Helen71
Well-Known Member
Hello,
Just thought I would share my tale of woe with you all. Bear with me this is a long story and still not over yet you might want to get some supplies!!!
I have owned Tango a gorgeous, kind, spooky 17hh Dutch WB gelding 7/8th aged 18 yrs for nearly 8 years now. He has always been sound except for a few cases of pus in foot.
June 2007 he picked up an old nail whilst out hacking (we were only 5 minutes down the road from home) the rusty old roofing nail went into his off-hind hoof through the sole at an angle, near the frog (approximately an inch in). I pulled the nail out and he was happy to stand and put weight down on the affected foot. There were a few drops of blood, I called my local vet on emergency duty and he advised to poultice it and call again if he got worse.
I poulticed and tubbed the foot and kept the foot wrapped up in vet wrap and tape to keep it clean. 3 days later he was slightly sore so I called my farrier and he came out to investigate the hole and released some pus, I continued to poultice and tub the foot and there was some improvement for the next couple of days and he was happy to walk and bear full weight on the foot.
Over the next weekend he was obviously more uncomfortable and only walking on the toe of the affected hoof. I called for my local vet to come out. He removed the shoe and pared the hoof along the route of the nail and took the frog away, down to its core. He then had a course of antibiotics and danalon. The foot was kept clean and wrapped up, I continued to tub the foot.
In the next week x-rays were taken and the path of the nail seemed to show that it was very close to the pedal bone but had not make contact.
Two weeks later the farrier came and put the shoe back on to see if it would encourage him to stand on the foot. This did help and there was some improvement. For the next week he was beginning to gradually use more of the foot to walk on (but not full use) and was bearing more weight on the affected foot when standing and resting.
A couple of weeks later I was away, whilst I was away he became very sore and the farrier came out again. There was a little bit of pus and the foot was foul smelling (may have been due to the wet weather and foot wrapping). He was kept in overnight and no dressing was put on the hoof dried out and he showed improvement but was still reluctant to use the foot.
Upon my return from holiday (not a great holiday did too much worrying and thinking) there was no improvement from when I left. He was reluctant to put the foot on the ground and use the full surface of the foot when walking. He was losing condition fast and fed up.
I asked my local vet to refer me to a vet clinic I used to work at and I got him up there a week later. He went in for surgery the next day and had two pieces of pedal bone removed and all the infection that had built up was scraped out. The poor chap having all that in his foot, I felt awful. The vet seemed to think that the nail may have caused the fracture when it first went in and then infection set in.
So we were all hoping for a good recovery. 4 days later I got a call from the vet and he said that he was not happy with how he was recovering and he would have to go under again to have a cast fitted to cover his whole foot up to just below the hock. The concern was that as so much pedal bone had been removed that there was not enough support for the coffin joint. What a nightmare. All was ok and he actually coped very well with the cast and became very comfortable and was able to come home after a few weeks once he had finished all his medication. What a relief to bring him home and set about pumping some feed into him, he had lost so much weight in hospital!
So he was on full box rest at home for another 5 weeks, I was able to lead him out to the lawn for some grass which kept him going. I spent most of the summer picking grass for him just to keep him interested in food.
Finally the time came when we could go back to the clinic for the removal of the cast, I had not seen his naked foot for nearly 2 months. When the cast was removed everything looked pretty good and promising. An x-ray showed that the bone had healed well and looked quite dense. He had a hospital plate (shoe) fitted and I took him home again for more box rest. This was as a caution as it was difficult to tell how damaged the deep digital flexor tendon would be at the point it connects with the pedal bone.
