Corneal ulcer blues, da da da da-dum.

One of the horses at the barn is in danger of losing her cornea due to, in my opinion, gross negligence on her owner's part. Karen (barn manager), Dr. Merrick, Brittany, and most of the boarders have been chipping in with the treatment while her owner has been unsettingly hard to reach. As far as I know, Karen's footing the bill until the owner can reimburse her.

The past few days, Karen, Dr. M, and I have been rotating "shifts" giving her her medication (banamine, blood serum, stuff Karen and I call the "Purple Top Bottle," antifungal cream, antibiotics, and some other stuff I can't pronounce) and her eye looked like it was doing better, until last night when her owner stopped by the barn, said they would take over treatment during the night, and evidently did not. Instead, they proceeded to LONGE HER OVER JUMPS, according to the security cameras and "eyewitness reports." Astounding.

This morning, I came to the barn and Karen was looking in her eye about to give her her serum. Annie's cornea was starting to slough off. Karen called the vet and we all kind of kept our fingers crossed while Karen dosed her every few minutes. When the vet got out, the deterioration had been arrested, but Dr. Merrick said it could really swing either way at this point. We got a whole bunch of fun new medication and have to treat her every twenty minutes until she is back to normal.

The thing is, this involves her being taken care of all hours of the day. None of the boarders can afford to spend the night out at the barn indefinitely, and it is absolutely unreasonable to make Karen take on that responsibility. Aggressive treatment on the owner's part is the only option, and all of us have the sinking feeling that it isn't going to happen. Either that or a $6,000 stay MINIMUM at Gainesville for hospitalization....

This weekend, I am going to be giving Annie serum as often as possible and Karen and Brittany (her daughter who works at the barn as well) are going to handle the sticky stuff. They usually take the weekends off, but it looks like their generosity is going to get taken advantage of yet again. Some people make me sick. I really, really hope Annie doesn't lose her vision..this has really become a "labor of love" for everyone at the barn.