Lameness - am worrying myself crazy - any thoughts?? ( vv long)

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lexibell

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Horse has been intermittently lame since early september and dispite 4 vets visits and a stay at newmarket I dont feel like I know whats happening and am worrying myself crazy!

I just want some thoughts on this situation -

he went lame on Burgley weekend, very slightly, and we found 'gunk' in his hoof so politiced and box rested vet was out on yerd 2 days later anyway so asked him to have a look, said he thought there was infection in one of his clefs and gave us anti-biotic paste to pack in. which we did, he was back to normal by the end of the week, gave him another week off just to be sure, rode lightly in school 2/3 times all ok, then went again I went to get him in and hes lame again, but more serverely this time, so called vet again, as no signs of infection were left. vet said he though infection has gone deeper, suggested box rest and scrubbing out with iodine and purple spray twice daily, and more anti-biotic paste. came back one week later to check progress, much much improved, so vet said carry on with iodine and purple spray, maybe work it into our routine long term as he seems to have quite soft and thin heels, and start turning out onto restricted grazing. we was fine in his little paddock for about 10 days, I went in to get him one night and he was soo lame he couldnt even put his foot down. called vet out again, he pared back feet to search for an absess - nothing, did nerve blocks, but they didnt quite work, so he referred him to Newmarket. they xrayed and found nothing, they nerve blocked and isolated the problem was in his hoof, they did the radiography thing (dont know the proper name) - still nothing! they said the whole time he was with them he was improving so discharged him and put it down to soft tissue injury. they suggested box rest and to get my normal vet back out next week to check progress. they said he would need to go back for an MRI if no improvement or gets worse, soo far he seems like he hasnt improved much (on where he was when discharged, he is better than the last serious bout) hes no worse. they said to me they could rule out navicular and ringbone, side bone etc. from all the tests

my worries are coming from the fact that, believe it or not i have owned horses for 14 years and never had one go lame, so this is all kind of new and worrying, he isnt improving, and on doing more research i have found out you cant definitively diagonose navicular without an MRI, and on reading more about it, he has all the symptoms, so now Im freaking out. I am a massive worrier when it comes to my horse and I dont know if im worrying unneccessarily, all my horsey friends and family have either pulled a face or said something like ' oh thats not good' or ' surprised hes not improving' which doesnt help!!

I hate this not knowing, and soft tissue is abotu a vague as possible, I cant really get to grips with what that means

I have called my vet to talk to him, but hes on call at the moment and im getting myself in a tizz, should I be soo worried or do I just need a good slap and to calm down.

well done for getting this far, now some of your clever thoughts and advice would be appreciated
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I'm really sorry to hear this I know how frustrating unexplained lameness is. I would want to know the exact outcome of the nerve blocks to be honest. My gelding was intermittently lame and getting worse, he was nerve blocked and turns out he has arthritis ( he's only 8).
Now my vet also said if the nerve blocks were inconclusive they would get him MRI'd straight away, so I'm not sure why it's not being done right away as an MRI would show up soft tissue damage
All I can advise is to push the vet as much as possible and try and get some answers.
Good Luck
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??? I did wonder at the time but the hospital felt it was necessary ?? I guess I was hoping he would come home and get better, but he isnt, I guess the other thing I should have said was that the vets both agree the the original 'gunk' was a red herring and not the direct cause of the lameness

PS. For the record I would also like to add that the guys at Newmarket were absolutley great and I couldnt fault them, Im not questioning them or sayign they havent done a good job I know they have done there absolutle best by my boy, Im just worried he not getting better like I'd hoped
 
Just to add as well I was convinced mine had navicular, I think it's every horse owners nightmare! However I think I'm correct in saying that navicular changes are detected on an x-ray, not an MRI, as it's the navicular bone.
 
Something like colateral ligament damage would only show up on an MRI, & this is commonly mistaken for navicular. Think you should push the vet to MRI asap, good luck
 
missled - I think you are correct, navicular would show up on an xray, not an MRI scan. My horse has recently been lame and checks for navicular, ringbone, arthritis etc were done by xraying him and looking for changes in the navicular bone and the channels that run through it.

lexibell - try not to worry, I know how stressful this must be for you but I would push for more nerve blocks and an MRI then at least you can try and determine the location and possibility of any soft tissue dam.
 
I've been in a similar situation, except he had one foot first and as soon as that one was better the other started. It's impossible to tell if it's just an unlucky coincidence or linked. Like you, nerve blocks identified foot, x-rays showed nothing.

Vet assumed it was bruising and prescribed gentle hacking. 2 months later still not right so had steroids injected into coffin joint and a course of cartrophen and 2 months field rest (my vet likes to avoid box rest unless it's absolutely necessary) He also has rasied heels on his shoes.

He's just coming back into work now and although he's a lot better I'm not convinced he's 100% but he's going back to the vet for a work up on Weds so will know then. It took a good 5-6 weeks of field rest before he showed any improvement.

Vet has said he could have an MRI but would have to go Newmarket (5 hour trip one way) and all it would do is identify the exact problem, he's already had all the treatment that is available, so I don't really see the point of all that upset and upheaval if we're not going to get anything more out of it, the moenyisn't an issues as insurance have already said they'd pay for it if I want to do it.
 
Navicular does not show up on xrays. It's a misleading and now outdated term, but usually what's described as "navicular" is deep digital flexor tendonitis, and that will not show up on an xray until it is so advanced that the tendon has damaged the navicular bone. You need an MRI scan to diagnose DDFT.
 
Might be an idea to keep his central sulcus really clean - use gauze dippied in diluted povidone and use it like jumbo dental floss.

Low grade infections or irritation here is like a splinter under your fingernail - can flare up and down and give momentary, intermittent lameness.

Just an idea - may not be this - but give it a go and see if it helps. The frog is a complex piece of kit and very sensitive.
 
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