Yesterday we left off with Speedy sutured and bandaged. I was discouraged by the injury, but with a plan in place, I decided to just move forward. It was what it was, but this too would pass. I wanted to hang out at the barn for a while to make sure that Speedy was okay, so I saddled up Izzy.
After our ride, I walked Izzy back toward his gate. My heart stopped. Blood was pouring down Speedy's other front leg, and hunks of hair were clinging to the bottom of the gate. Up until that point, we had been puzzled at how he had cut himself the first time. We had searched for any sign of hair or blood, but nothing was found. Now I knew. In addition, the first bandage was blood soaked and sagging. I was certain Speedy had ripped open the sutures.
My heart had already sunk so many times that morning that I simply quit thinking straight or logically. I had enough sense to snap a photo and send it to my vet, but from that point on, I was either sobbing while hyperventilating, or just sobbing. Just how much can one person take?
I called the vet again and was put straight through to the office manager. She urged me to take a breath and assured me that both vets would look at the photo immediately. I was still sobbing.
By this point the ranch owner had joined me and reassured me that it didn't look as bad as I feared. The bleeding quickly slowed to a trickle - which was probably mostly water by that point anyway. As I weeped incoherently into the phone, I handed it to her and she explained what we were seeing.
Both vets confirmed that it could be stapled closed if I wanted, or I could just as easily wrap it as I had the other one. Both wounds would heal in a similar time frame.
On Wednesday, I removed all of the bandages in order of severity; I did the hind leg first. To my surprise, the wound had scabbed over and looked mostly healed. That leg was off my worry list.
I am also re-wrapping every other day. Today is a re-wrap day, so I am optimistic that things will have continued to improve. It might even be that the front leg without the stitches might be healed enough to stop bandaging. My fingers are crossed.
Have a great weekend!