After another 4 weeks of box rest I could start walking him out at the end of October, by this time he was getting too difficult to lead out for grass so it was very exciting and new for him to be walking out on the roads and seeing the sites again. For the first two weeks of walking he was being very good whilst he did not have a full set of shoes on. He was obviously a bit tender with just his slippers on so I arranged for him to be shod all round. This really set him alight and for the first time I led him out after that he was a nightmare. The plan was to start riding him after 4 weeks of walking and when we were up to half an hour. But having 17hh of horse rearing up and his hooves dangling above your head it really is too dangerous. Even with a chiffney and an attempt to pin him down with side reins and chambon! So the next morning I decided to get on him and see how he was, he was an angel (helped by the wet weather he hates the rain) how good was it to be sat on him again, even if it was for 15 minutes of walk. He seemed happier with that arrangement.
So we were getting up to 40 minutes of walking a day and things were going good. Then on a particularly windy day he was being really spooky so rather than battle with him and get him upset and worse still damage his leg, I led him past the scary flapping plastic. He was really scared and just as we got past, a gust of wind caught the plastic and it flew up. He spun around and reversed sharply and then made a grunt/squeak nose. I thought then what have you done?. But he seemed ok so I got on and carried on. A couple of days later he was not right and on tip toe again on the dreaded white foot. Typically it happened at the weekend! I was convinced it was pus in the foot, I called the vet, but we could not find anything and he was no more sensitive than normal.
So we put it down to bruising of the affected area or tendon or maybe he had done something worse. He went on a course of danalon for a week and he seemed ok on that. I kept walking him out gently; typically he had a crazy day and blew up so I shouldnt think that helped matters. I eventually weaned him off the danalon and he was ok but not 100%. So we have been on another course of danalon for the past week and FINGERS, TOES and HOOVES CROSSED (PLEASE) he seems to be ok all be it a bit stiff to start with.
Thank the lord for insurance!!! I dont know what I would have done had I not been insured. I am insured with Petplan and have up to £5000 for vets fees which has nearly run out. So I have recouped all my premium money for the past 8 years that I have been paying out for insurance.
I would be really interested to know if anyone else has had similar problems particularly DDFT problems. As the damage is likely to be deep in the hoof there is no possible way of scanning it and I cant justify forking out for an MRI. So I have to treat the matter with extreme caution and see how we get on.
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Well done if you made it to the end of this VERY, VERY long posting!!!
Just thought I would share my tale of woe with you all. Bear with me this is a long story and still not over yet you might want to get some supplies!!!
I have owned Tango a gorgeous, kind, spooky 17hh Dutch WB gelding 7/8th aged 18 yrs for nearly 8 years now. He has always been sound except for a few cases of pus in foot.
June 2007 he picked up an old nail whilst out hacking (we were only 5 minutes down the road from home) the rusty old roofing nail went into his off-hind hoof through the sole at an angle, near the frog (approximately an inch in). I pulled the nail out and he was happy to stand and put weight down on the affected foot. There were a few drops of blood, I called my local vet on emergency duty and he advised to poultice it and call again if he got worse.
I poulticed and tubbed the foot and kept the foot wrapped up in vet wrap and tape to keep it clean. 3 days later he was slightly sore so I called my farrier and he came out to investigate the hole and released some pus, I continued to poultice and tub the foot and there was some improvement for the next couple of days and he was happy to walk and bear full weight on the foot.
Over the next weekend he was obviously more uncomfortable and only walking on the toe of the affected hoof. I called for my local vet to come out. He removed the shoe and pared the hoof along the route of the nail and took the frog away, down to its core. He then had a course of antibiotics and danalon. The foot was kept clean and wrapped up, I continued to tub the foot.
In the next week x-rays were taken and the path of the nail seemed to show that it was very close to the pedal bone but had not make contact.
Two weeks later the farrier came and put the shoe back on to see if it would encourage him to stand on the foot. This did help and there was some improvement. For the next week he was beginning to gradually use more of the foot to walk on (but not full use) and was bearing more weight on the affected foot when standing and resting.
A couple of weeks later I was away, whilst I was away he became very sore and the farrier came out again. There was a little bit of pus and the foot was foul smelling (may have been due to the wet weather and foot wrapping). He was kept in overnight and no dressing was put on the hoof dried out and he showed improvement but was still reluctant to use the foot.
