Pedal osteitis? reduced bone density

K

kgj66

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 February 2009
Messages
150
Visit site
Just looking to see if anyone else has experience with this?

My horse was slightly 'off' about 7weeks ago- just didn't feel right behind.

Que vet out who asked me to bring her to his place to get X-rays/investigate further as she was about 6/10 lame in near hind.

2 days before she was due to go to vet- couldn't put that foot to the ground- turned out to be a very deep abscess that vet found and opened to let drain. 4 weeks later, after abscess healing(I thought) and then bursting again through heel I thought woohoo I can ride again.

That was 3 weeks ago- she still wasnt 100%, not happy cantering and changing legs as she normally would when turned out. So back to vets for X-rays- all he found was a circle of lighter bone density, were the abscess was in her pedal bone. All joint fine. He advised giving her 6weeks rest/ very light work and see how she is then as from the first time he saw her she has gone from 6/10 lame to 1/10.

Q1) has anyone heard of this before-is the lightness is bone density from the abscess, or could this be what caused abscess?

Q2) does it sound like pedal osteitis? A friend has told me her horse had this and it sounds very similar.

PS-she is a 5yr old t'bred. Had the summer (may-October) off, was brought back to fitness very slowly but was barefoot behind and was a little bit feely, but got back shoes on after abscess healed and was certainly better with them on.

Well done if you got this far- any help very much appreciated.
 
hi
I wouldnt like to say whether the xray shows pedal ost. or not, tho from your description the lightness sounds very localised and i would have thought pedal ost. would be more general lightness in the xray. I have xrays of ped. ost. from my horse and the vet did point out lightness in the bone density. (Tb, front feet in my case)
Sorry, no help, suggest you speak to the vet again. Good luck
 
To be honest I don't know. I would say she probably has slightly thin soles due to the bruising when she didn't have shoes on?
Will be speaking to vet again next week. Yes my research has showed generally it is not localised but can be with septic osteitis(??)- was reading late last night, not sure if that's correct!
 
My mare had septic pedal osteitis a few years ago. As far as I can gather, she had a deep abscess, and the pus from the abscess ate through the pereosteum of the pedal bone and infected it. She was sound one day, absolutely dog-lame the next. She had x-rays taken and they showed similar to what you are talking about - a half-moon of fuzzy-looking bone. She had an operation to remove the infected bit of bone - it was all fairly traumatic.
I'd get the advice of a specialist if I were you - my vet said that the bone infection itself probably wouldn't have caused all that much pain, it was probably the pus getting to a critical point that made her extremely lame.
She is fine now! If you search 'pedal osteitis' you will see her whole story.
 
If thin soles and the area of lower density is at the toe, then it may be bone lipping from pressure on the pedal bone from the ground. I'd definitely want further investigations done though, as could be septic osteitis caused by the abscess. Fingers crossed its nothing sinister!
 
kgj66 said:
Thanks solo-equestrian. Just wondering was your mare lame for long before you discovered the abscess??
Click to expand...

We didn't every really find the abscess. When we dug a little into her foot, there were signs that pus had tracked pretty much everywhere that it could, but it never drained as such - only a tiny amount of pus came out and she stayed extemely lame, so we had the x-rays done pretty quickly. When she went to have the operation, she was lame on about three bute.
 
soloequestrian said:
My mare had septic pedal osteitis a few years ago. As far as I can gather, she had a deep abscess, and the pus from the abscess ate through the pereosteum of the pedal bone and infected it. She was sound one day, absolutely dog-lame the next. She had x-rays taken and they showed similar to what you are talking about - a half-moon of fuzzy-looking bone. She had an operation to remove the infected bit of bone - it was all fairly traumatic.
I'd get the advice of a specialist if I were you - my vet said that the bone infection itself probably wouldn't have caused all that much pain, it was probably the pus getting to a critical point that made her extremely lame.
She is fine now! If you search 'pedal osteitis' you will see her whole story.
Click to expand...

almost the same as me. My mare had Septic Pedalosteitis due to laminitis and the abscess. Was told no hope ubnless you have operation to eradicate the infected part. She could not have op due to laminitis so we put her on Batril , norodine and potassium oxide. This did halt it. But sadly the second time ostemilitis set in we could not repeat due to the liver damage.
 
Thank you all for responses.
I spoke to my vet today, and he has recommended that I put pads on hinds when getting her shod next week and she is thin soled, and to put her on a course of antibiotics in case there is any infection there.
 
My mare has pedalosteitis i have never heard of it in the hind feet, although I stand corrected if wrong, it dosent sound like the pedal osteitis I have experience of. My mare hates hard ground and has a pottery short stride which has worsened over the years, however on soft ground she is fine and I hunt and jump her throughout the winter but turn her away over the summer or just dont ride when the ground is hard. On xrays her pedal bone shows a slight roughness around the edge which as I understand it then can rub on the sensitive laminae which causes shortness of stride, i keep it under control with danilon as an antiflammatry as and when she needs it.
 
Your right that doesn't sound the same at all! Am keeping my fingers crossed its just a little damage from abscess and it will just come right!!
 
My Cleveland Bay-TB cross had a hot nail, a period of heat and a pulse (weeks and weeks of soaking and wrapping, bute, and two colic episodes from the bute), and finally wound up with pedal osteitis. I have him on Isoxuprine and aspirin, and am treating with a magnetic bell boot, all to improve blood supply to the foot. He is wearing designer shoes now, with a bar inset from the heels (since it is his front foot - hind feed could probably do egg bars), and pour-in pads. He is finally sound. Pour-in pads are a good idea rather than simple full pads, so that dirt and other things can't get into the frog under the pad. Since the pads reduce the traction, your farrier may have to cut more or deeper grooves into the shoes to help with the slipping. He was pretty tentative at first, especially since we've had a warm winter and lots of mud here in Kentucky, but he's gotten used to it.

Best of luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top