Joint Infection?

[Skhosu]

What is the prognosisi?
Horse has had infected leg for 3 weeks, moved vets, new ones say its probably joint infection (doing tests)
Whats the likely prognosis?

 

[Lucy_Ally]

Infections in joints always have a gaurded prognosis. Infection will ultimately lead to cartilage damage which in turn will result in osteoarthritis further down the line. Its also difficult to completely clear the infection as joints are avascular (no blood supply) so its difficult for the body's immune system to fight the infection plus intravenous antibiotics are largely ineffective. You can have antibiotic beads put into the joint and have the joint scraped to mechanically remove the infection but this has to be done under a GA.
Prognosis also depends on which joint is effected, something like the fetlock which is a higher motion joint will have a worse prognosis than say the tarso/metatarsal (lower hock joint) which is low motion and can be fully fused without any detriment to the horse.

Fingers crossed its not a joint infetion

I am sure your vet will do everything possible and its not all doom and gloom as some horses recover completely.

Good luck.

 

[Skhosu]

Not my horse happily, but a friends. Original vet is not popular (same one who turned round with a 1K bill) and new ones much better (incidently, also my vets)
that's what I thought, fingers crossed eh

 

[henryhorn]

We have had a couple with it in the past, and it's very difficult to deal with.
Foals had to have the joint washed out and huge doses of antibiotics, the big mare we had was recommended to go to Bristol but the cost would have been over 2k.
I asked our vet to have a go himself and as an experiment and for purely the cost of the drugs involved (he's great my vet) he did. We then turned her away for a long time and after 18 months she came totally sound and passed a vetting when sold.
The joints are hard places for the drugs to reach and you need the special ones which cost a bomb..One horse had a port in it's neck to allow me to administer them several times a day.
Fingers' crossed they can flush it out and then treat with different antibiotics, but do bear in mind my views are a laymans, I'm not a vet!

 

[Elmere]

I think it all depends on how quickly you treat it, i made the mistake of not visiting my pony who was turned out in the field, i'd bought her that spring as a broodmare and i'd put her in-foal to my stally and it was about September, one of my friends had drove past the day after a couple of times and she hadn't moved from the same spot so she went to check her and she had a huge gash on her back leg at the front of her hock, they got her in and rang my mum up as we were at a show with the others and we'd won so they only told me when we got back to the yard, the vet eventually came and diagnosed her as having a lacerated ligament and probably infection as she could hardly walk, she had gone through the wire fencing in escape from the other horses most probably as she was the furthest down the pecking order, she was transported to the vets straight away and we left her there, anyway she was there a week, she had infection in the hock and they were flushing it out and everything, there was another horse there with the same kind of injury, the owners had tried to treat it thereselves but they hadn't suceeded, that horse was put down whilst we had our pony there, the difference was that mine was a highland pony and very docile but the one put down was a tb type and was hard to work with, anyway she recovered with a huge vets bill and has won a few champs this year and is currently still out with her gorgeous filly foal and very much in charge, good luck with yours

Also another thing for all those that despise barbed wire fencing, the vet said that if it had of been barbed wire then the cut wouldn't had run so deep

 

[GTs]

I am slightly confused - infected joints produce a very lame horse - they are quite easy to diagnose. The always flushed them out under GA.