Lymphangitis?

[clearbluewater]

About 6 months ago, my mare came out of her stable with an incredibly swollen hind leg, from above the hock to the bottom of her fetlock. Vet was vague, agreed she may have got cast and bandaged both legs, gave her and injection and a course of liquid antibiotics. To cut a long story short, most of the swelling went apart from the area around her fetlock, she has had 3 more lots of antibiotics, ultrasound therapy, magnetic boots, massaging, has been turned out 24/7 but still no consistent change in the swelling around her fetlock (hock went down) Went up there this morning and she is literally hopping lame on the same leg, fetlock swollen, heat in her leg and generally unhappy. Have lost faith in my vet to be honest and can't get a second opinion for a few days. Any suggestions or similar experiences would be much appreciated. Am wondering if lymphangitis/cellulitis but can't seem to find any concrete diagnostic or treatment recommendations.

 

[Pauli]

Hey, I am sorry to hear your horse is not well.

Has the vet checked for an abscess? Many horses react with extreme swelling along the leg when they have an abscess.

Other than that I can recommend cold and warm treatment for the leg. Especially cold hosing is very good to bring the swelling down.

And I think a second opinions is always good. Vets do not always know what is wrong. Have they x-rayed the leg?

Hope you find out soon what is wrong

 

[acw295]

My mare was treated for suspected lymphangitis for 4 weeks, the restof the leg went down but we were left with a localised swellign just above fetlock in our case. We then x-rayed and discovered she had a splint fracture and needs surgery, she has the operation next week

I'd be asking for x-rays and a scan to rule anything else out.

 

[AmyMay]

Did your vet use targeted antibiotics?

 

[clearbluewater]

Thank you so much for your replies, she had me snivelling like a child today because she is being so brave but is clearly not happy. She hasn't been x rayed or scanned so that's definitely next on the list. I kind of hope that they do find something just so that I know what I am dealing with and can then do what's best? Good luck with the op!