Recovery week 8 - Rehab begins 30/3/15

Today felt like a big step forward in Jacks recovery from Kissing spine surgery, he travelled to Bennett Equine Sport Rehabilitation Centre to begin 4 weeks of therapy as recommended by Jack's fantastic surgeon at Oakham vet hospital.

I was very excited to get Jack there, we are now 8 weeks post op and he has done so well coping with 6 weeks of total stable confinement followed by 2 weeks of turnout 24/7 but beginning therapy really feels like a big milestone in his recovery and we hope will give him the best possible start to his return to being a ridden horse. 

With a mix of nerves and excitement I headed for the farm to get Jack in and try to tidy him up a little before leaving.  Luckily there were no dramas this time with the trailer or Jack and all was going smoothly until I came to load him and he refused to go anywhere near the trailer ramp!  He took some persuading but eventually I managed to convince him to go in.  Poor boy has not had much fun going in the trailer recently and he's never been the best loader onto the trailer anyway so I think all the visits to the vets in the last year have taken their toll and he has decided the trailer is not a nice place to be.  I feel some trailer loading practice will be needed.

Once we got under way everything was fine and then we missed the turning into the therapy centre and had to perform a difficult turn in a tight space to try to get back!  We arrived a little stressed but otherwise ok and Jack seemed unstressed by the journey despite there being some very big road humps and pot holes on the way.

The yard is absolutely gorgeous, so neat, clean, tidy and with facilities to die for!  I don't think Jack will want to come home to his messy, muddy working farm after a long stay in a 5* luxury spa!  We took him up to what will be his home for the next 4weeks, a lovely roomy red brick stable with views across the open triangle shaped yard and horse walker.

 





 He certainly seemed to be at home with his lovely stable and tasty haylage net!

 

While he took in his surroundings we parked the trailer up and then were shown a horse working on the Aqua treadmill, it was so interesting hearing about the horses history, what they were doing with him and how it was helping.  I am certainly full of confidence that Jack is in the best possible hands!

 

 

Having completed the necessary paperwork I went back to check on Jack, say goodbye and give him a few mints before I left for work.

 

They said they would be putting Jack on the aqua treadmill that afternoon and would be in touch later with how he had got on - I warned them he is not too keen on water usually!

 

I was thrilled to find out later that not only had he been on the treadmill with no problems he had even enjoyed the water!  His sessions will build up daily and he will also be having electro-magnetic and pulse therapy as well as some physiotherapy and sessions in the solarium to warm and ease his back muscles.  He will also have some turnout daily plus sessions on the covered horse walker!

 

Amazing!  I can't wait to go up at the weekend and see him in action on the aqua-treadmill! 

 

So now I have 4 weeks with lots of time on my hands and no money as I have had to pay for the therapy up front and claim it back from my insurance co who seem to be painfully slow in paying out claims!  At least I will have plenty of time for getting my stable and tack etc clean and tidy ready for Jack's return at the end of April!

 

I've even booked a little break while he is gone - up to my parents in the highlands of Scotland for a week - shame I can't afford a week in the sun but beggars cant be choosers! 

Recovery week 7 - the return to the herd!

Since last Monday when Jack was turned out for the first time in over 6 weeks life has been significantly less hectic!  I had originally thought that he would probably only go out for a few hours at a time to begin with an build up to full turn out over a period of a week or 2 but the vets said as long as he initially went in a small paddock then 24/7 turnout was fine and there would be no benefit in bringing him in every night, this I was very pleased to hear as it would mean no mucking out!!

The first time he was turned out was quite un exciting due to him still being under the influence of Sedalin however I was quite pleased this was the case as there was much less chance of him doing himself an injury if he was too dopy to run and leap around like a loon!

Every night after work I would pop up and bring him in for a brush and some food but also to move his electric fencing back a bit each night so he had a slightly bigger paddock every day.  He didn't seem to appreciate being brought in at all, despite being no trouble to catch he would soon become grumpy being in the stable and then drag me back to the field before running round and bucking and kicking like he'd been in for ages and not only 20minutes - see video!

As there was not a lot of grass I was having to give him hay twice a day too so after a week of being in his little paddock this Sunday evening he was allowed back out in the big field with all him mates :)

I knew he would be excited so I walked him out to the field with a carrot in my hand to distract him!  He was actually very good and didn't pull me about or misbehave!  I gave him the carrot as I removed his headcollar and he munch it then trotted off, stopped and snorted, spotted his mates across the field and then shot off to see them whinnying all the way - very cute!

