“Franklin”
Born “Frank the Tank” on March 12th, weighing in at a whopping 127lbs, soon became “Franklin”. It was a Saturday night at 10pm, momma looking tired and positioning was slightly off, so I decided to intervene. Not a difficult pull by any means, but the added assistance helped. Momma was up, very attentive. I gave my usual Multimin & Vit B injections. All seemed good. Frank was up, strong and on his way to nurse…It was 11pm, I was tired and headed in for bed. Well, the next morning, Frank seemed off…a term “failure to thrive” is what the veterinary community would call it. Doubt he nursed…had NO suckle reflex. We tubed him with synthetic colostrum on Sunday and Monday, tried the Madigan squeeze twice but Dr. Emily was on her way. We gave a broad-spectrum antibiotic and an Nsaid for any pain and/or inflammation…pain meds are a miracle drug…Frank seemed to be doing better, started nursing that night…all good in the hood!!! The following Saturday I noticed him urinating from his umbilical cord and through his urethra. ☹ CRAP!!!
So here we have a “production” animal, nothing wrong with that, but our local vets did not want to do surgery to repair the patent urachus. They’re just not set up for LA Surgery. I begged and pleaded with some of my small animal vets and our somewhat local equine vets…no takers. Off to Cornell we went. A 3 hr drive. Why, you ask? Because I can. Having worked at the Large Animal Veterinary Clinic at Cornell, as a LVT while attending undergrad, I knew farm animals received a discount, because the veterinary students need LA experience. Is it about the money? Well, could we break even on Franklin, but most likely he will be a financial loss, but I couldn’t let him suffer.
The Surgeons actually uncovered a huge umbilical abscess, really not surprising. He did well, and is home recovering, but his mother would not take him back. We hobble her so she can’t kick and hurt Franklin and let him nurse 3-4 times a day. We are in no way out of the woods, but hoping for the best. Never a dull moment. Ever.
I do feel good giving him the best care AND provided some education to our up and coming veterinary professionals.