Seattle Slew surgery....

[lilblackhorse]

was just listening to NPR in the car, and they interviewed the vet doing spinal surgery on Seattle Slew. He is now 28, standing stud at 3 Chimneys Farm in KY. I guess he has had this surgery once before, but age and degeneration has made them opt once again for it.

The coolest part of this though, is Dr Barrie Grant is the surgeon-I knew him at Washington State University when we lived there, and he was a Pony Club dad who would make pancakes for the Pony Clubbers during rally …He is an awesome vet,who pioneered research in Wobbler Syndrome.

Anyway, here’s to a great recovery for the oldest, and only living Triple Crown winner. They said all they want to do is give him the quality of life that he deserves-the be able to walk (and feel his feet-so there must be nerve involvement in the cervical vertabrae)…and to live out his days and “eat and poop” I think is what he said!LOLOL

“Perfect practice makes perfect.”

[Anne]

Dr. Grant will perform the surgery at Rood and Riddle. The interns there that run anesthesia and recovery are the best and the brightest, and the hospital staff knows the horse since they provided his care last time.

The Taylors are willing to do whatever it takes for their horses, whether they are established breeding stallions like Slew or not famous at all. It is hard for us to fathom having that kind of money, but I feel confident that the surgery is in Slew’s best interest - they wouldn’t do it if it weren’t.

[Patsducky]

I agree with Hitch - this is not a minor surgery, and it is very traumatic for a horse AT ANY AGE to go though surgery (have any of you ever watched what the horses go through when they come out of the anesthesia? It isn’t pretty, let me tell you…), but to put a 28 year old horse through this type of severe surgery for a second time is just wrong, wrong, wrong! This is a wonderful horse who has had a phenomonal life - sometimes you just have to admit that good things have to end. They should not make this horse suffer any more - he deserves - he has EARNED better than that ! (and no, I don’t believe for a minute that, if given the chance, they won’t put this horse to stud agin…there is a lot of money to be earned in that horses semen…)

[A_Splash_of_Color]

See Seattle Slew

[kenbiki]

Awesome stud…I hope the surgery is a success.

[Glimmerglass]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hitchinmygetalong:

Yes, this horse is a legend. But he is 28, for crying out loud.

Put him on pain meds and retire him. Just my opinion, mind you.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ah, but for many in the business its too hard to walk away from the revenue flow that a champion can produce. He could easily still have the ability to yield millions more.

As cute as the eyes are and no matter how much glory he’s generated for himself and others at the end of the day its a business. Do I agree, no?

[Rubs_Not_Pats]

The issue here is basically three fold.

a) Is there anything that can be done to improve the quality of life for the animal?

b)Can the owners afford it?

c)How long will the preoceedure help? What will recovery be like? What are the other concurrant problems that may affect outcome of the surgery? If the surgery will not lead to a potentially long term solution, will the animals remaining time be spent recovering from the proceedure?

Obviously, there is something that can be done to help the horse, the owners don’t have issues with paying for it and the horse has a reasonable expectation of recovering and being significantly less painful and living a while longer.

This topic because of my past experience has been a real sore point for me. When I first found out about the surgical option I posted on a number of forums and asked opinions, including one hosted by a veterinarian. I was berated for being cruel to my animal by considering this and told the only kind thing to do was to euthanize. All I can say is I am glad that I didn’t listen.

As far as recovery, I have had a decent amount of experience with anesthesia recovery. Having allowed owners to stay with pets during anesthesia recovery, the owners seem more traumatized than the pets. As far as my horses and recovery, particularly the wobbler,he was anesthetized three times for this proceedure. Once for the myelogram, surgery and then again because he had an allergic reaction to the suture material and needed to have a large anount of scar tissue removed. At all times, the horse recovered quietly and safely and was supervised directly by a skilled surgical team (and yes, I was there. Yes, there is an increased risk recovering a wobbler and even in a normal horse, there is always risk. If the only choice is euthanasia, why not take the risk?

Last thing, age is not a disease! My 15 year old cat was diagnosed with cancer of his ear canal. At 15, we removed the entire ear and went through chemotherapy and radiation with him. Aside from the cancer, he was healthy. This was not a cheap proceedure. After the surgery he spent three weeks in a clinic with the oncologist. It is now 2 1/2 years later and the cat is doing great! It is poor judgement to make life and death decisions based soley on age.

Really, I am not breeding FOR chestnut, they just come out that way!

[hoopoe]

Yes, they fused 4-5 if I am not mistaken.

I did my tech internship at WSU and was in on some of the early Bagbie Technique surgeries with Drs Grant and Waggoner . The best part of the internship.

Last year I was working on a project with some ortho and neuro surgeons (human) They had attended a convention where Dr Bagbie presented a report on Seattle Slews surgery. They were mighty interested in this surgery. I had told them about having worked on the wobbler horses 20 years ago. ( the surgeries we were doing last years were somewhat related to the wobbler surgeries.)

Anyway they were MIGHTY impressed with the presentation. Like any good report, Dr Bagbie presented footage ( or photos, Drs B and A did not elaborate) of the “patient returning to normal function”. Well for Mr S. Slew normal function meant…

YOU KNOW… :

Like I said they were MIGHTY impressed

_\]
– * > hoopoe
The ancient Greeks did not write obituaries. They only wanted to know if you had a passion.

[lilblackhorse]

although Glimmer, if you listen, it doesn’t sound like this was a ploy to just make more money-they specifically said that it is just so he can live out his life pain free and walking…that people would think that it was a greed thing, and that standing stud wasn’t part of the plan for his future I think.(or not the be all end all anyway).

Hitch-I agree 28 is old, really old for surgery. However, Dr Grant is an amazing man, and as was echoed above, these people love this horse, and want what’s best for him, and wouldn’t do anything to endanger him. It sounds like he is an exceptional horse-to hear Barrie talk about him that way, and to know how many horses he has worked on, he really must be amazing.

“Perfect practice makes perfect.”

[poltroon]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by hitchinmygetalong:

1. You cannot compare this to surgery on an aged human. The argument is beyond logic.
   <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I don’t understand why not.

It’s true that euthanasia would not be an option for an elderly great aunt, say. But with a damaged, painful hip, for example, you could choose to either medicate and accept limited/no mobility, or you could go for a hip replacement, go for the brass ring as it were.

This IMHO is a very analogous situation. Hip replacement is major surgery, and I have known folk to come out of it ‘not quite right’. It requires long, painful rehabilitation. It’s expensive and requires a lot of home support.

On the other hand, you could choose not to do a replacement, and instead to medicate for pain, and accept that the person will likely be wheelchair bound or bedridden for the rest of his/her life.

Neither choice is right or wrong for all people. You must always weigh the individual facts, situation, and personalities. However, I don’t really see how the issues are all that different for horses or dogs rather than people.