Snake bite!
A recent equine case was a horse named Ben who
was rushed to us by his worried owner because he was believed to have been bitten by a
snake. He was a handsome, bay, well-looked after horse but he had two clear puncture
wounds to the side of his muzzle and his head was swelling rapidly! Our team rushed to get
him treatment, providing him with pain relief and steroids to try to minimize the
swelling. They had tubes on standby because his head was swelling so fast that it was
thought that his breathing would soon become restricted. There was a real risk of the
treatment also causing laminitis, so preventative measures were taken to try to minimize
the risks, but the treatment was essential to save his life. Our dedicated team spent many
hours hosing his face with cool water and placing frozen ice packs over his face to try to
help to reduce the swelling. In the first 48 hours his head just seemed to get bigger and
bigger, the photos didn't really do it justice and we weren't sure he would be able to
recover. But thankfully, after 48 hours the swelling gradually and slowly started to
reduce. He continued trying to eat throughout and that gave us real hope.
We are delighted to report that he has now
made an excellent recovery from the snake bite, against all the odds. He will continue to
recuperate with us for a little while but his kind and caring owner is looking forward to
having his trusty horse back with him as soon as possible. This was another case of which
we have never seen the likes before. We don't know what type of snake it was that bit Ben,
and we will never know. But the most important thing is that he has lived to tell the
tale!
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