Bruised sole, or something more sinister

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Hexx

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Bear with me - it's a long one!

My boy came off the walker lame on 10 Feb - he is still lame!

Luckily, there was a vet on the yard when I got there and I got her to have a look. She couldn't tell me what was wrong, we did discuss whether it could be drug-induced laminitis, as he is on steroids for another conditions. She said to keep him in (which he is anyway due to the other condition) and see whether he develops any further symptoms of lami.

The farrier was on the yard too, so he had a look - couldn't find anything in the foot.

We wondered whether it was a knock-on from the arthritis flare up on his neck and affecting his shoulder? Vet had no opinion on that (to be honest, it was one of the junior vets and is quite inexperienced).

Anyway, two days later, he was still lame. Got my normal vet out, and he diagnosed a bruised sole - although he couldn't see any bruising. He did start to get better - a bit more mobile and lot less lame. He desperately needed shoeing as his hinds were cracking (had shoes taken off as not going out at the moment) and because of the navicular, he needs fronts on, so got the farrier to shoe him on 17th. BAD MOVE - he became more lame, I am absolutely kicking myself, I feel so guilty for getting him shod and set him back.

Anyway, today, he is still lame - very sore on the right fore and limping quite badly. I am starting to think that this isn't a bruised sole, but something more sinister - a fracture maybe? There is a different vet coming out on Tuesday, so I am going to get him to have a look.

He is on steroids and bute at the moment (max doses) for Inflammatory Bowel Disease and arthritis in his neck which has flared up due to massive loss of muscle in his neck. Bless him, he has been so very poorly and I nearly lost him in December, but we just seem to be taking one step forward and two steps back at the moment. I just feel quite helpless at the moment - I am following vets advice, but nothing seems to be getting better.

Does anyone have any theories on what it could be? Would a bruised sole really cause such lameness 12 days on?
 
I would not expect him to still be so obviously lame after 12 days, that the vet and farrier found no sign of the bruising would make me think something else is going on, being more lame after shoeing could be due to the angle altering, he is also on bute which should reduce the lameness whatever the cause.
I would be concerned it is laminitis, a fracture is unlikely if he was only on the walker, he has several issues which must be hard to treat without throwing laminitis into the mix, I hope you can get them all sorted out, I would be treating him as if it is laminitis, soaked hay, deep bed, any hard feed should be suitable for the IBD and laminitis, a low sugar/ starch diet but may need looking into.
 
Update... pus, pus, pus and more pus

I had the vet out today, he checked all feet and didn't get any reaction from the hoof testers but did find pulses and they were slightly warm.

He then had a look at the swellings on the neck that we thought were contracted muscle from the arthritis in his neck - very big swellings going half way down his neck (I had had a vet out on Friday to look at them, but he didn't know what it was and gave me some ointment to massage in).

Anyway, Ian decided to stick a needle into the neck to see what was there - PUS! He then decided to lance the swelling and the resulting fountain of pus proceeded to cover the wall opposite where my horse was standing - it went about 5ft and just kept coming. The vet and YO ran for it, the Head Girl was throwing up in the stable next door, two of the liveries got covered - there must have been around a gallon of it - thank God I was not there, I would have been on the floor, I do not do pus! Anyway, the YO said the relief in my boy's face was visible, he was so much better. So the vet thinks the massive infection, coupled with him being ill from the IBD has probably set up a systemic reaction, which is why he is feeling it in his feet.

Thank heavens I got the vet out - I dread to think what could have happened if the pus had gone septic - I could have lost my horse. He looks so much better, a lot brighter and more himself - I had to make myself scarce when the YO cleaned the wound while I was there.

So hopefully, he will start to pick up and get better.
 
When you started with pus I expected it to have come out of his foot, poor boy must have really been suffering with that in his neck it must have hurt every time he moved no wonder he was still lame, I am surprised he was not struggling to eat and move his neck, better out than in even if it was rather dramatic for everyone around him, he will feel so much better now.
 
We had put the neck problem down to muscular - the body's way of protecting the portion of the neck where the arthritis was the worst. Never in a million years would I have put it down to an abscess - it went all the way to the other side of the neck, so the swellings were on both sides.

You certainly live and learn with horses!
 
Wow! That is amazing, I bet the relief was instant :). I know it's wrong but I think there is nothing more satisfying that a torrent of pus....the relief is visible and you get a proper answer to what the matter is/was- it's times like this you wish they could talk! Hope it's now sorted and he feels much better... (Is it wrong to wish that there was video evidence of the draining? ;))
 
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