They all had a bit of a run around with him and the odd squeal but nothing so worry about to say he has been gone from the herd for 7 weeks!  The only slightly worrying time was when he spotted the new horse who is quite a timid character and tends to hang about away from the herd.  When Jack noticed him he charged at him ears back and teeth bared, thankfully Mojo quickly showed Jack that he was quite happy to allow Jack to be the boss and wasn't about to question his authority so that sorted without any drama everybody returned to the important task of grazing :)

Now Jack has a week of chilling out in the field relaxing with his friends, remembering how to be a normal horse and giving those back muscles a good stretch before he heads off to rehab at Bennett equine rehabilitation centre in a weeks time.

To keep me in the saddle a bit over the weekend I rode my best friends pony, she doesn't do jumping and wants someone to jump her young pony.  He is inexperienced and she is scared and as that doesn't make a recipe for success she wants someone to teach him how to jump and show him it is fun and then hopefully he will be able to look after her over a fence when he has got to know what he's doing.

He is a lovely genuine little chap and tries his hardest to please so I am really enjoying jumping him, I think he will soon be ready for a little jumping competition and I'm sure before too long she will be jumping him herself.  He is sometimes a little unsure if he is not on the perfect stride and just needs a strong enough confident rider to tell him "yes we can do this" and he's fine.  Adjusting the stride is quite difficult at the moment but it will come with a bit of practice and I think she will have a cracking little pony on her hands :)

Jack's going to rehab!

Having spoken to Jack's surgeon and following several recommendations by friends Jack will be going for 4 weeks rehabilitation at Bennett equine therapy centre.

http://www.bennettequine.com/index.html

He is going to stay and be going on their aqua treadmill daily as this is the best form of exercise to build those all important core and back muscles following his kissing spine surgery and 6 weeks of box rest.  The resistance of the water, straightness, low impact and non weight bearing form of exercise will prepare his muscles really well for returning to ridden work.  I am determined to give him the best possible start and chance at a full recovery.

He goes on the 30th March and I'm going to see them working other horses on the aqua treadmill next week, I am excited to learn more and see it in action.  Until he goes there at the end of the month Jack is enjoying being out 24/7. 

Not surprisingly the poor boy gets a bit grumpy whenever I've brought him into the stable these last few days!  I'm sure he thinks I'm going to lock him back up again!  I have been moving his electric fencing back a bit every day to make his paddock bigger and give him a bit more freedom and grass to get at.  This weekend he will be going back out with the herd in the big field.  I have a feeling he is going to find that quite a lot more exciting than going in his little paddock!

So having been struggling with so much mucking out etc over the last 6 weeks I'm now going to find myself with very little to do over the next 6 weeks!

Luckily I have been offered lots of friend horses and ponies to ride in the mean time so I don't forget how to ride!

The return to vet hospital 16/3/15

Finally the day arrived when I could return with Jack to Oakham vet hospital for him to be re xrayed and then hopefully be turned out, it was a day Jack and I had been waiting for 6 long weeks!

Our appointment wasn't until 1pm so I was able to take my time and not rush too much as we wouldn't need to set off until about 11.30am.

I dropped off my son at nursery and headed down to the farm at about 9.30am with the aim of giving Jacks stable a good clean out and leaving the bed up to dry out while we were gone. 

When I arrived at the farm I decided to get the trailer out first before starting mucking out and thank heavens I did because as I pulled it forward out of the space one of the wheels wasn't turning, the brake has locked on!  I tried to shuffle it forwards and back a couple of times but it was stuck fast and wouldn't budge!  I started to panic a bit at this point as I had no idea what to do!  This had only happened to me once before (when someone had mistakenly put the hand brake on thinking they were doing me a favour!) and my OH and his Dad had to take the wheels off to free them up!  I couldn't understand why it had happened this time as the handbrake was not on and I only used it a week ago.  The only thing I can think is that when I washed it the brakes must have still been wet when I put it away and they had rusted as it sat there for the week.  Anyway queue a panicked phone call to OH's dad who didn't answer.  I left him a message and then rang my friend who was coming with me to the vets, she has a little 3.5t box and I asked if I had to could we take that instead.  She was a little worried Jack might kick and damage the box and to be honest I was too but I had already decided to give him a decent dose of sedalin and promised to repair any damage that occurred!  Luckily it didn't come to that as OH's dad rang me back and left work to come and sort it out for me.
I was still feeling pretty stressed!  When I walked into the barn to start mucking out Jacks stable I was faced with him rearing vertically in his stable and double barrelling the walls.  So with a broken trailer in the car park and a loony horse in the stable could today get any better! 

