Post in NL2 about Rescue horse losing a hoof.

kerilli

kerilli

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 April 2002
Messages
27,417
Location
Lovely Northamptonshire again!
Visit site
titled "Two Socks PTS".
an American vet is quoted in the report:
"the premiere expert in horse care, the director of the large animal program at Virginia Tech’s vet school.
Dr. David Hodgson tells me a horse losing a hoof is not uncommon. He says it’s like a person loosing a fingernail."

has anyone EVER heard of such a thing? i never ever have.

like losing a fingernail? jesus christ. more like losing all the skin from your ankle downwards.
it says on the link that during the autopsy on the horse, they discovered that a nerve was scarred as if it had been severed...
maybe denerved? or accidental? might explain why the horse allegedly wasn't showing any pain, was weightbearing on the bones of the foot.
poor lad.
 
I have never heard of it either, nor seen any case studies, nor any journal articles.
S
grin.gif
 
My friends horse was pts because it's hoof 'fell off'. Apparently there is laminae tissue which can break down and literally separate the internal structure from the external structure. In my friends case, this was a shod healthy 15.3 tbx 14yo i think with no history of lami to our knowledge, out playing in the field one day and it looks like it just stepped out of it's foot, which was found later in the field, hoof wall & shoe intact.

It's rare, but does happen.

apparently the hoof will regrow, very very quickly at first, forming a membrane over the remaining structure in a day or 2, but takes 18mth to 2 years to completely regrow new hoof.
 
I can't see how the hoof can regrow in time to protect the internal structures from catastrophic injury.
I know that there are horses with prosthetic limbs, and that they resect and rebuild parts of laminitic feet.
But somehow maintaining a horse in a functional and pain free way, til a hoof regrows in its entirety seems beyond the scope of normal veterinary care, to me.
S
grin.gif
 
I agree, and so did my friend/her vet & yo. Which is why my friend chose to PTS.

there is some info here about the process of recovery from total capsule removal, they use casting to protect the stump until there is sufficient regrowth, but I can't find much about it happening through trauma or without severe laminits symptoms first.

http://www.serenityequine.com/studies.html
 
agreed, Shilasdair. the growing hoof would have to be non-weightbearing, so slings necessary surely? and when you think they couldn't save Barbaro, will all the money and will in the world...
i'm glad to hear it's not common, anyway. found a forum mention that it might be due to selenium toxicity.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I agree, and so did my friend/her vet & yo. Which is why my friend chose to PTS.

there is some info here about the process of recovery from total capsule removal, they use casting to protect the stump until there is sufficient regrowth, but I can't find much about it happening through trauma or without severe laminits symptoms first.

http://www.serenityequine.com/studies.html

[/ QUOTE ]

I've never seen this site before it's amazing what they can do. But to be honest the horse must be in alot of pain during the regrowth time. I don't know if I could put a horse I owned through that
frown.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I agree, and so did my friend/her vet & yo. Which is why my friend chose to PTS.

there is some info here about the process of recovery from total capsule removal, they use casting to protect the stump until there is sufficient regrowth, but I can't find much about it happening through trauma or without severe laminits symptoms first.

http://www.serenityequine.com/studies.html

[/ QUOTE ]

I've never seen this site before it's amazing what they can do. But to be honest the horse must be in alot of pain during the regrowth time. I don't know if I could put a horse I owned through that
frown.gif


[/ QUOTE ]

I agree - with the UK rescue centres stuffed full of animals, and youngstock going for very low prices, it seems better to me, to use money/resources where they will do more good.
I hope that doesn't make me sound heartless, but gaining maximum quality of life per pound spent is important.
S
grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
I agree, and so did my friend/her vet & yo. Which is why my friend chose to PTS.

there is some info here about the process of recovery from total capsule removal, they use casting to protect the stump until there is sufficient regrowth, but I can't find much about it happening through trauma or without severe laminits symptoms first.

http://www.serenityequine.com/studies.html

[/ QUOTE ]

How very interesting and unnerving, thank you for finding that link
smirk.gif
 
I have heard of similiar injuries to horses, usually when a horses foot falls through a trailer floor for example and the hoof is literally torn off which is called degloving. I recollect (although it was a long time ago and the memory isn't clear) that the horses in these cases did survive but I am not sure what the prognosis would be for a return to work and neither do I recall where I saw this information, but I do distinctly remember reading about one such case as it has stuck in my mind. In any case debating whether a horse should live with such an injury is down to the horse, the owner and the vet and what the prognosis is. Also cost would come into it I should think. I've tried to google degloving of a horses foot but can't really find any links as such.
 
Doesnt make you sound heartless at all, Shila. Your just being sensible

I am sure we all would do anything to keep our horses going, as surely "they dont want to die" but at the end of the day, even if we had enough money to do it, is making the horse suffer worth it?
I would do anything for my 'main' boy, but i could not ever put him through suffering and take him away from the field where he is happy, just so i could keep him a bit longer. I just couldnt
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top