Lami, abscess, muscular?

[SmartieBean09]

Can anyone help this shattered horse owner?

So last Thursday after shoeing, I noticed Patsy didn't seem quite sound. I wondered if it had been because she had been standing for a while and has arthritis in her hock, so I turned her out as normal. The following day, Patsy is clear in pain and resting her near fore. She walks over to me and it is obvious she is very lame. There is no heat in her foot, more swelling anywhere but there is a distinct pulse in that leg! Farrier was unable to return and so I called the vet who came out the following day. After a night in her stable, Patsy was a lot, lot worse!!! Patsy seemed to react when her shoulder was poked and prodded and would lift her leg. Vet suggested a nerve block to determine if pain from from the foot or in the shoulder. She injected the foot and there was a very slight improvement but I wondered if this was because we had been walking her and she was stiff from initially being in. The conclusion was that we would give her Danilon and Poulitice and go from there. 3 days in and there is no sign of any puss. However Patsy is much more comfortable in walk and because of this, she has been left out until last night when she came in ready for an early Dentist appt. Being in clearly caused her to uncomfortable and she was again very lame! Farrier is coming tomorrow to look but I am so so worried this is something bigger!

Has anyone experienced similar or could help with any advice?

Thank you.

 

[IrishMilo]

Is it possible the farrier just took too much off the toe?

 

[cobgoblin]

Nailbind?

 

[SmartieBean09]

Is it possible the farrier just took too much off the toe?

My only quibble over that would be that I would assume she would be more comfortable after being in? If the farrier had removed too much toe, I would have thought that she would be sore even being turned out on fairly hard ground?

 

[SmartieBean09]

Nailbind?

I thought this but there is no heat in her foot and she didn't react at all to hoof pincers (think that's what they are called!). Shoe has been off since Friday and I guess I would have expected there to be an improvement? I may be wrong?

 

[cobgoblin]

I thought this but there is no heat in her foot and she didn't react at all to hoof pincers (think that's what they are called!). Shoe has been off since Friday and I guess I would have expected there to be an improvement? I may be wrong?

Did the vet try the pincers directly on the nails? It may not hurt unless there is weight on the foot.
Hopefully the farrier will be able to shed light on the cause tomorrow.. It's a bit of a coincidence that it happened after shoeing.
.

 

[SmartieBean09]

Did the vet try the pincers directly on the nails? It may not hurt unless there is weight on the foot.
Hopefully the farrier will be able to shed light on the cause tomorrow.. It's a bit of a coincidence that it happened after shoeing.
.

I don't think she did but im not 100%. I also suspected something was simmering before but may be totally unrelated. When I rode her on the Sunday before she was incredibly naughty (for her) and at the time I put it down to the fact that it was our first time schooling in 3 weeks (we'd only been doing some hacking around the farm since lockdown). She was sound and came in from the school sound. In fact I wondered if it was her teeth hence the Dentist visit today. She did have some sharp teeth so may have been that? After she was shod, the farrier noticed that she wasn't resting her foot and I said that she had been stamping her foot a lot the last couple of days. She doesn't have feathers but checked for mites etc anyway and nothing and so I turned her out. It was walking back to the field that I thought she looked a bit off but nothing really noticeable which is why I put it down to standing for a while (she's ever so good and literally will just stand for the Farrier.). There are a lot of "could it be" and "what's ifs", I really just don't know but im so worried! I would have expected some improvement I guess and that hasn't really been achieved and so now im feeling really low because I just cant bare to see her in pain!

 

[cobgoblin]

All you can do is eliminate the causes, which you are already doing. Until the farrier has been it's not possible to start looking elsewhere.
They are worrying, before now I've had the whole kit and caboodle of vet and farrier out at the same time, complete with sedation, only for the horse to suddenly decide he didn't need to stand on three legs any more and was completely fine. It was put down to a muscle tweak.
.

 

[SmartieBean09]

All you can do is eliminate the causes, which you are already doing. Until the farrier has been it's not possible to start looking elsewhere.
They are worrying, before now I've had the whole kit and caboodle of vet and farrier out at the same time, complete with sedation, only for the horse to suddenly decide he didn't need to stand on three legs any more and was completely fine. It was put down to a muscle tweak.
.

Thank you. I have a feeling we may be travelling along the same route!! Aren't horses frustrating sometimes!!!

The update is:

Farrier arrived, tested foot all over with pincers and no reaction. Her foot however does show to have some bruising which has gradually come out. He was worried that worst case we have a suspected fractured pedal bone on our hands and best case, just bad bruising.

Vet came today again tested all areas of her leg and hoof and nothing. She was notably better on the level ground but still lame on the uneven on stoney ground but this was to be expected as she has had her shoe removed. We decided to X ray to rule out Laminitis or anything bone related and all absolutely fine - phew!!! So Vet certain it is a foot problem. She is slightly pigeon toed and he would like to see her shod to support that. So action plan is that she is box rested for the week. If better then we can shoe accordingly but if not then an MRI may be required to investigate some sort of sort tissue damage.

Please keep everything crossed that she is sound over the next week. Im not sure im mentally able to cope with much more worry. We have other things going on at the moment and my head is pounding from the worry and stress...although there is definite relief from the the X rays and i'm hoping for a better nights sleep tonight.

 

[PSD]

Glad the x rays are clear, there is nothing worse than laminitis. Fingers crossed a good bout of box rest will help!

 

[ycbm]

Deleted

 

[SmartieBean09]

Glad the x rays are clear, there is nothing worse than laminitis. Fingers crossed a good bout of box rest will help!

Thank you. I hope so too.

 

[SmartieBean09]

Another update as we are now almost 7 weeks in and I guess I’m kind of looking for advice/experience? (I’m waiting on Vet to call)

So Patsy is lots better! She is a little short, especially on the turn but today she was shod and wasn’t crippled after! We did however discover bruising at the white line. Obviously X rays were clear but I’m guessing we can’t now rule out low grade laminitis?

Im going to attempt to attach a photo and hope those with experience in this area can offer advice? Thank you