Bit worried about MoM - thoughts?

[Chico Mio]

Well this morning the Devil's Claw had obviously worn off and she was standing holding her leg up again and trembling. Now I'm pretty sure that when the vet saw her yesterday she was under the influence so was happier to bear weight on the leg, which has probably clouded things a bit. The wound itself is fine and I don't think that is the main problem.

There really is no obvious swelling or bruising around the elbow/shoulder but she is very tender if you touch her around the joint, flinching and twiching and actually grunts if she has to put weight on the leg. I reckon she has moved about 3ms since we found her and she really struggles.

She has had the bute the vet left this morning but it seems to have had less effect than the DC. She is having arnica tablets and we have massaged some cooling gel onto her lower shoulder/elbow, which she seemed to appreciate. We think she has fallen pretty hard on her shoulder, or fallen and panicked in the tree and pulled something.

Obviously we will call the vet again if there is no improvement over the next 24 hrs, but has anybody had experience of a shoulder/elbow injury and if so how long was it before you saw an improvement? Any suggestions for care appreciated.

She is eating like the proverbial horse (just usual hay and a bit of beet pulp for her meds).

Thankies.

 

[Thistle]

If it seems to have become more painful and the horse is distressed I would be getting the vet back out. Has the vet taken any xrays? Sometimes fracture can displace a day or two after injury and suddenly become painful.

 

[Fairynuff]

Had the same thing with Timmy who had been bitten on the shoulder 10 days before the 'pain etc' set in. He had an ultra scan done as all was pointing to a fracture but...........it was an abscess which was forming. A huge sigh of relief, a scalpel, anti Bees, much poking packing and cursing and Timmy is as right as rain again

I hope you get to the bottom of it soon. Its awful when you dont 'know' whats wrong. Fingers crossed, M.

 

[Chico Mio]

Yes, we will definitely be getting the vet out again, unfortunately he is not available to visit until tomorrow so we are just trying to make her as comfortable as possible for today.

 

[brighteyes]

I'm thinking infection as my horse got kicked and tho he was sore on the first day, he was mightily more so the following few! It was infection and bruising and all that carry on. I'm thinking the DC wasn't as effective as you think/it appeared and today, the full stiffness and any nastiness brewing is making its presence felt. I don't think I could survive in a country where veterinary attention was so unreliable and scarce.

Hope she's feeling better soon.

 

[martlin]

QR
My famous untransportable horse was found one day in the field on 3 legs, wouldn't bear any weight on her right fore and I was convinced that she has shattered shoulder or something fairly drastic, I thought I would have to PTS immediately.
My usual vet was on holiday, as I'm not very trusting of others, so I decided to have video conference with my vet back at home (in Poland). He had a look and a listen (over 2000 miles) and told me quite interesting things... To give plenty, and I mean plenty of bute or even DC and HEAT the offending shoulder. He said that it's very common for minor muscle tweaks in that area to appear deadly. 5 days later she was sound as a pound.
Just thought I will cheer you up a bit with that story.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

We had a Section A who fell over a bucket and pulled a muscle in her shoulder. She was extremely lame and vet said 3 weeks box rest. She got so bored that she was standing on the top of the bottom door before the end. She made a full recovery.

 

[Chico Mio]

Thank you all very much! She is still hobbling today and the vet has given us more Equipalazone. He says nothing broken and that rest, bute/DC, arnica and TLC should see her right in the end. She is a cantankerous old thing but she's part of the family and we want her well again.

martlin - interesting about the heat thing, She's on pretty huge doses of devil's claw and I will give her the bute tomorrow.