I sprayed Jack with Instamag and then when he had calmed down a bit I gave him his breakfast with a healthy dose of sedalin mixed in for good measure!  While he ate I sorted his stable until international rescue arrived to sort the trailer, he jacked it up took the wheel off whacked the brakes with a hammer and job done!  Put the wheel back on and I drove it round the car park to check but it was fine - simple!!

By now the sedalin had kicked in and Jack was a nice calm sane horse again so when my friend arrived we loaded him up with only a slight hesitation on the ramp and off we went.
The journey was straight forward and we arrived just in time for our appointment.

I was pleased that Jack had travelled well and arrived calm and happy.

We went into one of the waiting/assessment boxes and waited for the surgeon to arrive.  Jack was on his best behaviour thanks to the sedalin and stood good as gold while we waited.  

The vet arrived, asked how things had gone and checked all Jacks wounds.  He was happy with how he was healing on the surface and wanted to see him walked and trotted up and on the lunge.

I prayed the sedalin would keep working so I didn't get dragged round the yard but I didn't need to worry Jack walked and trotted next to me without putting and hoof wrong.  I then lunged him in walk trot and canter in their ménage.  This was the first time he had done anything other than walk a few strides in weeks and I'm sure if it wasn't for the ACP in his system it would have been far more exciting but as it was he happily walked, trotted and cantered round with no fireworks just a bit of head throwing.  He was still protecting his back (not that I was surprised) but I was thrilled to see a huge improvement in his length of stride in canter in particular.

Then we went on to xray his back and he was so chilled the vet said he wouldn't sedate him any further, Jack stood like a rock while they took some images and then we left him tied up while we had a look at the pics and had a chat about the results.

It was really interesting seeing the after xrays at last, 4 processes and 6 ligaments had been cut and the difference is clear to see.

The surgeon Neil went into great detail explaining what he had done and why, showing us several other cases to help explain everything clearly.  He showed me 2 spines from advanced eventers and gave me so much confidence that Jack can come back and event successfully from the operation.  One of the spines he explained was from a 4* horse called Ashdale Cruise Master.  I was a bit star struck as I immediately recognised the name as a horse ridden by Oliver Townend at the top level!  I hadn't realised Jack was in the hands of such high profile vets as they don't blow their own trumpet about it but when we started talking more about eventing I found that he had travelled with Oliver and team GB eventing to Kentucky, Pau, WEG etc. 

We discussed the rehab and why they have a slightly different approach to some other vets doing the surgery.  They use the latest techniques and are yielding the best results using the methods used on Jack so I am so glad I trusted them and listened to and followed their advice not turning out or exercising him earlier then them seeing him.  It was hard work doing solid box rest for 6weeks and I found it a little unsettling to read others stories of ks surgery with much less box rest and earlier exercise so it is comforting to now have a clear understanding on why we had to wait and the benefit of that.  I wish I had spoken to the surgeon in person sooner to ease my concerns instead of just worrying about it!  He said I should have called him anytime if I was worried about anything and I do wish that I had!  If I had been able to pick up jack from his surgery on a week day I would have spoken to him to be discharged but as I could only pick him up on a weekend due to work I was discharged by a vet nurse who didnt go into as much detail.  Lesson learnt - if in doubt ask!!!

So he can now be turned out for 10-14 days in a small paddock to begin with, followed by lunging in a pessoa for a 4 weeks building up from walk and trot to cantering and raised poles by the end of the 4 weeks.  Ideally they would also like him to do a couple of water treadmill sessions a week too.

After 6 weeks I will get his saddle checked and then if all has gone well with the lunging and treadmill rehab I can start ridden work with him :) amazing, I'm so excited!!

So after lots of questions and talking they gave Jack his flu jab for me which was due next week and then we were ready to load him back up and come home.

He loaded well again and the journey home was uneventful arriving back still calm and chilled.

I decided to turn him straight out from the trailer into his little 20x40m paddock, he walked quickly but calmly into the field and just trotted off and got down to roll and roll and roll before getting his head down and eating grass!  It was all very unexciting but the best way as no risk of him injuring himself!  He was a happy pony!

I left him too it and went back later to pop him a rug on, give him his tea and a hay net as he has so little grass.  He was quite happy to be caught and have his rug on, I wasn't sure he would come near me after being stuck in for so long!

