PELVIS FRACTURE

[sarah-jayne-1]

I am wanting some help from people, my 8 year old mare has a pelvis fracture, i am unsure wher in the pelvis the fracture is situated. the accident happened at the end of march and we did not think that there was a fracture at the time as she came sound within 48 hrs and was on box rest as she has done alot of skin damage. she is now out in the field and the vet has since sed that their is a fracture. my main concern is that she is loosing weight even though she is been fed, d nd h build up cubes, mare and youngstock, sugarbeet, pink powder and 1 sachet of danilon in her morning feed. she is fed twice a day, and is in a field of good grass. any advice on what i can give her to get some weight on her would be very much appreciated. also any advice on what i can do in the way of treatment/rehab. ive been told she will be off work for at least 6 months but i just want my baby girl to be more comfortable.

 

[cptrayes]

Has your vet has advised you that weight loss in a horse can be a result of chronic pain? I would be concerned that your mare is uncomforable even though she doesn't look it. I know that my own broken arm hurt as it regrew, even though it had a plate on it and was fixed solid enough to ride with. Is there a possibility of giving her more bute without causing any other problems?

It also occurs to me that she may not be lying down if she does not think she can get up again. My hunter hurt his knee last year and could not bend his leg enough to lie down for four weeks. He was so miserable, poor fellow, trying to lie down, failing, and looking as if he was about to cry. That would cause a more sensitive horse to lose weight as well, but I can't think of anything you could do to help her with that.

I would stuff her feed with as much vegetable oil from Tesco as you can get her to eat, just to get as many calories into her as possible. I don't find any problem feeding up to 500ml a day to a big horse.

I hope this all works out OK for you both.

 

[Chloe-V]

Hi, one of my thoroughbred mares also fractured her pelvis a few years ago, when she was 12 years old. After a very short time she appeared sound but was very subdued, obviously still in a lot of discomfort. We turned her out 24/7 in a paddock just with her best friend, who wouldn't bully her or make her have to move or twist suddenly to get out of her way (as a group of horses would).
As Cptrayes has said - pain and stress can also cause weight loss. We kept feeding her, as you are, but we also gave her Danilon to keep her comfortable. We found that if she was stabled she seized up and wouldn't lie down whereas she would in a grassy field where she had more room to struggle up and down.
She was very unhappy about us anywhere near her backend for quite a few months but I can tell you she did eventually come right and was her old self again.
She did return to ridden work and went on to have 3 more foals for us before she eventually died of a heart attack aged 25 years.
Don't despair, time, time, time and a bit of help with painkillers and management and I'm sure she'll be ok.

 

[vroutledge]

Try milk pellets for weight gain, they are a high calorie milk based supplement and most feed merchants stock them. they are usually used to feed foals that are not getting enough from their mothers to help gain weight and strength.