Options for severe locked stifle..please

debsflo

debsflo

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Interested in any experience of severe locked stifle please. My mini who does not have the best confirmation has always had issues with sticky stifles and i hoped that she would grow out of it as she matured. She is now 6 and i have had her from a 10 month old but she has got worse despite trying everything advised and now at a loss as to what next.
Both stifles are bad and now can lock for hours and even days. My vet has seen her on several occasions,we have tried hill work ,increased exercise but this is limited at present due to winter. She is a companion to my old mare but has to be managed seperatley as she ,the mini was diagnosed with insulin resistance last spring so has to be carefully managed. She is out 24 hours to keep her moving but this doesnt prevent the episodes which are more frequent and more severe every time.
Vet has x rayed stifle to check no other bone damage ,that was fine and said the advice now is not to cut the ligament.
He suggested blistering and working her to increase scar tissue which will tighten the ligament but i feel she will struggle and feel it seems cruel.however i can not allow her to continue like this ,she is depressed and uncomfortable ,i give danilon and she has sessions of equine touch but i really dont know what to do next unless i have her pts. just want some thoughts from anyone who has had similar before i ring vet again tomorrow. Even on a good day the ligament catches every stride. so convinced it is too long rather than too short.
 
sorry I cant be of any help. sounds terrible :( my friend had a welsh sec b who had a sticky stifle, but usually only left hind. it would occasionally lock, and you had to walk her back wards to try and unlock it. Again she was told she would probably grow out of it. now aged 7 she has been at a yard doing a lots of work over the past 3 months, and with the regular work, now schooling and jumping, she no longer has any signs.

sadly I don't think it sounds like there are any good options
 
I know a horse whose ligaments were cut when he was two. He was showjumping at ten this year.

Why is the ligament snip not recommended? I understood it was because it can cause problems much later in life, but your mini has very serious problems now, and she isn't a sport horse working hard.

I think I'd ask for a second opinion from another vet.
 
Don't like this thread. I have a yearling very small filly with a problem. Was hoping she'd just grow out of it. Sorry can't offer any help.
 
Knockadoon said:
Don't like this thread. I have a yearling very small filly with a problem. Was hoping she'd just grow out of it. Sorry can't offer any help.
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They do normally. I have a five year old with it and he's getting better and better as he gets older. Try not to worry.
 
Hmmm.

You have to go with your gut, you know her best.

You can follow your Vet's advice.
You can get a second opinion.
You can do nothing.

I, too, had a horse that locked more than she unlocked, prognosis for an op was not good ( I wouldn't have done it anyway) She couldn't be stabled because she simply couldn't move after a night in, we have very hard winters, she hated frozen ground, she struggled in the snow, the cold seemed to make it worse, we were coming into another winter.

I had her pts.

Quality of life over quantity is something I always take into account.
 
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Why does your Vet not want to cut the ligaments? We had a Shetlands cut when he was 2yo. He is now 10yo and has never had any problems with it. He moves freely, gallops about like a loony, chases sheep, gets ridden once in a blue moon and has never looked back. It's not a massive op. He was done under standing sedation, 2in cut made in the skin, hooked the ligament and cut it, stitched over with disolvable stitches. 5 days of antibiotics just in case and he stayed in the field the whole time.

I would definitely ask why your Vet doesn't reccomend the snip.
 
Same ekw, horse was done at home under sedation and I never even knew. I saw him every week and never realised he'd been done, the owner told me two years later.
 
Just looked it up. The operation is no longer advised because it can cause fragmentation of the patella. Treatment of choice is to scar and thicken the ligament. I don't understand why you don't want this done, OP, but it does sound as if she should be put to sleep otherwise, sorry.
 
My mare suffered badly with it in 1 stifle every winter and we frequently had to get the vet out to unlock it as she couldn't walk backwards to do it. She had x rays to check there was nothing more ominous and lots of physio but it still kept occurring each winter from 3 when I bought her to 5 years old, I was close to giving up and having it blistered which they said was the new and better way to do it rather than to cut it, but then she did just grow out of it, the following winter it only occurred if she was stabled in an outdoor stable, she was fine if out 24/7 and fine in a really warm American barn set up. A few years down the line and no issues at all. I would definitely say if it can't be improved without blistering then do that, you can pts after if you feel they are suffering for any reason although I can't see why they would.
 
Had another discussion with the vet today and they think it is more likely luxation of the patellar as it sticks forwards ,backwards and almost as if out to the side ,so he said realistically she requires surgery on both ligaments or pts. His main concern is trauma to the stifle and that it can destabilise the joint esp as she will need both doing. Her quality of life is poor at present as she is stuck more than mobile and quite flat and depressed. I have read that it rarely causes pain but surely it is affecting the soft tissue ,muscle to that area and i suspect she has constant low grade pain. The vet is seeking other opinions and we will discuss the best way forward. Currently my heart and head are disagreeing but i feel guilty re all options.
 
Enfys said:
Hmmm.

You have to go with your gut, you know her best.

You can follow your Vet's advice.
You can get a second opinion.
You can do nothing.

I, too, had a horse that locked more than she unlocked, prognosis for an op was not good ( I wouldn't have done it anyway) She couldn't be stabled because she simply couldn't move after a night in, we have very hard winters, she hated frozen ground, she struggled in the snow, the cold seemed to make it worse, we were coming into another winter.

I had her pts.

Quality of life over quantity is something I always take into account.
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This is what i am thinking,poor thing could hardly put one foot in front of the other and winter is coming.. I am a nurse so like to carefully consider all the options and do the right thing but sadly think it is pts.
 
debsflo said:
This is what i am thinking,poor thing could hardly put one foot in front of the other and winter is coming.. I am a nurse so like to carefully consider all the options and do the right thing but sadly think it is pts.
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If you are looking for support in making that decision, you absolutely have mine. She does not know about tomorrow, all she will know is a peaceful end with a future of no pain or fear.
 
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