Chronic lameness in one foot - ideas please

[R2R]

And I think it looks lame in the other three.

The vet cannot find anything - ligaments/tendons/no heat anywhere, done pincers and flexion and nothing.

It is one of my livery horses, and keeps happening. Owner calls vet, vet cant find anything wrong, supplies bute for a week, horse comes sound, owner thinks it is fixed (even though it isnt, this is the 3rd or 4th time it has happened in past 6 months)

I have advised livery to get scans and x-rays but she is novicey so thinks the but fixes it....apart from it doesnt.

Any ideas? My head says navicular, if you look at the mares feet she is really down on her heels, like her feet go down "foot first" and pottery?

Should I push my livery to get more work done or just leave it be?

 

[franki]

Definitely sounds like navicular or arthritis, you can make suggestions to owners but at the end of the day it's their decision

 

[DollyDolls]

Pls get the vet to nerve block then xray.
My comp horse went like this & now been diagnosed with tear in the DDFT. He was operated on & the bits of the tendon that had curled away were attaching themselves to the bone & without the proper diagnosis he was getting worse on a weekly basis & could have been crippled for life.

 

[criso]

Mine was a bit like that - lamemess was actually bilateral but one foot was much worse so he looked lame on one foot till you nerve blocked.

He has soft tissue damage to the back of the foot. You rested him, he improved, but then deteriorated if he worked. He did have a slightly raised digital pulse when they were playing up.

I would think nerve blocks would be the way forward to establish exactly where the problem is but if the vet keeps coming out to look at the same foot shouldn't they be suggesting further investigation.

 

[lexibell]

I really would recommend xrays/ultrasound and if still nothing - MRI

I had the exact same lameness cycle last year, vet telling me he couldnt find anything, even under xray - nothing, it continued for 4 months and it wasnt until I pushed for an MRI that we discovered he had a Keratoma. now these are very rare and Im not suggesting that your livery has one, but I just want people to learn from my mistake of letting a lameness cycle to continue because the vet kept telling me there was nothing and it must be 'soft tissue' I wish I had puched harder sooner for an answer.

Good luck getting to the bottom of it

 

[Izzwizz]

Agree with the others above. My mare had something similar going on and the only way we found out what the problem was, was when she went for MRI scan in the end and found she had a tear in her DDFT within her hoof. A full lameness work up is the only way to find out whats going on along with nerve blocks.