Please help...don't know what to do

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LouLou3

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Sorry to post yet another lame thread but I'm at my wits end and don't know what to do...its long too so prizes all round if you get through it!

My horse has been on / off lame since January - had the vet our four times and farrier out more times than I can remember.

Thought we'd gotten to the bottom of his lameness when he developed an abcess on 22nd March - vet treated him and he was pouliced for two weeks then re-shod and looked absolutely sound until last night. (its been just over two weeks since his shoes went back on)

He's not hopping lame so if it is another abcess its not "ripe" yet but he's showing these symptoms:

Noticeably lame downhill - he's always been slow and careful downhill but he's 17 - last night he looked like he was drunk - his back end was swaying alot and he seemd to drag the toe of his nearside hindleg on the ground as he brought it forward. I know the rule is lame downhill lame in the front - its his front nearside foot that had the abcess.

Couldn't turn properly in his stable - he was stepping on his other front foot to move around

Lame in trot - more so on soft ground than road surface.

My concern is that it isn't the abcess flaring up again but perhaps laminitis - to my knowledge he's never suffered with this before - I only bought him late last year but I've kept him with his previous vet and know his previous owner...

I have the farrier coming out tomorrow - he's said to hot poultice in the meantime and I've called the vet - they will call me back later.

Just wondering if anyone had any views in the meantime - am so worried about him.

Thanks for anyone who has got this far...





my boy is 17 this year Irish X.
 
Might be worth considering laminitis, it is common with horses who have/are getting cushings - as are abcesses. Definitely get vet again....
 
Hope your vet/blacksmith can get to the bottom of it. My old horse had an intermittent lameness which was a very deep seated abcess which the vet/blacksmith thought they had got to the bottom of and then came back as they hadn't got it right out. Doesn't sound that much like yours but thought it might be a suggestion.
 
Defo get him checked by the Vet. My Youngster has had on and off lameness for nearly a year. usually abcess etc. but the last time vet thought maybe fractured pedal bone (don't panic it is fixable)turned out in the end it was just ANOTHER abcess but even my farrier said he would have had to get the vet to do Xrays etc if i hadn't of already been down that route. Good Luck.
 
its quite poss its another abcess, so dont panic yet. could be lami but not necessarily. dont despair, there is light at the end of both tunnels (tho the current shoes will probaly have to come off :-O
 
My older mare was lame on and off for 3 years, one vet diagnosed arthritis in hocks and fetlocks after a lameness exam at the yard (no x rays), treated her for that for a year but she was still unsound often and getting worse. Got her into the vet horsepital and had a full workup including x rays and it turned out to be a front foot problem (odd slope to both front feet internally and not visible caused her to hold her body off them to avoid the pain but causing massive pain across her back, neck and through her back legs). Remedial trimming/farriery and lots of bowen sorted her out and she's now right as rain.

Good luck and hope you find a solution.
 
2 weeks seems way too soon to have shoes on after the abcess. Depending on where it was in the hoof it could have put pressure on the bruised area where the initial abcess was and caused pain and possibly another infection by the nails going in again before the area had properly healed. My poor mare had 3 abcesses in a row. The first time we put the shoes back on too early. The second time the abcess had crept higher in the hoof and had to be drilled to remove the puss. My vet and farrier recommended that to properly heal she should be poulticed till the dressings were clear; no shoes for four weeks after that to allow the area to grow over and to maintain easy access for keeping it clean. When she was shod she had a pad and antiseptic tar until the next shoeing. She has now been sound and abcess free for 18 months. Hope this helps but abcesses are a pain and there's no healer like time!!xx
 
LouLou3 said:
Noticeably lame downhill - he's always been slow and careful downhill but he's 17 - last night he looked like he was drunk - his back end was swaying alot and he seemd to drag the toe of his nearside hindleg on the ground as he brought it forward. I know the rule is lame downhill lame in the front - its his front nearside foot that had the abcess.

Couldn't turn properly in his stable - he was stepping on his other front foot to move around
Click to expand...

This sounds like it could be a neurological issue not a musculoskeletal lameness. The symptoms you are describing sound like your horse is possibly suffering from ataxia. Your vet should definitely be looking at it from this angle too - unfortunately a lot of vets just tend to hone in on legs and feet only and might completely miss the signs of a neuro disorder. The fact that he was dragging his nearside hindleg on the ground and also that he couldn't turn properly in the stable sound like he is having issues with his proprioception and this is seen in horses suffering with neuro disorders as they are able to place the front feet with no issues as they can see them but they aren't aware of the placement of the hind limbs as the messages being sent via the spinal cord become distorted
I would mention all this to your vet and get them to do a full neurological examination too. Hope you get it sorted
 
Thank you all for your replies - I'm waiting for the vet to call me so will get them out tomorrow and farrier is out tomorrow too. I thought it was too early to shoe too but there was nothing coming out of the poultices and he wasn't showing any sensitivity when using hoof testers so we thought it would be ok. I'm willing to do anything to get him sorted and luckily he's insured but at the same time I don't want to go in all guns blazing if its just an abcess rearing its ugly head again.

He is my first horse - wanted one all my life, since I've had him we've had nothing but problems its really putting me off, I worry constantly about him and know nothing really so feel completely out of my depth...I'm just convinced its something I'm doing / not doing.
 
If you describe the drunk like symptoms to your vet and the fact that he is having trouble with his foot placement they should know straight away to do a neuro exam and if they don't then point it out to them. You'd be surprised how many vets bark up completely the wrong tree when it comes to diagnosing lamenesses
 
How frustrating for you! It may well be the abscess has flared up again or he has got another one. The damp (well wet!) weather/ground hasn't been helpful - my pony has suffered with sore feet (not abscesses, although he has suffered in the past) due to them getting wet and soft and him also getting thrush in them.

The reason for the odd walking down hill could be due to a number of reasons - could be he is in fact lame in more than one foot so, in order to try relieve the pain he has developed an odd walk. It could be he is developing arthritis in some part of his leg or that he has done himself an injury - ie back/muscles so it is painful for him to walk downhill.

How is he on a hard surface at walk and trot and how about turning tightly?

Sometimes it can be a stubborn abcess that just is taking it's time to heal and is causing infection after infection. My pony was on 3 legs literally one time, I thought he'd broken his hind leg the way he was carrying it, that was due to an abscess.

Our old TB last year had terrible abscesses - started in one foot, he was hopping lame, we thought we'd resolved it but then he developed an odd walk. we found and abscess in his other foot. Turned out he had them in BOTH feet at that point hence why he couldn't favour one particular leg. Once the less painful abscess was sorted he went back to being hopping lame again - completely non-weight bearing on one leg. Eventually we did get him sorted but it took AGES!

Keep doing as your vet and farrier suggest - let your vet see him walk downhill. It could be neurological but I think that's worst case secnario unless he has had a fall or something maybe and caused some nerve damage?

If vet and farrier cannot seem to pinpoint then could be worth getting a physio/Mctimoney person to have a look just in case the odd walk has come from some muscle damage somewhere.
 
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