Hehe, alliteration is fun! Yesterday was vet day for Truby. I'm lucky that where she currently lives is right behind our vet hospital. If I was a little smarter, I would have been bringing her over to visit a couple times a month, just to get her comfortable. Unfortunately, I've only walked her over a few times.
Scariest thing? The curb.
Second scariest thing? ANOTHER CURB!!!
I walked her over last week, and to set her up for success, I made sure to wait until they started testing the scary sprinklers before walking her past /sarcasm. She was pretty 'up', but well behaved. We spent some time looking at the terrifying things...a dumpster, the round pen, dirt, the curb, some rocks, and the other curb. We did lots of fast walking until she settled down into a nice pace and then we headed home.
And almost got run over by a garbage truck driving too fast and not paying attention, because who could POSSIBLY notice a 1100 pound white horse? Good times.
Anyway, yesterday we headed over about 20 minutes before our appointment. Truby walked over nicely, but became tense as soon as we hit the parking lot. This time she power walked over the curb, and we did some tense power walking in the dirt lot behind the hospital. Truby likes to walk super fast when she's anxious, and if I just keep up with her, she'll eventually settle down. Sure enough, it wasn't long before she slowed to a steady march, and pausing now and again to look around. They opened the bay door to the hospital, and I walked Truby up...
NOPE
No worries. They didn't need her to come in right away, so we hung out in the doorway. I answered some questions, and we retreated to the back lot to walk around and relax while we waited for the vet to come out. (Not Cookie Doctor, different vet clinic. This is Dr S.)
So, here's my favorite thing about my vet. She gets horses. She saw Truby was super anxious by the building, so we walked away to where she felt more comfortable, and started her exam there. No big deal. I told her about the exciting few months we had, the hitching post thing, the bad hoof trim, and the lameness exams with Cookie Doctor.
She gave the sedative, and had me walk back up at Truby's pace, and as the sedative took more and more affect, we moved her closer to the stocks, and eventually got her in and ready for her dental. It was all done calmly and with maximum consideration for Truby's anxiety and safety.
I was impressed and really pleased.
Sedation is fun
Getting her mouth open
Feeling for points
Tiny light to see inside her mouth
Checking her bite
Truby has little tiny teethies!
Overall, her dental went quite well! Dr S said the timing was perfect - she was juuust starting to get scrapes on the inside of her cheek, and she had some points to take off. Her thought is the best time to do teeth is the day before they cut themselves, but she's not psychic and can only know after it happens. But Truby was pretty much spot on. Yay! She said Trub's mouth was well balanced, especially for her age, and it was obvious she's had good dental care in the past. She did have some tartar build up on her front teeth, which she removed, but apparently it's not a problem - although build up on the back teeth can be a sign of kidney issues.
She also said her teeth wear as a 20/21 year old horse. I happen to know Truby's birthday, so it's more a curiosity and again, nbd that her teeth look a few years older.
She's just too cute!
Can't quite work her tongue yet...
Being drugged is haaaarrrrddddzzzzzzzzzz....
All finished, but so tired.
In addition to having her teeth floated, she also got her shots and Coggins. I was thrilled with our experience. I've never taken a horse to the vet, we've always had the vet come out to the farm. I do wish I'd taken Truby more over to desensitize her, but we did okay. I was very happy with how calm and horse friendly the vet and tech were. They weren't annoyed at all by Truby's nervousness, and they worked at her comfort level. Clearly all about creating a positive experience for her. At the same time, we had a thorough exam, her shots and blood drawn, and her teeth done.
Dr S was fabulous about explaining everything she was doing and seeing, talking so I could understand her, but never talking down to me. She gives lectures on different horse topics every month at the clinic, and the last one was on dental care, so I knew exactly what and why she was doing what she was doing. It was neat to see it all come together!
She also checked Truby for melanomas, and was surprised but pleased to hear she's only had one her entire life. She told me she was learning about the grey gene, and that it was fascinating...so I asked her if she wanted to see a pic of baby Truby, and she enthusiastically said yes! I had a bunch of baby Truby pics, and she liked seeing her go from chestnut at 3 days, to a mousy grey weanling to a steel dapple yearling.
Want to make me happy? Tell me you want to see pics of Truby!
3 day old Truby <3 <3 <3
After Truby had woken up enough, we put her in a pipe stall outside, and I went around front to pay (ouch! Worth it, but ouch!) and get our paperwork. The clinic also sees Sara and Haiku, and it's really nice to have everyone cared for at the same place. I've found all their vets to be both knowledgeable and compassionate. They always have time to answer my questions, give my pets a snuggle, and help us balance ideal care and realistic care. It's pricey by Tucson standards, but less expensive than what I'm used to on the East Coast, and the cost is definitely worth the care.
Ready to Go Home
Whoa, man. You ever just like, eat hay. And you're like,
whoa. Hay. What?
All in all we had a good experience. I will miss living right by the clinic though. I'd like to be able to walk her over for all her vet care. But at the end of this month, we move! There's some things I will miss (GRASS) but I know moving will be good for us and I'm so ready to leave.
As a bonus, enjoy my favorite picture of Truby having her teeth done by an amazing dentist in PA!
(The dentist still asks my PA friend how 'that Arab I did once" is doing.
No one believes Truby is a Paint.)
