Otto 's aftercare from his castration has been going marvelously. Much to my surprise, he has not had much swelling at all. My vet recommended 3 days of bute. I only gave him a dose yesterday but I have discontinued because he is doing so well. He has been moving around fine and doesn't seem to be in much discomfort . I noticed he was doing some trotting and cantering around all on his own.
I still opted to lunge him last night and wasn't really sure how it would go. But he really surprised me again. He was so willing to listen and didn't give me any attitude. He even seemed to start to understand voice cues of walk and trot. He was very good and while I realize part of that is that he isn't feeling 100%, I am hopeful the other part is maybe what "geldinghood" will look like for Otto from here on out. I kept thinking...Did they install a brain when they removed the testicles??? Who was this horse I now had the pleasure of owning???
I kept the lungeing session short, not wanting to get greedy and turn what appeared to be a major success, into a mishap. The session was probably 10 minutes and not all of it trotting. Ideally he should be trotted 10-15 minutes twice a day but as much as he is moving around on his own, I figured it was probably ok. I was so elated that he was so willing to listen, that I was willing to come back later and do another short session if need be but I didn't have to.
His legs did have a alot of drainage and old blood dried to them, so I knew I needed to get him cleaned up last night. I had to wait until T came home so someone could hold him while I did the clean up work. I have to tell you, I was really dreading this. He had been hosed at the clinic and I am sure they were more about "getting the job done" than worrying about how accepting he was to the hose and water. His first experience with the hose wasn't exactly how I had envisioned it but that couldn't be helped.
We started out with a bucket of warm water and a rag. I just slowly hosed his shoulder and front leg so he got used the sensation. He really didn't seem to mind at all so I moved to the back legs. He just stood there, even with a fair amount of scrubbing on my part to get the cakes stuff off . Once most of that was done I wanted to hose the surgical site as well with the cold water. I turned the hose on low and I just let him look at for a while. Then we led him up to it, Pretty soon I was able to let it run on his front hoof a bit. It was a process of let the hose run on him for a few seconds, then take it away, then repeat. I would only let it run on his for as long as he could stand there. He could only handle a second at first , then 3 seconds and so on. We built from there and worked my way to his back legs. Pretty soon, he was letting me hose up between his legs and just standing there. It must have felt good. Lots of licking, chewing and he had one foot cocked. Once again, I was surprised. I don't think JB is that good about a hose even to this day!
Hope is renewed that I don't have a monster on my hands! So far, "Geldinghood" is looking good on Otto!
I still opted to lunge him last night and wasn't really sure how it would go. But he really surprised me again. He was so willing to listen and didn't give me any attitude. He even seemed to start to understand voice cues of walk and trot. He was very good and while I realize part of that is that he isn't feeling 100%, I am hopeful the other part is maybe what "geldinghood" will look like for Otto from here on out. I kept thinking...Did they install a brain when they removed the testicles??? Who was this horse I now had the pleasure of owning???
I kept the lungeing session short, not wanting to get greedy and turn what appeared to be a major success, into a mishap. The session was probably 10 minutes and not all of it trotting. Ideally he should be trotted 10-15 minutes twice a day but as much as he is moving around on his own, I figured it was probably ok. I was so elated that he was so willing to listen, that I was willing to come back later and do another short session if need be but I didn't have to.
His legs did have a alot of drainage and old blood dried to them, so I knew I needed to get him cleaned up last night. I had to wait until T came home so someone could hold him while I did the clean up work. I have to tell you, I was really dreading this. He had been hosed at the clinic and I am sure they were more about "getting the job done" than worrying about how accepting he was to the hose and water. His first experience with the hose wasn't exactly how I had envisioned it but that couldn't be helped.
We started out with a bucket of warm water and a rag. I just slowly hosed his shoulder and front leg so he got used the sensation. He really didn't seem to mind at all so I moved to the back legs. He just stood there, even with a fair amount of scrubbing on my part to get the cakes stuff off . Once most of that was done I wanted to hose the surgical site as well with the cold water. I turned the hose on low and I just let him look at for a while. Then we led him up to it, Pretty soon I was able to let it run on his front hoof a bit. It was a process of let the hose run on him for a few seconds, then take it away, then repeat. I would only let it run on his for as long as he could stand there. He could only handle a second at first , then 3 seconds and so on. We built from there and worked my way to his back legs. Pretty soon, he was letting me hose up between his legs and just standing there. It must have felt good. Lots of licking, chewing and he had one foot cocked. Once again, I was surprised. I don't think JB is that good about a hose even to this day!
Hope is renewed that I don't have a monster on my hands! So far, "Geldinghood" is looking good on Otto!
1 comment:
Yeah! For geldings :)! Sounds like he has a pretty good mind if he took to being hosed off so quietly.
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