Several weeks ago my friend Robert and I had the extreme pleasure of touring the Tennessee Equine Hospital in Thompson's Station, Tennessee. I use the word "extreme" because we experienced a great deal of satisfaction seeing horses in their stalls recuperating from illnesses that a few years ago might have killed them without the state-of-the-art equipment and techniques at the hospital.
Here are just a few of the services provided there. The hospital has a nuclear scintigraphy ward to diagnose bone disorders. In this procedure, a harmless radioactive substance is injected into the horse's blood. Areas of increased inflammation are revealed, especially where there are bone disorders. The exact location of a lameness can thus be found.
The stalls serve multiple purposes: administering intravenous fluids; accommodating a mare and her foal; adjusting the climate control for a recovering animal; a three-stall isolation ward so that diseases won't spread. The staff can treat outpatients in dedicated areas so that visiting horse patients won't be exposed to hospitalized patients.
If breeding services are needed, TEH provides artificial insemination, with frozen or fresh semen, stallion collection, semen freezing, semen shipping and embryo transfer. Pregnant mares at the hospital are monitored extensively and assisted when they give birth.
Finally, the vets in the sports medicine specialization at the hospital have over fifty years of experience in the field. Horse athletes get expert care at TEH.
Read much more about this model hospital at its web site http://www.tnequinehospital.com/.
