery, as this was an aged mare, who could barely walk and spent most of her time down. Not only did this farrier get her back on her feet he did it very quickly. This farrier also has lots of experience handling young and difficult animals and won't walk out you or your horse.

I have a friend took care of a stallion that had been hit by a car. The owner was prepared to have him put down on the spot but one of the emt's that had arrived on the scene asked to have him. The owner let him have him but withheld his papers. (real nice guy) This stallion had a huge basketball sized wound to his chest and spent a year recovering. Patience and lots of nursing care pulled him through. The same emt with no horse experience paid my friend board fees and learned to ride and take of horses he was so devoted to saving this stallion. The before and after photos are amazing. They gelded the stallion and now he is a beloved trail horse for the emt.

There is a prevailing misconception that horses never become sound again after an injury. This is simply not true. The outlook is bleak if the owner is not prepared to do the work, because most of us cannot afford long term nursing care with a vet, but if the horse is trying her best to muddle along and you are willing to help I think she will amaze you. The two horses I mention both got death sentences from their owners and just were lucky someone stepped in. Not that it is wrong to put an animal down that is in misery with little hope for recovery but often people will give you a hard time for trying save a gravely injured horse. Give her time.

 

[MissFitFarm]

I'm with violetsky888 and frustratedearthmother, you are doing every thing you and the vets and farriers can think of. Great job, and so glad you didn't give up on her. Glad she is doing better.

 

[taylorm17]

I didn't read the WHOLE story. I\How much pain is she in right now? Good for you for not giving up on her but sometimes it IS 'time'. A truly good owner will know and the animal will always tell you. I'm sure you know this, but it is hard to let go of them sometimes. If she isn't in a lot of pain, by all means, keep trying all you can do. Just think of the animal first and I am glad to hear she is doing better!