Advice needed - do I call the vet?

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RachelB

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I am in two minds whether to call the vet out to my horse this weekend. She is 15 months into her recovery from a deep digital flexor tendon tear in her left fore. On March 10th she went lame, no heat or swelling or raised digital pulse just lame in the left fore. One bute per day for seven days and she was sound after two days. Farrier trimmed her feet Wed morning, vet gave me the go-ahead on the phone that morning to start her rehab walking work, by the time I went up at 4pm she was very lame. Slight heat in left foot, no swelling or pulse. Gave her one bute Wed pm, one Thurs am, called vet Thurs am who said carry on and keep her as quiet as possible in the field. One bute Thurs pm, one Fri am, still as lame by now but no heat left in foot. Called vet again to say no improvement on that amount of bute, advised to give her two bute Fri pm and call Tues pm to update vet on the situation (if no better would have to see her Wed).
Fri pm gave her two bute and started to feel her legs, her right one had swollen up on the outside of the tendons and very slightly on the inside, both feet hot, no pulses. I cold hosed and bandaged on the advice of a very experienced friend. This morning she was a teensy bit more sound, the swelling had gone down a bit (looks a bit less like a tree trunk), feet still hot, and I cold hosed, re-bandaged and gave her one and a half bute. This evening is pretty much the same as this morning, same degree of lameness, swelling has gone down a little teensy bit more, feet still hot, cold hosed and re-bandaged, one and a half bute. She can't have too much in case she feels too good and runs around and re-injures her tendon (assuming it hasn't been re-injured already!)
TBH I can't see her being much better in the morning. If she is any worse I shall be calling the vet pronto, but if she's the same... do I wait until Tuesday or do I call? Totally unsure!
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is she lame on the leg that shes recovery from injury in? if i was you hun id call the vet out - but i am very paranoid!

Im really sorry to read shes lame again tho
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hugs from me xx
 
I think so... she is nodding her head down a foot or two every time her right leg hits the ground, and up again with the left one going down - does that make it a left lameness...? Coming from an equine student that sounds very bad, but I have been so absorbed with everything that I have confused myself now!
I'm pretty certain the right swelling is a reaction to hacing had to stand on the right leg for a few days to relieve the left. She's now standing on the right leg 2/3rds of the time and the left 1/3rd of the time, to relieve both of them. When she was grazing yesterday evening she was shifting her weight all the time, today she looks more comfortable. She's walking out a lot better today and not pottering along slowly, although with mot much change in the degree of lameness. Am just trying to find somewhere that tells me how lame she is (in 10ths) cos I'm useless at describing lameness!
I just can't help thinking that to call a vet out at the weekend it would have to be a proper emergency, like a colic or something. And even if I did call them out, it may not be my own vet who has been treating her that comes to see her, and her history is very long and complicated, and vet will probably just say keep giving her the bute and bandaging and hosing...? I can't box rest or confine her as she stresses, and is less likely to damage herself wandering about in the field quietly than she is in a stable or a small grazing pen.
ARGH she is so complicated!!
 
i would wait and get the vet who's been dealing with it to come out, that way they know the horse and the history. obviously if she's in alot of pain before then and you cant keep her comfortable with bute/hosing/bandaging etc then it may be better to get any vet and be on the safe side but in my experience getting a different vet just ends up in extra bills and you not getting any proper answers about what problem is/could be!
 
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i would wait and get the vet who's been dealing with it to come out, that way they know the horse and the history. obviously if she's in alot of pain before then and you cant keep her comfortable with bute/hosing/bandaging etc then it may be better to get any vet and be on the safe side but in my experience getting a different vet just ends up in extra bills and you not getting any proper answers about what problem is/could be!

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That is exactly my thought, her history is seriously complicated and if I end up with another vet coming out to see her if mine isn't on call this weekend then I will probably be told to cold hose/bandage/bute or even box rest, which my vet is very anti for my horse. On the other hand, if the swelling and lameness is no better by tomorrow morning she will have been like that for 36 hours, on three bute a day...
See why I'm undecided?!
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to be honest i would be box resting her by now or at least sectioning off a small area in the field to stop her from doing too much on the leg.
cold hosing as much as poss and bandaging.
if shes lame and buted up i definately wouldnt be putting her out on grass in a normal sized field.what is the ground like in the field?
has she had the tendon scanned at any ooint?it does sound like shes damaged it again,esp as its so swollen.
obviously the more the carries on walking/trotting round on it the more chance she has of making any tears or holes bigger and more likely to get scar tissue-thus making it more likely to be reinjured.
and the more times its reinjured the more scar tissue is likely and the more likely she is to reinjure it again.
tendons are a pain,esp if your horse wont tolerate box rest-at least for a few weeks to really rest it before going into a small field.
i wouldnt bother asking an emergancy visit,only if you are pretty sure it IS her tendon and not anything else.speak to your normal vet on tuesday(its bank hol) and i would arrange to have the tendon scanned so you can see exactly what is going on with it.
 
Tendon cannot be ultrasounded as the tear is too far underneath her foot to be able to get any sort of decent angle at it. She was diagnosed by MRI and I cannot afford another grand to have it re-done just to check!
She is out in the field because she has been since July, and she is quiet. She's a quiet, lazy mare anyway and when she is box rested or sectioned off she stresses (last time she was in a stable she went round, and round, and round... and last time she was in a small pen she jumped out, she's a big mare and there's pretty much no way of keeping her in). No amount of calmer would quieten her down, which would mean sedation - or leaving her as she is, quietly grazing in a field
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The swelling was not on the left (damaged) leg, it was on the right (good) leg - she has obviously been standing on her right leg to relieve the pain of her left, whether that is tendon again or not I have no idea. When she tore her tendon last year her left heel was blazing hot for a week, and since then (mid-February 2007) there has been very little heat or swelling in that leg. Certainly now there is only a tiny bit of heat in either leg (see my post for today)
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Seeing as the swelling has all but gone today I have decided to wait until Tuesday to call the vet. Thanks though
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I can remember reading your posts last year when my horse did a 10% tear in his tendon after recovering from ligament tear.I thought I had the same problems with my daughters mare last week but it turned out to be a sprain or possibly a kick in the tendon area .Both my horses were stamping their feet with the midges and we think she overreached ,twisted her leg or my horse accidently kicked her .Could a similiar thing have happened it would be a better scenario for you.The other thing I thought I should mention was that this mare had a bad reation to pressure bandages being a cob her legs get scally at the back and this caused more inflammation than the original incident might be worth checking.Have you checked her new shoes perhaps the farrier might come out and check for you .I did restricted turnout as well it kept my horses much saner and happier.Try not to be to pessamistic I hope its not bad news .I think I would wait for the regular vet as he knows her full history unless she seems worse or at least phone for advice.Good luck let us know how she is
 
I am still clinging to the faint and distant hope of an abscess rather than it being the tendon again. I haven't put the bandages on overly tight, just firm enough, and she has been fine with them. The swelling had completely gone this evening so I have cold hosed and bandaged one last time - if it's fine in the morning I won't bother bandaging again tomorrow. As for shoes, she hasn't had any on for a year now so it can't be that!
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Fingers crossed for her staying as she is (or getting better) until 9am Tuesday at the very least!
 
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She was much, much more sound this morning. No swelling, only a tiny bit of heat left in the left foot. I have cut her bute down to stop her feeling too good and running around, and I'll call the vet tomorrow. Luckily for me the risk of not calling the vet paid off!
 
Give her a pat from me! Mines front legs have gone down, now his back legs are up!!
Hoping its just a seedy toe or something footy rather than those bleeding tendons!
 
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