Advice please

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Dewstow Red Star

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I have a quarter horse who 4 weeks ago showed signs of stiffness on his left rein. I called the physio. 2 days later it was obvious he was in some pain so I called the vet and they gave him some anti inflammatories. In addition to this he is muscle twitching in his shoulder and a sweat patch appeared if he was left grazing in his field. He appeared to be more uncomfortable with his head down than eating from a hay net.
The vet returned and advised a bone scan. This has shown no damage so the vet believes it is muscular or tissue damage. It has been 5 weeks and is on restricted grazing but the symptoms are not getting any better. My farrier saw him this week and said he is placing all his weight on one side which is affecting his hoofs, so need to find a solution otherwise this will cause further complications for him.
Has anyone seen this before?
 
As the bone scan showed nothing and your vet seems to be unable to offer any real advice or suggest further treatment I would either get a second opinion from a vet or get in a good physio, probably my preference at this stage, who will be able to be more hands on and should get to the root cause, will be able to treat if it is muscular, most will have several options of how best to help him recover.
It is fairly significant if his feet are showing signs of it already, there may be some nerve damage, the sweating is a sign of this, he may be better moving about more but you really need a proper diagnosis and treatment plan before it becomes even more complicated to treat.
 
Have you ruled out PolySaccaride Storage Myopathy (PSSM)? Its a genetic disorder most commonly found in Quarter Horses - although it does occur in other breeds. It was the muscle twitching and patchy sweating which made me think of it - but the other symptoms could fit too. Might be worth a blood test?
 
Does he have Impressive in his pedigree? Quarter Horses from that line can have HYPP which causes muscle twitching and sweating. You can test for HYPP and PSSM by sending a hair sample to Animal Genetics.
Other reasons teeth problems can change a horses balance since hes a young horse might be worth looking into that. I have a five year old who is leg twitching (but not her shoulders) and her feet are very unbalanced her right fore being worse. She has had many teeth problems and her right teeth are the worse side at moment.
 
Silverfire said:
Does he have Impressive in his pedigree? Quarter Horses from that line can have HYPP which causes muscle twitching and sweating. You can test for HYPP and PSSM by sending a hair sample to Animal Genetics.
Other reasons - teeth problems can change a horses balance so might be worth looking into that. I have a five year old who is leg twitching (but not her shoulders) and her feet are very unbalanced her right fore being worse. She has had many teeth problems and her right teeth are the worst side at moment.
Click to expand...

Link to some info on teeth and the horses equilibrum http://www.doctorhorse.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=7&lang=en
 
Hi, no link to Impressive. Maybe I should have a genetics test for PSSM and HYPP just to rule it out. I will see what the physio says on Monday and keep you posted, thank u all for the info
 
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