Mara's first vet visit

I was so excited -- I really respect our vet, and have no respect at all for the vet who did the pre-purchase exam and missed things like a sarcoid and sharp wolf teeth.

The first thing he said was congratulations and I said thanks but at that moment I flashed back to the last time I saw him, the worst day of my life. I was slumping, looking at the ground while I said thanks.

He couldn’t wait to get his hands on her. He wants a baseline, even though I did not ask for a complete exam, he wasn’t going to not do one: ) He felt her legs up and down front side and backside, every joint, every tendon, and pointed out about 5 different little bumps but nothing serious. (Pre-purchase vet found 2.)

He immediately noticed two little “pimples” on her spine, something the PP vet missed, and said that they are blocked sweat glands, easily fixed by putting baby oil on. I am not sure about that – I think hot compresses would help, but I’ll do some reading first.

Then he felt her entire body and found a deviation of the muscle by her tail head that I had never noticed. He spent a lot of time palpating her neck for some reason. Then he looked in her ears, which she hated, even though she’s not an ear-shy horse. Then he took her into the stall and shined his light into her eyes, examining them very carefully. Then he checked her mucous membranes including nostrils. He didn’t leave any part untouched! He listened to her heart, lungs, gut, and esophagus. He wanted to do some trot outs but I said she’s fine, no need. Then he went into her mouth, which was the worst part of all for her – he couldn’t get her to accept the plastic mouth brace so he had to just hold her tongue. I neck twitched her but she still fought him. I see I’ll be doing some Ttouch mouth stuff soon. He said one of her wolf teeth needs to be pulled, and she has a ramp on one side that needs to be addressed. He looked at her bridle, pointed to my French link and said that a bit might bother her so I should be aware. Then he pointed to my saddle and said, “Too wide.” I was like, “Get out, really? I measured her twice, but I feel like the saddle is too wide/low in front when I ride, but I measured her twice!!!”

Then he gave her the flu/rhino and tetanus shots into her chest, and it was so funny, I had the entire tray of treats at her face but she didn’t even notice the shots! He says she’ll need a booster in 6-8 weeks. Isn’t it interesting – in Germany, they only need 3 or 4 of the *7 or 8* vaccinations we normally give in America. The vet said after the immunizations no riding for 3 days. I found that odd. I used to give Baasha his shots in the neck, both sides, and never noticed anything different, and I never gave him 3 days off. Then again, she seemed to be moving more slowly this morning. Perhaps because she'd never been vaccinated in her life and her immune system is freaking out.

Then he picked up her horsey passport and flipped through it. He said it’s a little suspicious because it’s a “replacement” passport and has practically nothing in it – nothing on the horse markings area to identify the horse, no medical records at all. He read her microchip number and asked if the PP vet confirmed it’s correct. I said, “I know nothing about this.” I got my husband at that point. The doctor went to his car, came back with a “metal detector” as I called it, and started scanning her for the chip. The two of us waited, and waited, and waited as he searched and searched, growing more anxious that this is not the right horse, thoughts running through our minds – is she stolen? Were we lied to?

FINALLY the thing beeped. He read off the number, part of it being 1973, and I exclaimed, “She’s 40 years old!?!?” in English and the vet laughed, no, the DOB is not in the chip number! Thankfully the number matched what is in the passport. We have to contact the passport company and get the ownership transferred now.

He said she’s a nice horse, and when I told him how cheap she was, he said that’s not far from the slaughter price. Huh? He said one of the mobile horse killers will give 1400Euros for a horse her size. He also said the guy incidentally owns a meat shop, and he wonders what is under the glass. I said, “Germany!” and he laughed. Especially lately, you never know what your meat is. I suppose unless you can DNA test it yourself.

For insurance, he said the most worthwhile type is OP – operations. It covers any procedure that requires sedation/narcosis. He said that if we can wait the 3 month waiting period before coverage begins, they’ll even cover the dental work she needs. I probably won’t wait that long though. But she sure takes huge bites of hay and chews well for a horse with a ramp. It’s a joy for me to watch her take such huge bites because Baasha just couldn’t do that, and, well, do you know the sound of a senior horse chewing hay? It’s not a satisfying sound.

The vet also said that since the PP exam did not catch the sarcoid, that the PP vet actually wrote “NEIN” under the skin problems area, that if anything needs to be done, the insurance will pay. If the PP vet had noticed it, our rates would go up, or they might refuse to cover that. So, we’re gonna benefit from a crappy PP vet exam. Nice.

About treating the sarcoid. He said that the only treatment he knows of that works is a Canadian drug called Tera-X and is not legal in Germany. (Does this sound familiar? *lol*) He asked me if I have friends in Canada that can get me the drug. I said I won’t be treating it unless I have to. Isn’t that just typical Germany – a drug is effective, but illegal? Ask me about how I get Glyphosate for my yard!

Another thing I’m happy about today: the spray bottle training is coming along so well. As I waited for the vet to arrive, I sprayed my water sprayer at the ground near her and on her legs, and she’s getting to be OK with it. Then as the vet was there, and we were talking and talking, occasionally I’d just take a fly sprayer and spray her. She doesn’t like it, but she isn’t freaking out about it. I’ll just do it little by little, always ceasing to spray her only when she’s holding still. By the time the vet left, she had fly spray all over her, and mite spray all over her legs. (She’s been biting her ankles like Baasha used to do, there is some type of bug that lives in the grass that irritates horses on their ankles – I forget what kind the vet said it was.)

I feel so encouraged by all this.