I get to increase the size of his turn out a little bit everyday for the next few days and at the weekend he can go back in with the other horses in the big field which I know he will love as there is lots of grass and all his mates to play with!

I have to admit I had a little cry with happiness yesterday, I didn't dare hope for such a good outcome.  There is still a long way to go and I am fully aware there could be bumps in the road as he is brought back into full work but we are well on the road to recovery and all signs are pointing to a full and successful recovery if I follow the rehab plan.

Next job is to find an aqua treadmill to take him to!

Back in the saddle!

Unfortunately not on my own horse but it was still enjoyable to ride for the first time in weeks last night!  I have been lucky enough to be offered many rides on friends horses while Jack recovers and last night I rode a lovely chunky cob for a fellow livery, I've never ridden him before but he was as comfy as an armchair and a lot of fun!  I had to use rather a lot of leg and he is much wider than I'm used to ridding so I'm feeling it a bit today!

Jack is continuing to drive me potty with his new found bed wrecking skills, what has happened to my lovely clean horse!  He used to be so easy to muck out!  I'm sure boredom is a big factor in his new favourite activity of eating his banks and mixing his bed, it's now taking me ages to sort it out morning and night!

However if all goes well he might only be stuck in his stable for another 3 days - really really really hoping this is the case!!

I spoke to a different physio this week and started to give her the back ground on Jack and how we have got to where we are.  She has come highly recommended and I didn't want to go back to the people I had used before who had all missed his back pain so hoping this works out well and complements Jack rehab plan.

I'm excited by the prospect of getting him back out on some grass and beginning his rehab at long last - I know its only been 6 weeks and in some ways it has gone quickly but I feel he is now telling me he's feeling better and needs a bit more freedom to move and stretch.

He will only have a small paddock on his own to start with next to the others and it's going to be fun trying to get him out to the field without him loosing the plot but I cant wait to see him having a good roll and kicking up his heals :)

More ups and downs 12/3/15

With the weather taking a turn for the better at last I thought Jack might enjoy a few hours with his rug off to have a good scratch and a roll.  He does seem to be rather itchy at the moment and often rubs along the wall when I tie him up outside his stable to muck out etc, so with the sun out yesterday I popped up at lunch time and took his fleece off.

As it turns out this was a mistake - he enjoyed his scratch a little too much and managed to open up the wound on his elbow which up until this point had been no trouble at all and not needed any treatment!!  Obviously having his rug in the way has been preventing him scratching too vigorously at it up until this point. It looked really well knitted together so he must have been really going for it to have ripped it open. The little monkey just loves to keep giving me more jobs to do!  So now the legs are nearly healed but I will be having to clean the wound behind his elbow until that catches up.

Also with the nicer weather of course comes the flies and being stuck in his stable seems to make him an easy target although the flies are not as bad in the barn as in the fields.  This is a bit of a worry for me with him having open wounds still.  I'm reluctant to use a fly spray as I don't want anything getting in the wounds so I have brought a gel fly repellent instead but I don't think it is as effective.  

Jack has also decided to keep eating his straw bed despite having plenty of hay/treats/swedes to eat and keep him busy.  The most annoying part of this is that he doesn't just eat any of the bed, oh no, he wants to eat the bottom of the banks and in the process churns up the whole bed burying the poo and mixing it all together to make it harder for me to muck out quickly!

I am convinced however that he is feeling better and he is now letting me touch and clean his back without moving away, twitching or putting his ears back and swishing his tail so that's good progress!

I have been very lucky that Jack has coped so well with the box rest and mostly just eats.  On the occasions he has got himself in a state, usually when the others are being turned out, I have been using some Freestep Supafix instamag spray on magnesium calmer to calm him down.  I was very lucky to win a bottle of it in a competition run on equine blogging site hay-net.co.uk at just the right time!  It has meant I have not had to feed a calmer, I simply leave the bottle outside Jacks stable and anytime he gets a bit stressed out whoever is there can just spray some on his neck and it has a pretty much instant effect.  Jack is not bothered about being sprayed so you can get it right up near his ears which is the most effect places as it is then absorbed straight into the blood and delivered to the brain in the quickest way possible.  Much better than a traditional calmer that has to be absorbed through the gut taking a lot longer to have an effect.  A few sprays as and when required has been enough to calm him down, keep him sane and prevent him causing himself or others injury.  It is a great product, good value and so easy to use and I have recommended it to others with horses on box rest and would definitely suggest anyone with a stressy horse give it a try.  They also do a version for humans who have rider/competition nerves.

