wry nose syndrome

[der2002]

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...id-raise-4-000-operation-disfigured-foal.html

question for the equine people: have you ever heard of a foal having surgery to repair this condition?

 

[lei325]

I've heard of/discussed wry nose in some of my undergrad courses, but I don't remember talking about the pros and cons of surgery. Actually, I don't think we discussed it because my professor thought the foal should be euthanized. With wry nose, the foal can't graze as it gets weaned because it's teeth don't meet up (the mandible is further back than the maxilla. If they do the surgery, I would hope that they do a follow-up article to see if it was successful or not.

 

[rileyroo]

question for the equine people: have you ever heard of a foal having surgery to repair this condition?

i actually just read about this on vin the other day...you should check it out and read through their discussion on the topic of doing surgery on a foal.

 

[goatvet]

I foal-sat for a foal that had just had surgery for it---it ended up staying in the NICU for 45 days to recover (although there were also broken ribs that needed to heal so I'm not sure how much recovery was for that)--the 5 days before she left she was able to suckle successfully but there was always this little dribble of milk that came out of the side of her mouth (kind of endearing)...it'd be interesting to follow-up and see what happens with regards to grazing. I know the head vet said when he saw the foal he thought the owners would decide to euthanize--but we have this incredibly convincing head of surgery who said he was pretty sure he could fix it. It's interesting that the owners went ahead with it because most of the horses we get in the NICU are bred to be prize winning racehorses--and I highly doubt that horse will grow up to be much more than a pasture horse (although this is just my opinion)

 

[eventualeventer]

<deleted OT rant>

ETA: No, I have never seen a horse or foal with wry nose. The VIN suggestion is a good one for those interested.

 

[AUillinoisan]

aww I couldn't not at least try to save that cute little girl's horse! I understand that it would be easier to just put him down but I used to be that little girl who didn't understand why you would "give up" (Now I know why, I am going to be a vet after all). But I feel compelled to at least be able to tell the little girl that we tried everything we could if it turned out to be the most humane to euthanize him, and then explain to her WHY that was.

Yes, I'm a softie. Especially when it comes to kids and baby animals. Yes I know the difference between try and save it and humanely euthanize.

 

[Tobysgirl81]

Most cases of wry nose I've heard of have ended in euthanasia. The expense for surgery plus the relatively poor prognosis lead most owners down that route rather than towards surgical correction. But I certainly haven't seen it all yet!

 

[VeganSoprano]

Extrapolating from SA medicine, it certainly seems reasonable to keep going as long as good QOL can be maintained. It certainly seems like this foal's QOL is perfectly good for now. If and when that changes, then euthanasia should be strongly considered. But even if it is guaranteed that the foal will not be able to wean successfully, it seems perfectly humane to let him live as long as he can be happy.

 

[rugbychick16]

My hometown vet has a horse with a mild case of wry nose. She came across him while she was doing her internship in Lexington--million dollar horse farm, but owners wanted to euthanize the foal as soon as it was born. Anyway she took him in and he can prehend food and eat just fine (he's about ten years old now), but like I said its a mild case. Still, has a face that only a mother could love.

 

[Highlsnds3]

I'd never heard of it before this thread. I googled just to get some more info and saw this pic. WOW is all I can say, poor babies!http://www.techbanyan.com/8278/wry-nose-syndrome/

 

[KiaKia]

I'm usually for trying new surgeries, even if they will probably fail to have the best result possible: at least something will be learned

reminds me of "a lesson is learned but the damage is irreversible"