decision on hock surgery

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cellie

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Thanks for all your replies on my post about hock fusion.
I have finally made a decision and booked my horse in on wednesday for surgery to fuse his hock.He is too young at 6 to retire and being a tb I really dont think he would be happy as a companion or just retirement.The vet felt that surgery was the best option as his xrays showed alot of arthritis in the joint and there was no guarantee that injections would work for him.
At least this way I feel I have given him the best chance and he should be pain free 8 weeks down the line from surgery.
Why am I feeling so guilty and nervous.
Box rest is going to be a complete nightmare.Hes been in before with ligament and tendon but is so much better with restricted turnout unfortunately not a option with the surgery.Does anyone know how long the wound takes to heal and how long before complete fusion takes place.The vet said 4 weeks boxrest and 4 weeks restricted turnout.
 
Good luck with the surgery, no experience of that I'm afraid though.
Can understand why you feel guilty - have been wondering what I would do if vet recommended an operation with my 6yo when he goes in for lameness workup in a couple of weeks (yup am feeling a bit negative!). As you can't explain to a horse that the pain etc of an operation is to make them better in the future ...

At least you have a diagnosis and a positive way forward, hopefully he will be better by for the summer and you can start to enjoy him.
 
Sorry im going off track here But have you read the back of the horse and hound ? Its Jamie Grays daughters horse they are talking about and the man with the jcb is David nash from hyde heath ,Its suppose to be a fun piece ?Whats going on ? Pednors down the road from Spindle farm !?
 
Thanks Butterbean ,I sent you a pm to see how much progress you had made with your horse.Sounds like you are still waiting.Hope all goes well with the vet.
 
Cellie, never got the PM, hope you didn't think I was ignoring you.

Marco has had lots of x rays and they managed to nerve block him a bit without him injuring anyone (he does NOT cooperate with vets) but they are no nearer finding what is wrong and have even said they now don't think he had spavin in the first place, so goodness knows what has been wrong with him the last couple of years if not the spavin problem.
Also he is in pain but not allowed to have bute or anything, in fact been told to increase his work so that any problems more likely to show up when he has a gamma scan in couple of weeks.

And my other horse is no better at all, in fact a bit worse, he is going in for a full work up in couple of weeks.

sorry for hijacking post with my moans!
 
So sorry to hear your news ,dont worry about the moaning its better to share and get it off your chest .Problem shared is a problem halved .Let me know how you get on after his work up.Sounds a real mystery have you asked for a second opinion maybe your vets missing something that another could pick up they all specialise in different things.Its weird about the pm because another one I sent didnt seem to go through either must be doing something wrong!!!!!!!!speak soon
 
my 7yr old had surgery (december 2006). he was on box rest for 4 weeks - but could come out for mucking-out etc - and then we started walking in hand up to 30 mins for 4 weeks and then he went out in a pen for 4 weeks and so on.

Aran dictated how we delt with recovery - he could have been turned out faster but he wasnt bothered with box rest so we rested him more.

the wound heals very fast as it is tiny. he came home in a large soft bandage. after a week it was changed for a small covering over the incision and an anti-pressure bandage. that was on for a week - he then removed it as it was rubbing (caused him more discomfort than the surgery - he hated it!). he was stable bandaged all through his box rest and we had no trouble with leg filling etc.

He was on ad lib hay, fibre nuts in a snack-a-ball and three feed of happy hoof and a tiny hand-full of herbal quite mix with carrots. he had a deep straw bed.

it takes an average of 10 months to fuse. I gave aran a year off. He was turned away over the summer and I started hacking after his year check up. Most can be ridden 2-3 months post-surgery - depends on how the horse reacts etc.

good luck with it all
 
Thanks thats really helpfull.I was told gentle walking out after 2 months but we will see how it goes Ollie is better if he is excercised much more relaxed .He will eat the rest of the day if he is taken out but left to unrestricted turnout will charge round his field.I thought the fusion was alot quicker with the surgery 10 months seems along time I suppose you have xrays to check up and every horse is different.Ill do whatever it takes thanks for the feedback.
 
Any one give any up dates on how their horses got on, mine had the surgery in the summer was told would be back to work in a couple of month brought slowley back into work, horse got out did lots of galloping and went hopping lame. Horse has know been turned away for 6 months and is going to be brought into work in a couple of months is their hope !! he just looks a bit stiff like a peg leg some times !
 
My 5 yr old TB had lameness workout on Monday and was given hock injections. Good luck with your 6 yr old's op. I feel for you. Vet said hock problems are very common in young thoroughbreds
 
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