This picture was taken just after they both came home from the RVC at South Mimms where Dyson (the white boy) had been for 7 months. He was found one morning on our early feed round in a paddock with a clearly broken leg, we have no idea how he had broken it. Our vet immobilised it and referred us to the RVC where it was initially fixed with plates and pins. He then lost blood circulation to the foot. Our choice was to remove the entire leg or try to fit a permanent prosthetic foot.
After pioneering surgery he was fitted with a custom made implant to attach a permanent prosthetic foot to. This looked like a small mushroom peppered with holes in the umbrella part and a post sticking out of the top. A specialist company that makes them for human implants in the USA made it from titanium it was then coated in industrial diamonds to reduce rejection by the body’s immune system.After surgery things were going ok but then the wound developed an infection and after several months of antibiotics and a revisit to surgery it failed to clear.
In the mean time we had change his stable companion for Jake (the brown boy) who was born with a fused stifle and thanks to Weighbridge and the inflicted outbreak of foot and mouth we were unable to have his leg amputated at the time and although he was managing to get around, as he grew, the leg regularly became infected where he urinated on it. He joined Dyson at the RVC where they carried out the belated surgery; they got on well as stable mates.
The surgeons revisited Dyson’s infected implant cutting away infected tissue and debarment of the granulation from the wound of the original surgery. They still could not get the infection under control and in November we had a meeting with the professor to go over the options with him. They were, to re operate and remove the implant close hope the infection clears then try again in 5/6 months, the prognoses for this was not good, or remove the leg and get him home with his 3 legged mate. His eyes told us all we needed to know they had no sparkle left in them he just looked like he had had enough!
The picture tells the end story, both are enjoying life to the full they reside with 64 females and are joint KINGS of their empire.
