The Mobile Clinic
February 14, 2010
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A brood mare with a painful eye (above) and a mare nursing her foal (below). |
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The American Fondouk Blog
Beyond these Fondouk walls this weekend, we find time to visit many of Dr. Denys Frappier’s friends in the lush countryside.
On Saturday we traveled to Meknes and Rabat to examine horses with eye problems. Our first stop is a brood mare farm run by the Moroccan government. At this farm we see three stallions and two mares with ocular problems. The first stallion has severe keratitis and uveitis (internal inflammation) in one eye, untreated to this point. There is no sign of vision and without treatment there will be ongoing pain. One mare in another barn has ocular pain in the right eye but no obvious cause based on what we can see. A second mare has obvious uveitis in one eye but no pain. The changes have been present for years and the vision loss is evident with a cataract and a cloudy ocular interior. While the first mare will receive symptomatic treatment, the second will be observed only.
We discover that the best pain medication for the eye is not available in Morocco, however we have some at the American Fondouk for them to pick up. Since many of the eye medications used in uveitis are unfamiliar to the caregivers here we have to educate them about the side effects, some of which can be very severe.
We move on to another barn closer to Rabat, Morocco’s capital. We examine one horse that scratched his cornea several days ago and remains painful. Upon examination the eye is visual and the corneal surface is healing, however, the pain is still present. We recommend a treatment regimen with pain medication and antibiotics, but again the pain medication is difficult to find (we have some back in the clinic in Fes). We make alternative recommendations based on what is available.
In Rabat we traveled to the veterinary school to watch an equestrian jumping competition and visit many of Dr. Frappier’s friends. He is one of the most respected veterinarians in Morocco; which is no surprise due to his equine expertise. Nonetheless, I watch in wonder as a steady stream of people, trainers, riders, and horse owners pay their respects to Dr. Frappier - their friend and veterinarian.
The first day of competition was winding down and we were able to see some very good performances as the sun was setting over the Atlantic Ocean. Eventually the time arrived for us to return to the American Fondouk. On the darkened car ride back to Fes I wondered how many times in the past 13 years Dr. Frappier has made this four-hour round trip from Fes to Rabat on his days off to offer free veterinary consultation to his friends and to those who request it. I was too tired to count that high and dozed off with the cool, rain–dampened February breeze blowing across my face.
14 Feb 2010