Upon my return from holiday (not a great holiday did too much worrying and thinking) there was no improvement from when I left. He was reluctant to put the foot on the ground and use the full surface of the foot when walking. He was losing condition fast and fed up.
I asked my local vet to refer me to a vet clinic I used to work at and I got him up there a week later. He went in for surgery the next day and had two pieces of pedal bone removed and all the infection that had built up was scraped out. The poor chap having all that in his foot, I felt awful. The vet seemed to think that the nail may have caused the fracture when it first went in and then infection set in.
So we were all hoping for a good recovery. 4 days later I got a call from the vet and he said that he was not happy with how he was recovering and he would have to go under again to have a cast fitted to cover his whole foot up to just below the hock. The concern was that as so much pedal bone had been removed that there was not enough support for the coffin joint. What a nightmare. All was ok and he actually coped very well with the cast and became very comfortable and was able to come home after a few weeks once he had finished all his medication. What a relief to bring him home and set about pumping some feed into him, he had lost so much weight in hospital!
So he was on full box rest at home for another 5 weeks, I was able to lead him out to the lawn for some grass which kept him going. I spent most of the summer picking grass for him just to keep him interested in food.
Finally the time came when we could go back to the clinic for the removal of the cast, I had not seen his naked foot for nearly 2 months. When the cast was removed everything looked pretty good and promising. An x-ray showed that the bone had healed well and looked quite dense. He had a hospital plate (shoe) fitted and I took him home again for more box rest. This was as a caution as it was difficult to tell how damaged the deep digital flexor tendon would be at the point it connects with the pedal bone.
After another 4 weeks of box rest I could start walking him out at the end of October, by this time he was getting too difficult to lead out for grass so it was very exciting and new for him to be walking out on the roads and seeing the sites again. For the first two weeks of walking he was being very good whilst he did not have a full set of shoes on. He was obviously a bit tender with just his slippers on so I arranged for him to be shod all round. This really set him alight and for the first time I led him out after that he was a nightmare. The plan was to start riding him after 4 weeks of walking and when we were up to half an hour. But having 17hh of horse rearing up and his hooves dangling above your head it really is too dangerous. Even with a chiffney and an attempt to pin him down with side reins and chambon! So the next morning I decided to get on him and see how he was, he was an angel (helped by the wet weather he hates the rain) how good was it to be sat on him again, even if it was for 15 minutes of walk. He seemed happier with that arrangement.
So we were getting up to 40 minutes of walking a day and things were going good. Then on a particularly windy day he was being really spooky so rather than battle with him and get him upset and worse still damage his leg, I led him past the scary flapping plastic. He was really scared and just as we got past, a gust of wind caught the plastic and it flew up. He spun around and reversed sharply and then made a grunt/squeak nose. I thought then what have you done?. But he seemed ok so I got on and carried on. A couple of days later he was not right and on tip toe again on the dreaded white foot. Typically it happened at the weekend! I was convinced it was pus in the foot, I called the vet, but we could not find anything and he was no more sensitive than normal.
So we put it down to bruising of the affected area or tendon or maybe he had done something worse. He went on a course of danalon for a week and he seemed ok on that. I kept walking him out gently; typically he had a crazy day and blew up so I shouldnt think that helped matters. I eventually weaned him off the danalon and he was ok but not 100%. So we have been on another course of danalon for the past week and FINGERS, TOES and HOOVES CROSSED (PLEASE) he seems to be ok all be it a bit stiff to start with.
Thank the lord for insurance!!! I dont know what I would have done had I not been insured. I am insured with Petplan and have up to £5000 for vets fees which has nearly run out. So I have recouped all my premium money for the past 8 years that I have been paying out for insurance.
I would be really interested to know if anyone else has had similar problems particularly DDFT problems. As the damage is likely to be deep in the hoof there is no possible way of scanning it and I cant justify forking out for an MRI. So I have to treat the matter with extreme caution and see how we get on.
<font color="blue"> </font>
Well done if you made it to the end of this VERY, VERY long posting!!!
