Getting a vets 2nd opinion

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jenz87

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My horse is currently undergoing treatment for DJD in his hocks, 5 weeks in from injections he is still lame on left hind. His x rays were very mild DJD little damage there, so he is either a massive wimp, or theres something else going on. He is giving me signs and i strongly believe something else is wrong too. I had the vet out last week about this, she agreed still lame left hind, but she wants me to work him for another 4 weeks (up to 2 months since injecting) before further treatment , which could potentially be fusing.
I dont agree with this, for many reasons, i feel awful lunging him, he is so uncomfortable, and im sure theres more to it.
So far i have claimed £900 from NFU insurance. Obviously i had the vet a week ago telling me to wait 4 weeks, so im going against this....
At the same clinic they have a different vet which is well known in our area for expert lameness advice (why i wasnt given her i dont know!), i really want to call her out for her opinion.However since current vet has told me to wait, am i going to upset the insurance company by calling a vet out a week later and a different vet at that? Also how will the clinic take to this? I dont want to cause issues, but at the same time, its making me ill obsessing over this!!

Any advice / experiences??


Thanks!
 
I have no idea about your insurance .
But for the future I never accept anyone except the vet I want to do a work up .
I just say no I want X .
I would go into the vets if it's not to far and speak to the senior partner or the practise manager .
Say you are not happy the horse is very obviously in distress when lunged and you think it's a welfare issue .

Say you are afraid that there's more wrong with him ( issues were the suspensory attaches to the hock would be my worry ) and say you want to repeat the work up with Vet X doing it .
On the lunging if you have access to another horse could he do his exercise led from another horse this would be better for his mind than trotting round on the Lunge in pain .
I personally have not seen horses with mild changes not respond well to joint jabs and I have two ATM with mild changes and neither show any sort of lameness their symptoms are very subtle .
The only way we know that we are on the right track is that the jabs produced a good result with the horse working better .
I think there's every chance you are right and something else is wrong .
 
Not answering your real question but two things come to mind, 1 have the suspensory ligaments been looked at, scanned as they are often involved when the hocks are showing changes, 2 lunging him would be the last thing I would want to do with hock issues, I would expect to be doing straightline, low impact work while he is lame/ the treatment is taking effect, so basically no more than hacking with possibly some very gentle schooling if there were time constraints, the last one I had here that had changes to his hocks would not have coped with any lunging all his rehab was done out hacking while they settled down.

I don't see an issue with asking the other vet for an opinion, if the practice is a decent one they should be able to communicate with each other, although I do think many fail to do so even with tricky cases, you should be able to get the 2nd vet to take a look at the notes/ xrays and only get them out if there is a need.
 
I'm with BP on the lunging. Is that what the vet advised?
My horse has DJD and PSD, and I've spent most of the last 3 years getting him right. He is never lunged, and I don't work him in the school regularly. We have walked and walked and walked on the roads - it's only in the last year that I've taken him off road, and only the last few months that he has started to feel like a sports horse again. I hacked out with a friend who events yesterday, and she said he looked like a different horse from the one she last saw 6 months ago when he was still in "safe" mode.
Lunging is so hard on the joints - I can't think of anything I'd want to do less of with a horse with the issues yours has
 
I would go back to the vet who is treating your horse and just be honest and say how you feel, I find it strange that if they X rayed the area that stood out after nerve blocking that they didn't scan that area as well, my horse was nerve blocked to the suspensories so they scanned first but they X rayed that area as well just to rule out anything else going on because there is no point treating one thing if there is several things going on.

And I also agree what has been said above I had a horse with djd in the stifle she never got lunged again after the diagnosis and I rarely went in the school she became a happy hacker, I never lunge the one that has had the suspensory injury either he does go in the school but no tight circles and is not in there for more than half an hour, so I would seriously question why they have told you to lunge your horse after such a diagnosis.
 
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Incase anyone is interested in an up date....
After reading this - all thoughts i was having but worried incase it was me being an obsessive owner - i thought F%^k it, and rang the vet and just asked for the other one which is what i wanted. I then emailed the new vet with his past, being VERY diplomatic, just basically saying what was recommended and id like another pair of eyes.
WELL new vet was like....ive looked at the records and TBH im not sure whats being going on, but i totally agree with you, you needed a second opinion because this was obviously not going to work....wooooaaah!
So vet booked for THURS, so ill let you all know how we get on. £900 wasted (thankfully paid on insurance), and 6 weeks of heartbreak!! Fingers crossed for a positive outcome!
 
Obviously it's a stressful situation OP, but that's really good news and you were absolutely right to request a second opinion. Hope you will let us know what happens on Thursday :)
 
Well that sounds positive .
Get Thursday out of the way and then talk about the wasted £900 .
I think you may be able to do a deal and get some of this on going treatment cheaper if you are going to get out of your insurance limit in a year it would be worth a conversation about it .
See what's what on Thursday first .
I know well the relief you feel when you know have the right vet on the job .
Fingers crossed for you both tomorrow.
 
Vets been!
He needs to go in for a few days for a full work up, as cant be sure due to teatment he ahas already had. He is MORE lame than before the injections so obviously NOT right.
Suspected PSD (suspensories), and SI and maybe not the hocks or maybe depending..... So upset 6 weeks of horrible treatments for nothing poor boy!! :(
 
jenz87 said:
Vets been!
He needs to go in for a few days for a full work up, as cant be sure due to teatment he ahas already had. He is MORE lame than before the injections so obviously NOT right.
Suspected PSD (suspensories), and SI and maybe not the hocks or maybe depending..... So upset 6 weeks of horrible treatments for nothing poor boy!! :(
Click to expand...
I know this must be really hard for you, but at least you did the right thing and challenged your vet's diagnosis. The worst thing would have been to keep following their advice. I really hope their is a good prognosis and hope you will keep us updated x
 
Good, but not good, iykwim.

Well done for pushing for the second opinion, don't feel too disheartened, you are far better finding out exactly what is going on.
 
To be honest i feel more cheery than i have for weeks! I hated being so sure there was something wrong with the situation but being told otherwise several times (to the point of about 10 emails and 2 extra visits) feeling like a raving owner who just wanted an instant fix. Now ive been told i was right to be so upset, i feel relieved someone is listening to me and hopefully going to give him whatever he needs!
I hated trying to lunge a horse (something that did not sit well with me anyway!! ) that was blatantly not liking the situation but being a total hunny and trying his best for me.

Fingers crossed next week for a positive outcome - thanks guys!!
 
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