Friday, August 12, 2016

Brego Wrestling

Today is 17 days post-surgery, and Brego's doing great. Earlier this week, we took him off bute and let him have a bigger turnout area (haha, it's like 12x12 plus his stall). Unfortunately, the additional movement caused some soreness, so he's back in his stall with bute on board. It's frustrating because the best way to get a hoof to grow quickly is movement, but keeping him comfortable and ensuring the hoof grows correctly (if really really slowly) is the most important thing.

Right now the biggest challenge I have (other than keeping Mr. SassyMcGiantPants from running me over - stud chains make for such POLITE Bregos!) is wrapping his foot every few days. He's a good boy for it, but goodness that is one big foot and there are a lot of steps! Plus, if he wants to put his foot down at a really inopportune time, I have to really hang on and do my best not to let him. Thusfar I've won all the wrestling matches, but we both know he's only humoring me.

So, what does it take to wrap a Brego? (warning, one somewhat squicky pic at step 4, but really, it looks so much better!)

Step 1: Acquire one Brego. Try to resist when he begs for treats. Give him a handful anyway because he's so cute and you feel sorry for him.

Step 2. Collect all your supplies (vetwrap, abdominal pad, gauze, ela$ticon) and make a duct-tape boot. This requires about half a roll of Gorilla Tape, because obviously Bregos can't use normal duct tape.

Step 3. Clean the floor as best as you can, then remove all the old wrappings. I bought bandage scissors to do this and seriously, you need some if you don't have any. Here I've removed everything except the gauze.

Step 4: Gently clean the area with saline-soaked gauze. Take pics and send to your vet. According to the vet, this looks "awesome"! And it no longer totally grosses me out either.

Step 5. Pack about 40 gauze pads in the resection site, slap a 5x9 abdominal pad over that, then use an entire roll of vetwrap to hold it all on. His foot is so big, I take the first two wraps of vetwrap while it's on the ground, and then pick it up and wrap it the rest of the way. You have to do this all at once so sorry, no pics of the gauze and stuff. 

Step 6: Pick up his foot and apply the duct-tape boot to the bottom, then fold the sides up and stick them down. Neatness doesn't count much here.


Step 7: Wrap that entire sucker with ela$ticon, being sure to get it well up on his pastern so that no shavings can get in. This is usually the part where he's done with me messing with his foot and we have our little wrestling match. I won this time. 

Step 8: Give the Brego all the cookies!

25 comments:

  1. aye aye aye, looking better but blegh still for me lol

    Glad he's being so good, I hope he continues to heal completely!

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  2. Wow, the progress is really amazing! And I'll never be able to write just elasticon again, it's always going to be ela$ticon haha

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    1. Truth. That stuff is SO EXPENSIVE WHYYYYYY

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  3. It really looks so much better already!

    Love the elsa$ticon reference, my first thought with your list of materials was the money involved. I have to wrap up Stampede's hind legs for his stupid scabbies and that alone eats a healthy hole in my bank account between the expensive goo from the vet and the roll of vetwrap per day. Good thing we love our horses!

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    1. Yeah, supplies for wrapping aren't cheap, although we're up to every 2-3 days (depending on how well the bandage wears) so it's not THAT bad.

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  4. Mikey's hock bandage changes cost around $20 per change (just in materials!), I expect yours is similar, if not more. Elasticon isn't cheap. I never thought to cut the corners of the gorilla tape patch, though mine have never wrapped around like yours do. Also, gorilla tape > duct tape when it comes to wrapping ANY foot!

    Glad everything is looking good! When would you expect the lump on the front of the coronary band to go down?

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    1. I estimate my materials to be roughly $13 per change, so it's not terrible. Ela$ticon is $8.25/roll, vetwrap is $2/roll (everything bought in bulk), and then the rest is pennies in comparison.

      We're not sure about the lump on the coronary band. We use hand lotion to keep that area soft and pliable so it can grow out more easily, and it seems to be changing shape daily. However, it's all healthy (so my vet assures me) so we'll just wait and see and hope it grows faster!

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  5. Replies
    1. He thinks he'd be even more lucky with more treats.

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  6. Outside of the cost, the ela$ticon is so annoying to use as well. I feel like it's an arm wrestling match to get it off the damned tube. Even with unrolling and re-rolling it in advance.

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    1. OMG YES. One thing I have found - don't leave it out in the heat or it's completely unusable. I keep mine in the fridge for just that reason. It helps a little.

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  7. Holy moly! Wrestling match indeed! So many steps involved. Much struggles.

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  8. Eeek! Glad he's healing up. I remember the cost of doing a poultice boot for a yearling (I had to use a newborn diaper...). Not fun.

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  9. Okay, this is probably a stupid idea, but anyway! Would it be possible for you to get (or make ) one of those hoof stands that farriers use? It might make it easier for Brego to keep his balance for longer.

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    1. We do have a hoof stand, but it wouldn't help. They are designed to rest the front of the foot on, and that's where the resection is.

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  10. Poor Brego! He's such a good sport, even if he's only in it for the cookies (he deserves so many cookies!).

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    1. Also he is Large so obviously he needs more cookies than a smaller horse.

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  11. Wow, that really does look better! He definitely deserves all the Brego sized cookies he can get!

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    1. I only wish horse cookies came in Brego sizes.

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  12. Bajeebus that sounds like an intense ordeal - made more intense by his massive size. Wowow so many $upplie$!!

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  13. Holy moly! I wish I could send you both cookies, you need it!

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