Page 13 - Equine Matters - Summer 2014

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EQUINE MATTERS
12
SUMMER 2014 ISSUE
ANAESTHES I A
I returned to the clinic the day before my
surgery to allow me to calm down following
my journey and be evaluated by the
veterinary team. I was greeted by some
veterinary nurses in blue uniforms who
made a fuss of me and then put me on a
weighbridge (figure 1). This was so they
could get an accurate weight and work out
the correct dosages of all the anaesthetic
drugs, antibiotics and painkillers I was
going to need.
One of the vets then gave me a thorough
examination to check I was fit and healthy for
the anaesthetic, this included listening to my
heart and lungs and taking my temperature.
A blood sample was then taken (figure 2)
and sent to the in-house laboratory to check
my organs were healthy and I wasn't
carrying an infection. The nurses clipped the
hair off a large area around my stifle (figure
3) and a small patch on my neck. The neck
clip is where my intravenous catheter was
going to be inserted. Doing this the day
before reduces the time that I will be under
the anaesthetic. Surgical sites are always
clipped to decrease contamination. For the
rest of the day I got to relax in my stable with
my friend Cocoa, another donkey that had
come with me to keep me from getting too
stressed. Because I am a donkey I was very
lucky as horses and ponies have to be
starved for 8-12 hours before surgery but
I still got dinner and some lush barley straw!
Horses need to be starved for longer to
reduce the volume of the gastrointestinal
system so that it doesn't put additional
pressure on the lungs and affect breathing.
Horses and donkeys can have access to
water up to the morning of the surgery.
The following morning I had to skip breakfast
and one of the vets checked me over again.
The lovely ladies in blue gave me a brush
and picked my feet out. I had to be as clean
as possible for my debut in theatre! They then
rinsed my mouth out. This is so when they put
the tube down my throat to help me breath
during the operation, there isn't any food
material dragged down into my lungs. One
of the nurses then scrubbed the clip patch on
my neck and inserted a little tube called a
catheter into my jugular vein (figure 4). This is
always done aseptically (in a sterile manner)
so to prevent infection in or around my vein.
A tail bandage was applied to my tail to
keep it tidy and out of the way and then
I was good to go!
I was given a 'pre-med' via the catheter
which made me feel very relaxed. My head
collar was swapped for a soft rope halter;
this is because the buckles on headcollars
can sometimes cause facial paralysis if they
dig into one of the facial nerves whilst we
are anaesthetised. Two of the nurses and a
vet came in the padded knock down box
with me whilst I had my anaesthetic drugs,
which made me want to lie down and have
a little sleep.
Following my surgery, once I was awake
enough to walk safely, I was carefully taken
back to my stable. My awaiting buddy
Cocoa was keen to hear all about my
experience although unfortunately for him
I couldn't remember a thing.
Once I had completely recovered from my
anaesthetic I was offered small amounts of
hay and warm bran mashes throughout the
afternoon until the vets and nurses were
happy I was passing faeces. The nurses
visited every hour to check that I was okay
and not in too much pain. They took
my heart rate, respiratory rate and my
temperature and occasionally I was
rewarded with a gingernut biscuit - how did
they know they were my favourites
?
Figure 2: Blood samples taken prior to surgery assess organ function and infection status
I stayed at the clinic for three days following
my surgery to receive antibiotics and pain
relief and then I was allowed back home to
join my friends and rest for a few weeks.
I hope to return to helping the children and
elderly soon.
I can confirm that Bramble is doing
well following his surgery and his
rehabilitation is still ongoing. Some
surgeries can be done under sedation
and local anaesthesia and don't require
a general anaesthetic. All vets will
endeavour not to anaesthetise horses
where possible as statistically mortality
rates are high compared to cats, dogs
and humans, but it is often the only way
we can perform certain operations and
procedures. Our aim is to return your
horses, ponies or donkeys fit and well
following any surgical procedure to
give them the best possible chance of
recovery and return to the life they
led before.
Figure 3: Clipping hair around the surgical
site is important to aid prevention of infection
Figure 4: Placement of an intravenous
catheter enables immediate access to the
blood stream if necessary