We would like to share a case with you that highlights some benefits of our facility. This horse had a severe injury to its right front leg. We were able to repair the wound and with great care from the owner and regular bandage changes the horse did well. The injury included skin over the horse’s knee and this high motion joint usually means a prolonged time to heal the skin and often a larger scar. We used a cast to immobilize the leg and keep the wound from gapping. As the wound progressed in healing and after the stitches were removed there was an area over the knee devoid of skin. Dr.Grant’s youngest son, Jed, makes a product out of nanofibers called NanoCare that is used as a mesh and when placed over the wound bed can speed healing,helping the surrounding skin to cover the defect faster.

The day of the injury, outside temperature was about 10 degrees. We can sew wounds at low temperatures, but this wound needed extensive repair and it would have been challenging to do at the horse’s barn. The owner was able to find a friend who could haul the horse to the clinic and in the warmer environment we were able to complete a much more satisfactory closure of the wound. More importantly, the fiberglass cast material we used to stabilize the repair would not have set-up and cured at those cold temperatures. If the owner had been unable to bring the horse in to us and we had to place the sutures in the cold barn without a cast the leg would have been too mobile and the stitches would most likely have torn loose too soon. That whole winter was cold, and we all recognized that with each successive bandage change. This incident occurred before we were in the new facility and all those bandages were changed in their barn. Today, with stalls available here it would be easy to keep the horse for a few weeks to monitor the cast and change the first few bandages. This helps us do a better job of making changes to the treatment plan and catching problems as they arise. Keeping a horse like that here also makes scheduling the bandages changes easy for everybody and saves the owner time and travel costs.

We keep our trucks well stocked and pride ourselves on being able to offer the services you and your horse need where you need them, but there are distinct advantages to working here at the clinic. In-house we have access to all our equipment and supplies in one place and have more hands available to help. A clean and open work environment help us to get our job done quickly and correctly. The advantages of heat and light, especially this time of year cannot be overstated. Stalls give us a chance to better manage complications as they arise and follow the case more closely.

These are pictures from the case, following her progression in healing. The owner did a great job keeping her clean and comfortable. The horse tolerated bandages and stall rest very well and we feel the NanoCare product helped to speed the healing, reducing the necessary stall time, and bandaging.

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