Please count your horse's blink rate.

[TrasaM]

Really sorry to read this CPT .. No need to justify in my opinion x

 

[Tobiano]

Oh gosh I am so sorry to hear your poor horse is still in a bad way. Bless you both. From everything I have seen you put on here, I am absolutely certain you will do the best thing for him. Not that that should really matter as it is none of my business or anyone else's, but as you obviously have been horribly criticised by some people I just thought I would add some support. Hugs.

 

[Andalucian]

Hi, your latest update doesn't sound good
Unbelievably bad luck. Do what ever you think is right for him, if he stays like this life isn't viable for him clearly.
So sorry, he's such a stunning horse.

 

[LadyRascasse]

Sadly this sounds just like my little mare Good luck with him, here is you need to talk. Did those videos ever work? Her's was made worse by the wind and got progressively worse.

Also to ANYONE who says you are frightened to ride him, I did ride mine on the first vets advice was told it was behavioral and to ride her through it. I ended up being thrown from 12ft landing on my head and getting severe concussion this was after only one lap of the school in walk. I couldn't work for a couple of days and the injury didn't heal for several weeks, she could have killed me totally unintentionally and thank god I was wearing a hat. The pain they go through with this condition is like being electrocuted and it would be just plain cruel to ride them (and in hindsight now I know what the symptoms are I would never have even put tack on that poor mare)

 

[YorksG]

Sorry to read that the improvement was temporary. We keep all our horses till their end (our choice and no judgement on anyone elses choices), we have pts from 4 weeks, through 11 years, to their teens, twenties and thirties, as in your cases always for the benefit of the horse. Please ignore the Dweebs who would carp and make ridiculous statements, they know nothing.

 

[Pigeon]

I'm new to this case too, and I have been through something similar to CPT - we had to have a horse put down due to undiagnosed pain issues. Truth be told, we simply ran out of money before a diagnoses was reached, and the vets weren't optimistic. Kissing spines were ruled out via x ray, arthritis in the neck and sacro-iliac ruled out via cortisone, lameness in the legs ruled out via nerve blocking. They thought it might be a tumour in his spinal column, but a post mortem was just not possible financially, so we will never know, and it does bother me still. He was a wonderfully sweet horse who behaved beautifully, you would never know he was sick until you touched his back. He couldn't even wear rugs towards the end, poor soul.

So I have been in your shoes, it is horrible. And it's entirely possible that this horse has some underlying issue, that may never be fully understood. That is the nature of well, nature.

But people on here all want to help, they all want what's best for the horse, even if you don't necessarily agree with their viewpoints. So I can totally understand why they're asking about X rays, and it's great to be armed with other people's experiences (migrating bone chip etc) to add to the list of possibilities. I couldn't find the reason you hadn't had x rays/ultrasounds, I'm sure you have a good reason, I just couldn't find it in the posts I scanned. Remember vets are human too, and things can be overlooked! It sounds like you are having a lot of discussion with your vet, which is good.

It's an intriguing and emotive case, I can see why people are curious. I'm sure the X ray questions were purely out of curiosity and a desire to help, I wouldn't read them as insulting.

 

[Garnet]

Oh gosh I am so sorry to hear your poor horse is still in a bad way. Bless you both. From everything I have seen you put on here, I am absolutely certain you will do the best thing for him. Not that that should really matter as it is none of my business or anyone else's, but as you obviously have been horribly criticised by some people I just thought I would add some support. Hugs.

Just this.
Have some more hugs(((CPT)))

 

[Pigeon]

Just read the post saying he'd worsened Very sad.

Could he have banged his poll at some point? I know a horse who had similar issues when he fractured his poll...

 

[Regandal]

Trigeminal neuralgia is one of the worst pains, what is he on for pain CPT?

 

[cptrayes]

Trigeminal neuralgia is one of the worst pains, what is he on for pain CPT?

I have said above, I am waiting on my vet to source non steroid (he's a laminitic) and non Bute (he gets ulcers at the drop of a hat) painkillers. I was disappointed that he did not ring me back today.

 

[cptrayes]

Just read the post saying he'd worsened Very sad.

Could he have banged his poll at some point? I know a horse who had similar issues when he fractured his poll...

He fractured his right eye socket in January and at least cracked, probably fractured his left cheek bone in March. This appears to be what has caused the head pain.

 

[hayinamanger]

So sorry, you have my full supprt and respect.

 

[Wagtail]

Could you get a course of abprazole and give it along side some danilon?

 

[cptrayes]

Could you get a course of abprazole and give it along side some danilon?

Wagtail he would need at least eight danilon a day to get anywhere near helping him. We tested him on Bute and it lasted only three hours before he was frowning as badly as ever. It's just not feasible, it's very toxic to the liver at those doses.

Thanks for trying to help folks, but we are doing everything we can.

 

[Regandal]

From personal experience, having taken both diclofenac and naproxen (human equivalent of bute or danilon) I know that turmeric is as effective - and it does not irritate the stomach or thin the mucosal lining. He may benefit from turmeric. Could the vet block the affected nerve with local? Perhaps he/she has done that. There are long-acting local anaesthetics. If the pain can't be controlled with oral painkillers, it can be tackled from a different angle.

 

[spookypony]

My utmost sympathy, to you for all your worries and heart-ache, and to Ace, for his injuries and related problems. All I can offer is (((vibes))).

 

[Diddleydoo]

I am so sorry, You are trying so hard for him it is about time it started to go your way.

 

[Charley]

Gabapentin works for nerve pain, bute and finadyne don't. But Gabapentin is not licenced for horses, is hugely expensive and you need to use a lot of it.
Acupuncture worked for my horse with nerve pain.

 

[Salcey]

Thinking of you CPT........ life is **** at times, you don't deserve this

 

[Sam_J]

So sorry to hear that Ace doesn't seem to be improving - it must be very hard to see him in pain.

As for all the negative comments from others - I'm sure they're very hard to read and not at all what you need when you're going through such a tough time, but those that know you (and even lots that have never met you!) know that you are doing everything you can for Ace and will continue to do so, even if that means PTS to spare him from more pain. Sending lots of good vibes your way and keeping everything crossed for a positive outcome.

 

[Regandal]

Acupuncture also worked for my mother after she had shingles, post-herpatic pain can be worse than the initial illness. Sorry I keep referring back to human meds, but another good thing for nerve pain is capsaicin cream or gel, which is applied topically. Takes a couple of days to kick in, but works for a lot of people. Comes in different strengths, strong one is prescription only but a more dilute one can be bought OTC.