E.H.P.P.S.

Pitsea Hall Lane, Basildon

Essex SS16 4UH

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Meet The Horses And The Rest... Bertie Louis Springer Poppy & Cherokee Murphy EHPPS Essex Horse and Pony Protection Society Registered Charity No. 297893

MURPHY (aka “DANCER”)
Veteran Black Cob X – 15.2hh

Murphy was found running loose on the road on 27 August. The Police were alerted and they, in turn, requested we collect the horse and bring him back to the safety of the Sanctuary until an owner turned up. Our Head Groom, Laura Jardine, went out to collect Murphy and was horrified at the condition of his right foreleg. She immediately called our Sanctuary Manager, Sue Allery, to ask that one of our vets be on standby for when she arrived back with the horse. Murphy, a veteran black Cob, standing at 15.2hh, had, as Cobs do, thick feathers on his legs. Through the feathers Laura could clearly see what looked like huge, weeping tumours of some sort. As soon as Murphy arrived at the Sanctuary, Paton & Lee vet, Jonathan Lee, set about examining the gelding. To properly investigate the leg, Jonathan painstakingly clipped all the feathers away from the growths. Throughout the whole procedure, this lovely, gentle lad stood there patiently, accepting his treatment without a murmur. As soon as Jonathan started to clean the growths the maggots started dropping out. An anti-parasitic solution called SWITCH was then poured onto the area and the maggots started pouring of out of the growths in their hundreds. Once the area was totally cleared of the infestation, an antibiotic injection was administered to prevent any deep routed infection setting in and Jonathan felt it was better to leave Murphy for the rest of the night to settle down now he had been made more comfortable.

 

 

When we checked Murphy over the following morning, we went to age him (ascertained by examining his teeth) and noticed that all his top teeth were badly broken – his lower teeth were overgrown probably as a result of them being unable to wear themselves down against the top set. It was clearly evident that this horse had not had any dental care in years, which was more than likely the cause of him being slightly underweight for a horse of his type. Our staff clipped out Murphy’s three remaining legs which also had small growths all over the fetlock areas. To add to the poor soul’s irritation, he had a bad case of feather mites, which were causing untold itching on the growths. As he was scratching them against anything he could find, the growths were opening up and bleeding profusely.

Over the next couple of days we kept the area scrupulously clean, hibi-scrubbing it twice a day and applying cream to help keep Murphy’s lower leg supple. On Thursday, 2 September, Murphy was hospitalised overnight at our vet’s surgery in order that they could take a biopsy - from which we could then ascertain the best course of treatment for Murphy. For that whole week we were all on tenterhooks as we awaited the results from the lab. If the growths were benign, they could possibly be removed - if they proved to be malignant, there was little that could be done.

In the meantime, Murphy had settled in well to life at the Sanctuary and soon made close friends with Hamish, a veteran Shetland pony and also Bam Bam, a two year old who had traveled with Murphy to our vets the week before in order that he could be castrated (OUCH!). We found Murph to be one of the gentlest, loving and laid back horses we have ever come across.

 

On Wednesday, 8 September, our vet called with the results. The good news was that the results confirmed that Murphy was suffering from Proliferative Pastern Dermititis. We were assured that the pathology report confirmed there were no tumourous changes and that the condition could have been caused by a whole host of things – one suggestion being an infection setting in from a possible case of severe mud fever. A blood test carried out on 10 September confirmed that Murphy had high liver enzymes, so he was prescribed a strong course of anti-biotics and various supplements to try to repair some of the damage. Our vets were hesitant still to put him under anaesethetic as it would put further unnecessary strain on Murphy’s liver, so a plan was put into action to remove the excess flesh with Murphy heavily sedated and nerve blocked. We shall keep you updated as to Murphy's progress.