flexor tendon injury - treatment & recovery

[chestnutdiva]

My 18-year-old mare on loan has just been diagnosed with this, just when she was starting to do really, really well at dressage. She is not lame as such and the vet has recommended a walk and trot, straight-lines-only regime for the next six weeks, along with bute and Cartrophen injections plus twice-daily cold packs. I am very distressed and the vet was rather vague about prognosis. Can anyone share their experiences with Cartrophen? Or with recovery from tendon injuries in general? The injections are expensive but I decided to give it a go as I want her to have the best chance of recovering. She was semi-retired when I took her on (not because of health but because the owner was unable to ride) and not too happy in that condition as she craves human interaction and has tons of energy. We brought her back into work very gradually over the last few months, taking every precaution, supportive boots, proper warm-up and cooling off, etc. so it is all rather a shock.

 

[mja]

No I have no experience of this but I wanted to say how sorry I am to hear that having had shocking news lately myself but dont give up despite the bleak prognosis and keep fighting cos now (touch wood it continues) my horse is sound again and I am glad I didnt retire her xx

 

[stormybracken]

My horse has finally been diagnosed with DDFT damage by MRI after a year of intermittant lameness which included nerve blocks, cartrophen injections, x-rays (endless x-rays), remedial farriery...his veterinary prognosis is "poor", and after months of research I have sent him to rockley farm in exmoor as his recovery is well beyond my abilities! There is plenty of information on their website about these injuries.
Good Luck, I hope you are able to find a successful solution.

 

[ilovecobs]

6 months ago my mare put no weight on her leg for 6 days, you couldn't see the difference from her knee to her leg if that makes scene, she was in a bit of a mess and we had the ultrasound scan and Yep it was her tendon, all stretched out and you could see very clearly so on the scan, however there where no actual tears (to my relief) Now we are doing dressage tests, lessons, showing (well from the end of this month onwards) I was very negative having read some things on the internet but shes recovering amazingly, we are only doing preliminary dressage but learning a higher level in my lessons with a lot of lateral work and movements that can be strenuous on her legs but shes doing great! Its just a case of time and managing it correctly. I hope shes better soon! And you say you took al precautions ect, it would be your fault as all my mare did was spook and slide (not badly) but it had just been enough for it to stretch badly. I was ringing my vet constantly asking for advice and things as he was very vague also but im glad I did as i got lots more info and he gave me a planned out exercise plan when bringing her back to work that i wouldn't have gotten without asking, asking, asking lol.

good luck