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Kodas accident medical bills

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Hello, my name is Cassie McCowan and this is my 5 year old thoroughbred mare Koda. She used to race before I taught her how to jump and started teaching her dressage as my prospect for the 2022 Retired Racehorse Project. In October returning from the Kentucky Horse Park we got pushed off the road and the horse trailer flipped onto its side with Koda inside after dragging the truck backwards in circles a few hundred feet on I-75 at 3 AM. Koda was then sedated and cut out of the horse trailer and transported to a nearby equine vet hospital where she recieved care for 3 days before she was able to make the rest of the trip home to see her primary vet. Even after such a traumatic event she still trusted me to get right back into a trailer to make it to the emergency vet and has kept following me into trailer after trailer. During the accident she sustained two major traumas to her head resulting in double layer suturing above the right eye and stitching of a hole that went through to her sinus cavity below her left eye, as well as small abrasions to the rest of her body. The bill from the equine hospital totaled a little over $2,000 which was very lucky as it could have been a much more expensive bill. After Koda returned home she then recieved about $1,500 in veterinarian care as she needed to be monitored because she kept spiking fevers as well as recieving antibiotics and gastric care. Koda returned to riding after a while but at her first horse show back she exhibited her first sign of discomfort. When the signs progressed and her level of discomfort increased I decided to take her into Peterson and Smith, one of the leading equine vet offices in Florida. Peterson and Smith performed a lameness exam, gastroscopy, x-rays, and an ultrasound of her ovaries. The majority of her issues stemmed from calcium buildup on the right side of C2-C7 (neck) which limits her range of motion to the right. There is lots of inflammation in the surrounding muscle and tissue which will require lots of medication and therapy to reduce. We have injected the worst three joints in the neck as well as the SI joints in her back. The vets concluded that this most likely stemmed from a trauma, not genetically. The second biggest issue we found was a tumor where the right ovary was supposed to be. After sending in bloodwork the vets believe it is a granulosa cell tumor. Koda is going back into the vet June 20th for a follow up, chiropractic, and to re-ultrasound her ovary to check for any changes to the tumor. After taking a second look at the tumor we will be able to get a better idea for the cost of removal. The first visit to P&S totaled just over $6,700 and the estimate for her recheck is around $1,500. She has been off of ridden work for the last three months and will find out if she can return to flat work (no jumping) at this upcoming visit. To continue to improve to hopefully return to jumping, or at least find comfort in living like a normal horse, will require lots of maintenance such as BEMER treatments, chiropractic work, accupuntcure, massage therapy, and slow, correct introduction back into work. This horse has quickly become a huge peice of my heart just as fast as she chose me to be her person. I only hope that I can help her become as comfortable and pain free as possible and hopefully give her a purpose again. Koda loves to work, have a job, and please and even tried to do her best while in pain until she couldn't. I am just trying to do right by her and return all of the love she has given me.

Fundraising team (2)

Cassandra McCowan
Organizer
Oldsmar, FL
Amy McCowan
Team member

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