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Posted by Debbie BAEN on 10/28/2009, 11:49 am
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http://www.calaverasenterprise.com/articles/2009/10/28/news/news03_horse.txt
Family, friends, 4-H offer aid to injured horse
By Krissi Krob
A horse in Tuolumne County has been so badly injured, possibly by a bear, that he is going to require numerous surgeries and his recovery could take up to a year, if he fully recovers at all.
Krystal Thomas' daughter, Khrystian, looked out the window the morning of Oct .19 and noticed something different about one of the family's horses, Dakota. Standing at the edge of his pasture, the horse looked uninjured, but obviously shaken.
“We could see the side of his face that was hurt,” Thomas said.
When the horse turned his head, however, Khrystian, 15, let out a cry and ran through the house, tearing her way to the pasture, her family hot on her heels. What they saw was a gruesome image that would stick with them: the entire left half of Dakota's face was injured, the skin peeled all the way down.
“I thought somebody had put something on his face,” Khrystian said, “but then I realized.”
“We thought maybe it was an animal attack,” Thomas added, because a black bear has been rifling around their Tuolumne property at night, at one point even tearing down a fence. Another possibility is mountain lions, or perhaps Dakota was spooked by an animal and tore his face while trying to get through the fence. “It' s still kind of a mystery right now,” Thomas said.
Enterprise photo by Krissi Krob
Dr. Wes Whitman at Mono Way Veterinary Hospital performed the initial surgery on Dakota, a three-hour process that involved piecing the horse's face back together with more than 300 staples and inserting tubes that drain fluid from the wounds. But because of the way the stapled skin pulls down around Dakota's eye, the horse is going to need numerous skin grafts to prevent permanent damage. Those will be performed by specialists at the animal hospital at the University of California, Davis. Because of the extent of his injuries, once the staples are removed the skin will come off again, necessitating the skin grafts.
While waiting for Dakota to heal enough to make the move to Davis, Thomas gives Dakota pain medication two times a day, applies antibiotic ointment to his wounds and flushes the tubes with antibiotic saline solution. His injuries make it hard for him to eat, and he has to lap water like a dog in order to quench his thirst. In addition to possibly eye injuries, Thomas said, the horse lost chunks of muscle that would lead to permanent damage in his face and lips.
Thomas said Dakota should arrive at UC Davis within the next couple of weeks, but it could be more than a month before the skin grafts can start because his wounds are going to have to be packed with medicine until veterinarians determine he is ready.
Dakota is a 6-year-old gray thoroughbred gelding the family has had for six months. He joined the family's five other horses, which Thomas daughters Khrystian, 15, Alexandra, 13, and Jessica, 11, ride and show. The girls are members of the Calaveras Wranglers 4-H Club. Thomas was hoping to send Dakota to training so he, too, could be a show horse, but now that he's hurt it's going to be a financial struggle just to get him through recovery.
“It's a tremendous amount of money,” said Thomas, who is engaged and recently quit her office job due to family medical emergencies. It cost $1,700 just for the staples, she said, and the skin grafts are going to be exponentially more expensive. “The vet said it's going to be enormous.”
Within a few days of Dakota's injury, family friends and fellow 4-H members started asking the Thomas family how they could help. Several donated directly to the animal hospital, and Thomas has set up a fund at Wells Fargo to collect donations to Dakota's medical expenses. Donations can be made at any Wells Fargo branch, including in San Andreas, payable to Krystal Thomas with the memo “For Dakota.”
Thomas said the family is extremely grateful for any donations or support, including just sending good thoughts the family's way.
“He's a good boy,” Thomas said of Dakota, adding that he appears to be in good spirits, and the medicine he is taking helps ease the pain. Until he goes to Davis, Thomas will continue nursing Dakota back to health, including administering medication and taking him to weekly vet visits.
“I was told by a few people, 'Maybe you should put him to sleep,'” she said, “but he's my baby, so that's not an option.”
Contact Krissi Krob at kkrob@calaverasenterprise.com
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