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Turner (aka) Doc, came into our rescue program March 14, 2005. Turner is a 5 year old registered quarter horse gelding. Turner has already gone through a great deal in his short 5 years of life. Turner had been sent to a horse trainer by his previous owners to be trained to ride. Unfortunately, the trainer was extremely rough with Turner resulting in breaking his Withers Bone. This injury took place in November of 2004. Turner only spent 2 short weeks with this trainer before he inflicted pain and turmoil on him. His previous owners had invested a lot of time and money trying to get this injury to heal. His previous owner recently learned that Turner would need to have surgery to correct his withers. They decided it would be best to find him someplace that could provide his treatment and help him in his recovery. After we picked up Turner, we immediately took him in to our vet. He is now in the care of our veterinarian and he will be taking X-rays to see exactly what all has healed and make sure that infection has not settled down into his spinal cord. After he determines what the extent of his injuries are he will go in and flush out the wound and clean out the decay and bone chips to promote healing. This wound will have to heal from the inside out and will require several months of treatment before the wound will completely heal. Turner had also foundered during the time of the injury. Turner will require many different types of treatment and he will have a very long road of recovery. Turner will need everyone's support to help him through this time. If you can please make a donation towards Turner's surgery and treatment we will be forever grateful. We will update after Turner's surgery.
Update: On Tuesday, March 15, 2005, Turner went into surgery. Our Vet removed 4 fairly large pieces of broken bone fragments from the open wound. The area was flushed out and cleaned for infection and then stitched up. He is recovering wonderfully and the wound already looks 100% better. Turner is now on the antibiotics that he will have to remain on for 10 days. We will still have to clean the wound daily and make sure that no debris such as hay or dirt gets down in it. He should have a full recovery after the wound heals from the inside out. Of course, this process will take at least a month or more. Turner's feet had been X-rayed and he has mildly foundered due to stress. He doesn't have much rotation, which is great news and no cause for concern. It looks as though Turner will be able to have a full life without any complications. This is Great News! We will update more later and provide pictures once he has completely healed.
Update 11-2-05 Unfortunately, we have no positive information to report on Turner's Condition. His drain hole is not closing and he still drains pus daily. Options are very limited at this time. Turner is such a beautiful boy and very sweet considering what all has happened to him. We are still feeling out our options, however, if we chose to do another surgery we could possibly be opening him up down to his shoulder. We would probably have to send him to OSU for this surgery and cost would be extremely expensive. I wish I had better news to report. Right now, Turner is a happy go lucky guy, he runs, bucks and plays with the other horses. He shows no signs of pain at all. Right now it appears that Turner may be a lifer here at Blaze's. We would possibly consider adopting him out, but right now he would be nothing more than a companion animal. Feel free to e-mail with any additional questions.
Update 8/1/2006: We had more X-rays of Turner's withers and have determined that no other options are available for him at this time. We have been told that the next surgery would entail cutting him from his withers down to his shoulder area and going in to clean everything out. This surgery will be extremely invasive and would cost several thousands of dollars. We have decided that it would be in the best interest of Turner to remain as he is. He is happy, healthy, runs, bucks, and plays and we are afraid that his spirit could not handle another surgery, especially one that would require so much down time and more antibiotic. Turner will live out his life here at the Rescue, where he will remain as he is and still have his wound routinely cleaned. Please consider making donations towards Turner's care or even sponsoring him monthly. He is a great boy and we feel that this is the best solution for him at this time. I know that Turner will tell me otherwise if he is ready for another surgery.
Update February 8, 2008 Doc has gone through yet another surgery. Doc was showing an increase in drainage and it had appeared that the drain track was enlarged and infected. We decided that it was time to go through a 3rd surgery. Our Veterinarian (Dr. Kin) went in and cleaned out the drain track and scraped away the infected/dead tissue. Doc has been on daily antibiotics and we have to flush the drain track daily. I believe that this time Doc will heal. After 3 straight weeks of daily flushing and antibiotics the wound has decreased in size and there has been very little draining. We are finally seeing great improvements. They say the 3rd times the charm. I know that we have at least another 30 days of daily flushing and antibiotics, but it will all be worth it in the end. We are very excited and can't wait until the day that the wound has healed and closed up. Bless Doc's heart! I know that he will be glad when this is all over with and he can return to the pasture to play with his buddies. We will update soon! In the meantime, please say a prayer for Doc that this is his last surgery and he will make a full recovery.
Donations accepted towards his continuous his care. Thanks.
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