keratoma (also in vets)

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lexibell

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Hi All

My boy has been intermittently lame for some time now and went in for a MRI today. they found a keratoma, and want to operate in the morning, I dont really have much of a choice as vet cant offer any other treatments and he says it WILL get worse. he is giving a good prognosis as weve caught it early (obviously soo long as surgery goes without a hitch)

Obviously Im worried out of my little mind, but also trying to be positive because we've finally got to the bottom of the lameness and it is possible to fix

So I was wondering if anyone has experienced Keratomas? and how did your stories end?? happily ever after I hope ??
 
A friend of mine has a mare with a keratoma. She was diagnosed after being mildly intermittently lame. There is very little information available on how long these tumours take to grow and if removed do they regrow.

The only option offered for my friends horse was surgery, but due to the location within foot (quite deep) it would have been very invasive, painful, very long recovery and still not gaurenteed. As the mare isn't good in a stable she has been retired until she is in too much discomfort and will then be PTS.

However if your horses keratoma is better positioned within the foot then surgery might be far more viable.
 
had our stallions keratoma removed almost 14 months ago was very deep seated and he only has small feet (welsh b) but he has made a full and uneventful recovery took a lot of work packing and dressing daily then keratex paste but hoof has regrown now and you would struggle to tell where it had been removed from hope all goes well good luck
 
One of our horses had a massive Keratoma removed by sugery over 18 mths ago. It was removed via the sole and he is now in full work and fully recovered. The vets (including the specialist from Bristol called Olie) said it was one of the largest they had ever seen. The horse coped brilliantly with it all and did not seem in pain at all. The bill was in excess of £1800 though!
 
My horse had a very large keratoma removed last October at Rossdales after several months of very mild undiagnosed lameness. After MRI and all of the usual lameness workups and tests this lesion was the only thing that could be found that could have contributed to his lameness. The keratoma itself was particularly large and unusual in that it was both inside and also wrapped around the pedal bone, spreading from his coronet to his sole. So basically it had grown to the point where it had encompassed the majority of his near fore.

He had surgery under general anaesthetic and was hospitalised for almost 3 weeks, having daily bandage changes and packing of the operation site. Andy Bathe who operated on him was very pleased with his progress and he was discharged for us to continue his bandage changes and to box rest him until further notice. His operation took place on the sole of his foot although i think they can also operate and remove keratomas from the hoof wall and the heel depending on where the mass is. He wore a hospital plate which was bolted on to protect him and guard against infection.

Sadly in December '08 we called our own vet out as we were concerned about his progress as he was starting to develop proud flesh and in January had gone very lame. We rushed him down to Rossdales where they performed a similar proceedure to the original operation standing under local anaesthetic to remove the excess flesh and flush out the pedal bone. I was able to watch this and found it both to be fascinating but rather worrying at the same time. He was hospitalised at Rossdales for a further 5 weeks as sadly infection set in and he was an extremely poorly boy. After a lot of hard work and dedication from the team down there we finally got him home on February 13th and on March 13th he was discharged and i was instructed to bring him back into very light work despite him being ever so slightly lame still. I gave him a good few months of just being a horse again, pottering around in his field and I'm pleased to report that just over a year later i now have a very fit healthy sound horse and at only 12 years old im pleased i took the risk and had him operated on. There were a few times when we all questioned whether we had done the right thing and at one point we were facing a decision as to whether we should call it a day but i'm so pleased it has all worked out. I think you've got to realise that if your horse does go down the operation route that it does take a long time for recovery. Only now am i contemplating bringing my horse into any form of competition work again. Good luck for today and let us know how you get on!!
 
Thanks all for your messages, we went for the surgery option. whilst I know we have a long road ahead, thanks to your messages and the excellent team at Rossdales in Newmarket, I think I made the right choice and hopefully he will have a long and sucessful career in front of him
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