MRI Scan.. It just seems to get worse

BigGinger

BigGinger

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My horse went for an MRI yesterday after coming up lame on his left/right front legs about 4 weeks ago (we couldnt decide which leg or if it was both as it seemed to swap) He went to my vets for nerve blocks and X-rays 2 weeks ago and found abnormalities to his p1,p2 & p3 bones. (They were in a curve instead of a straight line. His pedal bones have also started to collapse on the inside and was told there was a 95% of ligament/tendon damage. Was advised to remedial shoe and box rest which I was against as he's currently barefoot so was going to try Imprints until yesterday...

The MRI has shown a fracture to the wing of the inside of the pedal bone on the right fore, mild arthritus in both coffin joints, irregularities to the navicular and the ligament across the coffin bone are inflamed. These are all secondry to the fracture at present as this is what we need to deal with first.

I'm faced with months of box rest with a horse thats prone to ulcers, he's been in 4 weeks and deterioting pretty quick has already started rearing and bucking in his stable and digging his bed in frustration and this is on 4 units of Sedalin a day with 2 walks a day and now he has to be on complete box rest.

Has any one any support or advice to get us through this? or any alternative treatment? I've been told he now needs bar shoes and I don't have much of a choice... Obviously I want to do best by him and get him through this and give him a chance atleast
 
Have you had a chat to the barefoot specialist people at rocklebry (sorry for bad spelling but it's something like that!)

and/or a second opinion from another vets maybe on of the big vet schools to see if there is anything alternative/ more moden that they could suggests given the scan results.

Tough time for you.
 
Could he be put in a small turn out pen part of the day ?
Can you arrange for a busy schedule of grooming, having an equiassage , etc to fill up his days this is what we do with horses on box rest.
Lots of different types of forages helps , try halleys hay bloks ( can buy on line they deliver straight to you ) they do all sorts of bloks try different sorts to keep his interest.
I am a BFer as well but in these circumstances you have no choice shoes are going to necessary so my biggest piece of is your remedial shoes are only as good as the farrier who puts them on if your horse where mine I would driving him four hours to someone I know is an expert in this field.
Do your research well and choose the best farrier you can get to even if it means a days drive every five or six weeks.
 
I'm so sorry for you & your horse - box rest, especially with a stressed up unhappy horse is hell (I've been there too much lately). MRI scans are brilliant in showing what all the problems really are - but once the verdict is there it's there - :(in other words as a responsible caring owner you have to face the possibility that they may not get better. Didn't mean to upset you when you have so much to cope with, but its the "better one day too early than one hour too late" scenario.:( I had to do this last June & it's still tearing my heart out. Pony was only 10, apparently a picture of health who had jumped clear round Rockbourne 3 months earlier, yet with a crumbling navicular bone & DDFT. 3 months box rest, then MRI, then long talk with sensible instructor and a quick stressfree end at home courtesy of local hunt. I couldn't have put him through anymore when the prognosis was so poor. Hope it doesn't come to this & thinking about you & your boy lots xx
 
How horrible for you both :( What about a really small area for turnout, I have used site fencing in the past, for escape artists.

Apart from that just fill his stable with things to amuse him - gorse, swede, hanging carrots.
 
Don't really have any suggestions other than what people have suggested above but didn't want to read and run. I had a horse who we put in small moveable fenced off bit of field rather than box rest as he was generally having a fairly horrid time having spent 2 months at the vets. Worked for him but every situation is going up be different. Good luck.
 
I often wonder how racehorses manage on box rest, i mean a TB that went on box rest racing fit, fed baileys racehorse mix and continues to get baileys racehorse mix, haylage at the start and end of the day and stabled right next to the AW gallops, yet they manage for months.
 
The longest I have had a horse on box rest was nine months he managed just fine for most of it he was confined in a eight by twelve stable .he was very very fit when injured he was difficult the first fortnight we withdrew his pain relief that kept him still then when his mind settled we could give him his drugs without problems then he gradually realised this was his life now .
I work hard on getting my horses good in the stable its a priority for me ,It may save their lives I have a system for doing it that works for me.
 
Sedative wise we've found valarian to be very good at calming everything down. I would also second getting in touch with Rockley - the worst they will do is say they can't help.
 
Thank you for all your responses. i did get into contact with Nic Barker but unfortunately after one reply she never got back to me again after asking if i'd discussed why i took his shoes off in the first place. i do realise at this point that shoes are almost a certainty with a fracture. The fact he only turns 6 next month rips my heart out he hasnt even had a chance to grow up yet.

he does a few things in his stable to keep him occupied lile milk bottles to chew on. an equi ball and lucie brix for during the day and a lick and he has three feeds to keep him occupied. my mum helps me out so she goes and keeps him company but its just so hard he wants to be out. hes done 4 weeks and isnt getting better but worse.

I do think if he was penned in a 12by12 within a field he may get upset if the other horses go away from himand may panick but i wud try it if my vet wud try it. i just dont want him to go into meltdown
 
Is there another quiet horse around? I had a mare that needed box rest for about 3 weeks due to a hoof injury as well. I made her a pen in a small field. Gave plenty of hay on both sides and kept another mare with her during the day. At night the company went out to a big field with mates and the other mare came in with other horses. To be fair the injured mare was very sensible. But it's something I would try with all of them if necessary. I did have my vets approval.

As far as the rest of it you don't need my advice you seem to have it sorted. I would go the shoe route myself. But only with a very qualified person and I'd possibly look into the Imprint's or Epona's or something like that.

He's only 6, did he do something to himself? Really sorry.

Terri
 
He was having imprints but was advised as its a fracture metal shoes are needed to stop the hoof moving and flexing. I'm thinking of having imprints on after a couple of set of shoes. i saod i would never shoe him again but maybe this is an exception but will probably cry anyway.

cant believe hes turning 6 myself and looking at the prospect of arthritus already. hes a ex racer and raced as a 2yo and he dishes so adding all this into the mix maybe its not surprising hes having problems
 
So sorry to read this and really wish you well. Just to give you some hope my chap fractured a sidebone shortly after I got him when he was 8. He had an MRI scan at Newmarket and the report made him sound like a walking miracle with navicular changes, hot areas etc. He was on box rest for three months which wasn't easy as he suffers from separation anxiety so we kept friends in close to him on a shift system so he wasn't left alone. Walking out was a nightmare as nobody suggested sedalin but we got through it (although how I'm not sure!) I finally chucked him out for his sanity (and my safety) as I had given up waiting for Newmarket to respond to my vets. He was shod with egg bar shoes for a short time but my farrier suggested we go back to normal shoes. He is now 14 and in normal work. I know your horse has different problems identified but please don't give up hope. It can seem like a never ending nightmare at the time but it is possible to come out the other end with a sound, happy horse.
 
With regard to the box rest could you afford to send him to a specialist centre where they look after horses on box rest - this is what I did for my pony when he had a fractured splint bone and got so cross with box rest he jumped out of his stable on the first morning.

He actually settled fine at a rehab centre which specialised in looking after box rest horses, the box rest horses were all stabled next to each other so they had company and there was plenty going on during the day to help keep them occupied including being groomed and they were skipped out 3 times a day and had a lot of fuss made of them. The box rest horses stables over look the outdoor school so they can watch things going on there as well. They had ad lib hay and were on box rest diets which were very low in starch and sugar too.

I know three horses who have had fractured pedal bones who have gone back into full work after three months box rest.
 
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