We are now only a few days away from the trip back to Oakham vet hospital where we will find out how he his really recovering and I will get to see the after xrays which I am intrigued to see.

I really am hoping for good news and that Jack will be able to go out in a small paddock to stretch his legs at long last!

Recovery week 5 9/3/15

It is now 5 weeks since Jacks kissing spine surgery and he appears to me to be recovering well.

The time has actually gone really quickly and we may only have 1 week of box rest left!  (Everybody please keep your fingers crossed for us!)

I'm very excited that a week today we will be on our way to Oakham for his x-rays to see how the healing is going inside.  I'm really looking forward to seeing the x-rays and comparing the before and after pics as I have not seen any yet due to picking him up on a weekend. 

With how well he appears to be healing on the outside I am hopeful for good news and if they are happy with his progress we will finally be able to turn him out.  I'm not getting my hopes up too much as they may decide he needs a bit longer on box rest.  Having said that I cannot wait to see him out grazing and enjoying life again.  He has become rather grumpy and sour from the box rest and I'm praying that disappears when he is able to go back out and begin work - he has always been a horse who has a better attitude when in regular work, he seems to get a bit full of himself and less respectful when he's off, hes never nasty or naughty just not quite such a nice person!  While his has been very tolerant of the box rest in the most part he obviously has been affected by it and I will just have to hope that getting back to normal will see his attitude and demeanour return to normal too as he is usually a lovely cuddly person who enjoys a mutual groom and lots of fuss.

So once we get the all clear for turnout then there will be the long process of rehabilitation which I will be doing all myself.  I have to be honest although it will be hard work and probably frustrating at times I am soooo looking forward to getting started.  We are a long way off ridden work yet and the vet will be going through a detailed rehab programme with me when we go next week but I am expecting a couple of weeks turn out with no work at all followed by around 5 weeks ground work using a pessoa or similar lunge aid and long reining before beginning ridden work.  All being well the vet is hopeful I will have a fully fit horse able to event before the end of the season.  Obviously a lot has to go right for that to happen and I do not want to put myself or Jack under any pressure so I will follow the vets advice and do everything by the book but if I feel we need to take things a bit slower for Jacks sake I will.  The most important thing is that he is happy and pain free and able to enjoy his work especially jumping again.  I have a feeling it may take a long while to regain his confidence having been in pain for so long but given time and a relaxed attitude I know we can get there and build up his trust and confidence again.  I'm going to be doing some more groundwork and join up with him too to build the bond and trust between us.

I am also going to be on the look out for a new physio to work with throughout the rehab and beyond to keep Jack as comfortable as possible and help identify and alleviate any problems along the way.  As I have lost all confidence in the people that I used before due to them all missing the kissing spines/back pain on more than 1 occasion I want to use a different physio.  They will need to be vet referred in order for it to be covered by my insurance claim and I think I have found someone who has come recommended very highly by a friend so fingers crossed that works out.

His other wounds are continuing to heal really well too and the large gapping wound on his foreleg is now barely noticeable.  The wound on his hind is about half the size it was and the pressure sore is now smaller then a 5p piece.  I am continuing to bathe and flush them twice a day with cooled boiled salty water and will do so until they fully heal but am happy that even in muddy turn out they are well healed enough not to have any problems.
It has been fascinating watching them healing!

This is the fore leg - left pic was taken 17/2/15 and right 9/3/15 - a huge improvement :)

This is the hind leg again left pic taken 17/2/15 and right taken 9/3/15 and again a vast improvement

 

 

 

Finally the pressure sore is also drastically improved

 

There is not much swelling left on his spine now either and he has not lost as much muscle as I expected on full box rest for 5 weeks. 

 

With the weather being a bit nicer over the last few days it been nice to get his rug off and let him have a good scratch and roll!

Good and bad news 5/3/15

Its been a bit of an up and down few days with Jack since our latest vet visit.

Having been cautiously been given the go ahead to give him a little bit of in hand gentle walking exercise at the end of last week the vet has now rescinded the decision due to Jacks behaviour!  Despite being given the maximum dose of sedalin and plenty of time for it to take affect Jack was unable to contain himself during his walks and the vet was not comfortable with the level of risk so he asked me to stop all attempts at any exercise until he has been seen him again.

I was disappointed by the news but could understand where the vet is coming from, although Jack clearly couldn't be in too much discomfort to be performing airs above ground every other step round the car park!  It might not seem like much but it felt like a step forward to be giving him that little bit of exercise.  I think the vet could hear my disappointment and perhaps agreed with me about how Jack must be feeling because the next morning he rang me again to say he would bring the re xray appointment forward by a week for me if I wanted as Jack seems to be responding/recovering so well.

