Advice needed horse off to AHT on Sunday.

[ducktails]

In a bid to get some answers I am taking my mare to Sue Dyson at AHT on Sunday for an investigation into hind leg lameness. The current view after spending 1k with my vets is subchondral bone pain in the lower hock joint although no xrays showing changed to confirm this and horse unresponsive to steroid treatment and only partially blocking out sound on the hock.. As current vet has been a bit useless and is encouraging me to take LOU I am looking forward to getting some more qualified eyes on her or maybe if my vet is right just a second LOU signature :O(

Anyway... I need advice for, firstly i will be taking the horse there by trailer and it will be about a 3.5 hour journey. Bandages or Boots? She travels well but we have never done over an hour anywhere. I am worried about the hind legs being in pain but I obviously can't give her bute as she will have a lameness work up on the Monday. Will she just deal with it, is there anything I can do to make the journey easier for her? I am thinking bandages for more support although they wont do anything for the hock anyway but also my big travel boots make the legs very warm. I am also going to buy a bag of the sweeter hay to tempt her into eating and will take some water but I do doubt she will drink. Any other tips are greatly received.

Secondly I have 2k left on my insurance and unfortunately fairly shallow pockets. Is there a way to make sure they don't go to town with the bill? I will obviously be telling them what they have left to play with and truthfully I probably have 1-2k that I will spend if it = a good prognosis but I don't want to spend it on diagnostics really.

Any advice gratefully received, this is the first time I have been to AHT with a horse and whilst excited about getting some answers I am bricking it for my girl.

x

 

[Booboos]

Sorry to hear she is unwell!

I am not too sure what to suggest about travelling. I would slightly worry that bandages could get a bit tight for that long, so maybe stick to boots if that is what you normally use? 3.5 hours is not that long really, if she is a good traveller she should be fine. I wouldn't worry too much about the water either, it's not such a long period of time and if she refuses to drink I doubt it would harm her.

2k is quite a lot of money and I would hope you would have a diagnosis well before spending anything like that. I would imagine they should be able to give you an estimate for the cost of the tests they want to do, and if they then want to do more, they should call you, give you a new estimate and get your approval. This is what my vets do, but it might be worth clarifying this with them at the start and making sure they do not continue with investigations without discussing costs and options with you.

Good luck!!! From what I have heard AHT are excellent and find all sorts of things less experienced vets may not have seen before, so I am sure they will help you out!