hind suspensory ligament and possible navicular in front

Kadastorm

Kadastorm

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 February 2011
Messages
2,048
Visit site
Hey guys,
My poor little guy has damaged his hind suspensory ligament in both hind. The vet said there are two main treatments which she will talk to me about today but probably rest and shockwave therapy, does anyone have any experience of this and the prognosis?
He also is being xrayed this morning for navicular and she mentioned about foot balance issues and remedial shoeing, however I am kind of all over the place at the minute and didnt quite take it all in and should understand more after talking to her today.
I have no experience of either so am trying to read up on it but could you tell me your experiences?
Also any tips for keeping a cheeky pony entertained while on box rest? He is going to be going insane being kept in 24/7, I dont know whether he will ever come back into work but I just want to get him sound enough to be a companion so he can live out the rest of his life happily. He is only 6 so has many more years left.

I have a slightly sore head this morning as my friends fed me lots of wine while I was balling my eyes out. It worked at cheering me up but I regret it now!

Many thanks in advance!
 
I can't really give you any advice as I am currently going through the same thing. My mare has an acute tear in one hind suspensory and an inflamed suspensory on the other hind, and she has mild navicular changes and a slightly dodgy angle of the pedal bone in one of her forelegs so we have pretty much the same issues as your boy. My girl has almost done 4 weeks box rest (of a minimum of 6 so at least 2 to go yet) and we've only managed it with the help of a lot of sedation and a long acting behaviour modifying drug......she doesn't cope with box rest at all! She has had PIP injections (similar to IRAP) into both hind suspensories as well as having joint medication into her coffin joint up front, we have also been recommended some remedial shoeing.

I will let you know what the vets say about my girlie when they re assess in two weeks. Would be interested to hear how the shock wave treatment works for your boy also in case I need to consider this route for my girl.

Hope all goes well!
 
Mine was diagnosed with PSD in all 4 legs, reverse angle pedal bones in hinds and possible soft tissue damage in feet. Typically showing symptoms of heel pain in shoes now barefoot in front and has stayed sound.

Do some research on remedial shoeing. Good luck it's awful when they first get diagnosed.
 
Mine was diagnosed with navicular, hind limb PSLD, bilateral spavin and arthritis of the fetlock in October 2011. I went down the barefoot route. It's not all been plain sailing but I don't regret a minute of it and feel that it is the better route than remedial shoeing.
 
Thankyou for your replies. Pumba is home now, it was confirmed today that he has navicular and the vet has spoken to my farrier who will be doing some remedial shoeing. He also had shockwave therapy today for his hind limb lameness, unfortunately though i may not be able to take him back for the two other treatments as it is a fair trek to go and i dont have the money or transport to get there and back. He is now on rest and and has an exercise programme currently walking for 10minutes per day, im doing this inhand. He needs to go back in 8weeks for reassessment and scanning and then we will find out how likely it is that he will come back into work. I already know that he will never be able to do what he was doing and really, i would just be happy if he was field sound and able to live out his days in a paddock as a pet (as much as people keep telling me i shouldnt do that, waste of money etc).

His pedal bone also sits parallel to his (thin) sole, so remedial shoeing may help, i will speak to my farrier soon to find out when he is coming and hopefully he can explain a bit more to me.

Mizz- it certainly sounds like our horses have identical issues. Luckily, so far, Pumba is settled in his stable and i have added toys to amuse him - he loves to play. Hopefully he will be ok, im also going to make small stable sized paddocks so that he may be able to go out in them during the day while i am at the yard and go back in his stable at night.

Good luck with treatment, it would be good to compare stories and treatments.
 
Pumba - what a lovely name, there was a pony at one of my previous livery yards called that, suited him to a T, I always had a soft spot for him! :-)

Will definitely keep you updated with my girlie's progress and would appreciate if you would do the same......compare notes as it were, then at least we can both be aware of any other avenues to explore that we may otherwise not have considered.

Apologies, I can't quote on here but someone mentioned spa treatments for this sort of thing.....have you had success with that and, if so, can I ask what type of spa (cold/warm/freshwater/saltwater etc)? There is a very good equine spa nearby, don't think my girlie would take to it but if there's proven success in other similar cases it might be worth a go!
 
Shockwave machines are portable so try and get the vet to come outand do it as one treatment unlikely to have much effect. My old horse had psd in a hindleg and was sound by 3rd shockwave. Current horse has flat pedal bones and coffin joint pain - currently being treated with remedial shoeing.
 
One shockwave is unlikely to help much, you need two as a minimum. Re the navicular, the remedial shoeing may or may not help, it didn't for either of mine but I would always try it, mine has just had his shoes off to see if that will help.
 
Hey all, day 3 of box rest and its going ok so far. he had a little leap and grunt on his 10minute walk but settled again. Yesterday he was really chilled, today a bit more stressed but i hung a swede in the stable and he loved it! He had never seen one before and spent ages playing with it. I also gave him a bouncy football which he loves and im finding different things for him to do each day.

I messaged my farrier and still waiting for a reply, im also trying to get in touch with a hire company for transport before booking his next two shockwave therapy treatments. The equine hosp is an hour from where he is kept and i dont have anyone to transport me this time.

Question: The equine hosp sent off the claim forms to my insurance company, ive paid my excess and his livery costs in full to the vets and im now waiting to hear if they will pay (petplan). Today i received a Remittance Advice form in the post from the vets about payment, is this just protocol that they send it out? Sorry, ive never had to deal with insurance and vet bills on this scale before so i probably sound like a right numpty!
 
Yes it's protocol for them to send it out to you even though it's going through the insurance. In my experience Petplan are great, I've had my horses insured with them for 15 years and they've always paid out promptly *touch wood*
 
Hi I went through the same problems in sept last year. I can't recommend prp highly enough. My horse had fascioctomy and nueoroctomy. He had gel pads in front as he had inflammation in coffin. He is 100% sound although I don't own him any more. Currently doing box rest with new horse and leg injury managed 6 days of riding and now have another invalid . Horses hey
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top