HELP! Nasty kick & a very pushy vet!

[lisareno]

Hi all I need some advice, my 16YO TB mare unfortunately had her field broken into by the demon horse next door on saturday and has got a nasty kick to her the side of her cheek bone on her lower jaw. I was returning from my hols at the time but my dad decided to call the vet. She removed 2 small shards of bone, (a 3rd piece was loose but she couldnt remove it,) said it wasnt broken, gave her a course of antibiotics, said flush it out twice daily with hibiscrub & that she would like to see her again. Ok so ive been following this routine and she seems to be coming along fine so I rang them for an update this morn & say that i dont feel another visit (and call out charges!) are necessary. However she sez she feels she should see her again this week as a there may be a chance she could have a bone infection due to the 3rd loose piece of bone & that i should bring her in for an Xray to check for fractures! Please can anyone offer me their opinion? What seemed to be just a nasty kick is escalating in costs and now they have asked the millon dollar question "is she insured" the costs seem to be mounting. I only want to do what is best for my girl but at the same time dont want the costs to keep mounting. any opinions greatly appreciated.

 

[AmyMay]

The vet is the professional - and not just after your money.

If my vet said he wanted to see the horse again, and x-ray to be on the safe side, I wouldn't hesitate.

 

[Heidi1]

Sounds nasty and to be honest I would probably go with the vet and have x-rays to be on the safe side..........

 

[kerilli]

if you get an infection on the bone, it can be very nasty, and won't heal. i would take the mare to the practice (cheaper, saves call out charge) if you can, and get her looked at there. say you only want x-rays if absolutely necessary... tbh x-rays won't show infection, obv, will only show if there are more fractures.
i think the owner of "demon horse next door" should be contributing, at least, tbh, if it broke into the field to get at your poor mare.

 

[Queenbee]

[ QUOTE ]
The vet is the professional - and not just after your money.

If my vet said he wanted to see the horse again, and x-ray to be on the safe side, I wouldn't hesitate.

[/ QUOTE ]

i second that

 

[Doublethyme]

Definitely agree with others, the vet is the professional and not being pushy IMO.

A horse at our yard had a puncture type wound on his head, didn't look particularly bad, but owner had the vet. Vet flushed, antibiotics etc etc, all healed seemingly OK. Horse seemed fine for a few weeks, but then the wound swelled up again and was infected.

Even with being under close veterinarly supervision, it turned out that there was a small bone chip causing a problem and he ended up having to have an operation to remove it.

Sorry not putting this to worry you, the horse in question is now absolutely fine, but if the vet had x-ray at the time, the owner and horse would have had a lot less hassle and worry and probably bills.

If it was my horse I would go with the vets advice and get x-rayed to make sure there isn't anything more sinister going on.

 

[samp]

I am suprised the vet did not xray at the time? I think it is best to have xray in case the bit of bone is floating around somewhere that it shouldn't

 

[Happy Horse]

I'd definitely want her checked again. You could always save costs by taking her to the clinic instead of having the vet out to you.

 

[dieseldog]

You are only looking at about £60 for piece of mind. Depending on how much you like your livery yard owner you could claim off their insurance. If you did make a claim the insurance company would probably settle.

 

[smokeybabes]

My horse recieved a kick to the face and had a puncture wound on the cheekbone. When i first got the vet out he could feel a piece of bone that was loose but couldn't get it from the puncture wound. My horse was prescribed antibiotics by injection for the first 5 days then powder antibiotics. My vet came out at least 3 times if not 4 to keep an eye on it to make sure it didn't get infected. He said if the bit of bone didn't reattach itself (depended on how good the blood supply was) it would have to be removed as it would provide a pocket for constant reoccurence of infections. I was lucky that the bone did reattch itself.
I'd rather have the vet out now for a check up to say everything was ok than have my horse develop a nasty infection.
Remember you have a duty of care towards your horse and if you do not follow your vets advice you could be in breach of the protection of animals act 1911.

 

[K27]

I would definately get the x-ray done as soon as possible either go to the vets or get them to bring the equipment out to you. I can't understand why they didn't x-ray straightaway at the time- (unless there was major swelling so any loose bits wouldn't show up on the x-ray). Definately take your vets advice in my opinion!
Good luck though, your poor horse

Hope she makes a good recovery.

 

[Theresa_F]

I would do as the vet advises. If your field was broken into by another horse, I would also be putting the owner on notice that you may be claiming from her third party liability insurance. One thing to be kicked by a horse in the same field, but another matter if your field was broken into.

I would have the fencing reviewed to make sure your horse is safe in future from the other one.