GypsyCob77
Member
I bought my horse a month ago, I decided to go with the veterinary practice that advises my new livery. My horse had her pre-movement Strangles blood test at her old yard to change yards and was 0.4 so she was allowed to be moved to my new yard subject to going into an isolation field there for 14days until the strangles test could be repeated. The repeat strangles test came back 0.7 so she had to remain in quarantine and be scoped and guttural washed. The yard insisted the procedure must be done in the field and would not provide a stable. Another more senior vet from the practice turned up to oversee the scoping and guttural wash. I was shocked when he not only sedated my horse but also twitched her. Then I was surprised when he pre-emptively administered penicillin to my horse since we did not yet know her strangles status. The day after the procedure my horse was extremely ill. She was very groggy, literally falling asleep, she constantly wanted to lie down, when she was standing she kept pawing the ground and looked uncomfortable, she was also refusing to eat. I called the vet and said she must be ill from the scoping and guttural wash as she was perfectly healthy before the procedure and that has been the only change in her routine. He was totally dismissive of my concerns and said there was nothing about the scoping and guttural wash that could've had made her ill. He stated he suspected she was suffering from impaction colic so he sedated, twitched her and tubed her. The next day my horse was still very sick and I asked the vet again if he was sure this wasn't connected to the scoping and guttural wash and he remained vehement that it wasn't. So she was sedated, twitched and tubed again... He checked her vital signs and said she had a high temperature and accelerated breathing so he now suspected she might indeed have Strangles. he was pressurising me to admit her to the equine hospital. I told him I wanted to wait on the Strangles results before making any decisions. The strangles PCR was negative so I asked could my horse please now be released from quarantine so she could have access to a stable to recuperate? He insisted she has ti remain in quarantine as the temperature and accelerated breathing indicated an infection and this may pose a danger to other horses so he wanted a battery of further testing done... By this stage I'd had enough, my horse was very stressed, it was ridiculous as she had been in isolation for over 3 weeks and in doing my own research I discovered all the symptoms she had were consistent with her having an allergic reaction to the penicillin. So I no longer had confidence in the vet and I am filing a formal complaint against him. But my horse is now in a terrible predicament as because he is the advisory vet to the yard the yard owner has to defer to him. Since he is claiming my horse may have a mysterious infection that poses a risk to other horses, my horse is basically being held hostage in quarantine where she has been for almost a month now. My horse is getting better now since I got rid of this vet, I have asked around other yards about this vet and the feedback was disturbing, that he uses horses as cash cows, is sadistic, narcissistic and frequently misdiagnoses. I have told the yard owner that I will never allow that vet near my horse again and will he accept the findings of another vet regarding whether my horse remaining in quarantine is justified? He said he will but those vets still have to liaise with his vet. This is an absolute nightmare, My poor horse has suffered so much. Please help, how can I get my horse out of this mess??? I would've left the yard but then my horse will likely end up having to be subjected to another quarantine and she cannot endure that.