Obviously this does not automatically mean he can be turned out earlier as it will depend what they find on the xrays on the 16th but I'm keeping everything firmly crossed that the results are good and we can start getting him out his box!  He is still coping pretty well and other than pulling faces and being a bit grumpy he's generally accepting of his fate and not making too much fuss at being in.  Having said that given any opportunity he likes to give me a hard time by throwing anything within his reach about the place.  I arrived Tuesday night to find the tarpaulin that should be covering his hay on the floor, his head collar and lead rope a good 5 meters from where I left them hanging on his peg, hay everywhere, haynets all over and bucket thrown over the door!  Little monkey!

I have joined a couple of groups on facebook for people with horses with kissing spines and the members seem lovely and encouraging, although there is a lot of conflicting advice!  One thing I have noticed and commented on is the general approach from almost everyone else seems to be to start in hand exercise pretty much as soon as their horse has come home, apparently this is the latest advice from leading vets but it goes against everything my own vet is telling me.  It did concern me that it appeared my vet was using what could be dated recovery techniques, a call to the vets put my mind at ease a bit and I would never go against there advice despite being made to feel a bit uneasy by other people's experiences.

Anyway I am continuing to follow the vets advice to the T in the hope that it will lead to the best possible outcome.

His other injuries are now healing well and are looking better everyday, I am still cleaning them twice a day and applying the cream to prevent proud flesh but I shouldn't have to keep doing it for too much longer by the look of them now.
The incision on his spine is still slightly raised but still appears to be healing well from the outside.

Recovery Week 4 and another vet visit!

Today marks the beginning of week 4 of Jacks recovery.

3 more weeks of box rest to go, it feels good to know we are more than half way there!

His injuries are all continuing to heal well and are looking much smaller and neater now.  I'm also please that despite being in areas prone to proud flesh there is no sign of any yet so the vulcatan cream the vet prescribed to keep it at bay seems to have done the trick.

On Friday we began a little bit of in hand walk exercise and although it was a bit trial and error with the dose of sedalin required we both survived the experience unscathed!  To say it was Jacks first time out of the box in nearly 4 weeks he actually coped and behaved really well, although he still felt like he could explode at any second so I definitely wouldn't like to attempt it without the sedalin at the moment!

As it was his first time out we only did 3 laps of the yard/car park not wanting to over do anything or push our luck!  Bless his everytime we walked past the gate to the fields he was pushing me towards it trying to persuade me to let him out!

Unfortunately the weather when I reached the yard on Saturday was awful with howling wind and horizontal rain so I made the decision it wasn't really worth risking taking him out in that, especially as there was no one else about, so he stayed in his box that day. 

To be fair the weather wasn't much better on Sunday afternoon but I didn't want to use the weather as an excuse so I put his turn out on and dosed him up with sedalin again while I set about cleaning up his stable until the drugs kicked in.  As I was doing this the other liveries all arrived to bring their horses in and I hoped this might help him keep calm!  After 30minutes he didn't seem any less alert so I decided to top him up as I had not given him the max dose.  He still didn't seem any less lively but I needed to get back so I grabbed my hat, gloves, lunge line and bridle and off we went in a brief lull in the weather.  He was a good boy and although pulling and keen to go he did walk with me and seemed slightly less like he was on the edge so this time we increased to 4 laps and can hopefully continue to build the distance and frequency up a little each time over the next few weeks.

Onto today and due to finding the vet had missed one of the stitches in his hind leg we had to have the vet out for an unplanned 4th visit this morning.   It was a different vet (from the same practice) but as he was already booked to come to do some vaccinations and it only needed a couple of stitches removing it seemed silly not to get it done while he was there.  Jack was grumpy and irritable (I do hope that goes away once he's turned out!) but allowed the vet to remove the stitches from his hind leg without any sedation, I just had to hold up a front leg so he didn't move to much or kick!  I had hoped he would be sedated so I could walk him while he was still knocked out from that but he behaved too well and didn't need it so it will have to be a dose of sedalin again later!  The vet did leave me some more tubes to keep us going for a bit and he was hopeful that we might be able to do without it after a week or so once he is able to have a few walks a day and gets used to it (I'm not so optimistic!)

So now hopefully that is it for vet visits until the 23rd March when we return to Oakham vet hospital for xrays.