SDAFT damage info please

[Roasted Chestnuts]

As in title.

No info on what the damage is just been told after 2hrs worth of ultrasounds that its damaged.

How long were your horses on box rest for?
When were they allowed access to a small field/fenced off area?
Where there any complications or problems?
What was the horses workload reduced to afterwards if at all?

I have had nothing from the vet other than 'its going to take a long time to fix' and no indication of whats going to be happening. I am waiting currently on a call as they wanted to look at the scans back at the surgery so hes left me with bute and cold hosing three times a day.

So a bit in limbo at the minute. Im alos looking for suggestions as to what people who have experienced this asked their vets. I have a list of things I want to have clarified but Im looking to see if I have missed anything as my mare mental welfare (shes a stable stress head) is just as important to me as her physical welfare and shes not the type to do 6 month+ of box rest

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Vet called me today

Eowyn has a lesion on her Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon, she has also damaged 2/3rds of the tendon nearly to the back of her knee, the lesion is near her fetlock. Vet hasnt given me a time scale but the therapy is going to consist of box rest, cold hosing and a special tendon antiinflammatory gel he has got in (kinda like extra strong volterol for horses) and also a platelet therapy.

http://www.vetcell.com/e-pet-2/

So I really dont know how to feel at the moment it hasnt really sunk in on certain levels but is kicking me in the @rse on others.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

WOW! That's one impressive injury she has done herself! Personally I would have her strapped up in a stookie by the middle of next week in a stable. Is there any stable she settles in? Will toys keep her amused? I've known stable stressy horses to have their own sheep in the stable with them for company - might work, might not. If not then maybe a small stable sized outdoor paddock? Not the best solution to a fixing tendon but if she settles it will give a better outcome.

At the moment you are looking at 4-6 months box-rest. 2months in solid then in-hand walking for gradually increasing periods of time.

There is no point in asking about long term prospects at the moment as you need to see how well it is going to fix. From all the racing injuries I have seen I will say that I am 80% certain your horse will return to be a perfectly normal horse provided all goes well with the recovery.

As for what to ask the vets - How long would they recommend box rest for, if the outdoor stable would suit - if not then maybe keep her on a low dose of ACP to take the edge off, ask for a work regime starting from when she is allowed to start walking again, bandaging - rather than pay for the vets to do it every 5 days get them to show you how to do a Robert Jones if you don't already know how. I can't really think of what else to ask them.

I hope everything runs smoothly for you and Eowyn!

ETA. I have never seen E-PET used but it is a basic form of Stem Cell treatment. I have never seen a noticable difference between horses that have had Stem Cell treatment and those that haven't. It didn't reduce healing time and didn't always promote good tissue growth - it either worked or it didn't.

If you do go down the E-PET route please keep us informed as I am intrigued about it to see if it truly does what it says on the tin or not.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

WOW! That's one impressive injury she has done herself! Personally I would have her strapped up in a stookie by the middle of next week in a stable. Is there any stable she settles in? Will toys keep her amused? I've known stable stressy horses to have their own sheep in the stable with them for company - might work, might not. If not then maybe a small stable sized outdoor paddock? Not the best solution to a fixing tendon but if she settles it will give a better outcome.

At the moment you are looking at 4-6 months box-rest. 2months in solid then in-hand walking for gradually increasing periods of time.

There is no point in asking about long term prospects at the moment as you need to see how well it is going to fix. From all the racing injuries I have seen I will say that I am 80% certain your horse will return to be a perfectly normal horse provided all goes well with the recovery.

As for what to ask the vets - How long would they recommend box rest for, if the outdoor stable would suit - if not then maybe keep her on a low dose of ACP to take the edge off, ask for a work regime starting from when she is allowed to start walking again, bandaging - rather than pay for the vets to do it every 5 days get them to show you how to do a Robert Jones if you don't already know how. I can't really think of what else to ask them.

I hope everything runs smoothly for you and Eowyn!

ETA. I have never seen E-PET used but it is a basic form of Stem Cell treatment. I have never seen a noticable difference between horses that have had Stem Cell treatment and those that haven't. It didn't reduce healing time and didn't always promote good tissue growth - it either worked or it didn't.

If you do go down the E-PET route please keep us informed as I am intrigued about it to see if it truly does what it says on the tin or not.

Thank you EKW.

She is booked for the E-PET therapy in about 3 weeks time. Vet doesnt even want a bandage on the leg. Now having been involved in racing through my dad (and he cant understand it either) I dont know why he isnt wanting it bandaged :O Unless its to stop excessive heat in the leg that builds up under bandages.

I will be updating on her regularly to see what people think, as I know vets are the experts but I have known them to miss things.

 

[glenruby]

Am I right in thinking shes an older horse? How exactly did she get the injury?

Unfortunately I think you are looking at about 6mths stabling wiht controlled exercise building up during that tiem. The older horses I have had with degenerative disease of the SDFT have all had owner compliance issues which greatly impeded healing. In 2 of the 3 cases the owners turned out after 6weeks (against advice) and both redamaged the tendons to the level they had been at or worse. They then restarted the treatment. 1 year on, 1 of them is still failing to heal properly, the other is back hacking. The third horse suffered a catastrophic breakdown.

Basically, please please follow the advice your vet gives you (or if you are not happy with it look for a 2nd opinion). In some cases, as little as 6 weeks box rest is warranted followed by upto a year trned away - unfortunatly it doesnt sound your like horse fits the bill. Also, it would be pointless spending the money on stem cell treatment without following the exercise program to the letter. I do hope shes on the road to recovery very shortly.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Am I right in thinking shes an older horse? How exactly did she get the injury?

Unfortunately I think you are looking at about 6mths stabling wiht controlled exercise building up during that tiem. The older horses I have had with degenerative disease of the SDFT have all had owner compliance issues which greatly impeded healing. In 2 of the 3 cases the owners turned out after 6weeks (against advice) and both redamaged the tendons to the level they had been at or worse. They then restarted the treatment. 1 year on, 1 of them is still failing to heal properly, the other is back hacking. The third horse suffered a catastrophic breakdown.

Basically, please please follow the advice your vet gives you (or if you are not happy with it look for a 2nd opinion). In some cases, as little as 6 weeks box rest is warranted followed by upto a year trned away - unfortunatly it doesnt sound your like horse fits the bill. Also, it would be pointless spending the money on stem cell treatment without following the exercise program to the letter. I do hope shes on the road to recovery very shortly.

Hi there

My mare is about 12/13 years old So not old but not young. I do have an oldie who is 20 but hes sound and enjoying work

I usually do follow vets instructions but I also follwo my gut instincts as well and question vets methods so A - I understand them and B - I have known them to be wrong my gelding I was told in July that he had liver failure, he had lymphocystic vasculitis

Vet has told me today that if all goes well in a year we shall be returning to ridden work and if everything goes to plan we can pick up where we left off so that has been a little ray of sunshine for me. We are looking at an initial 3 months box rest after treatment then we shall see how things go. He even has hopes that her bow will not be that bad with the therapy and we only may need one treatment then the rest will be up to her and my aftercare

 

[victoria00]

Hi there Nik

Your post really caught my attention as I have been there and done it with the SDFT. It was not an experience I would wish to repeat. Please do not give up hope. My gelding had just about the worse injury to his SDFT that the vet had ever seen. In fact the injury had only ever been seen in race horses.

I want to let you know first of all not to give up. But you will have a long, frustrating time ahead.

I got my boy 100% sound again.

I followed my vets instructions, not just to the day, but to the hour and to the minute.

My boy required one full year of box rest and rehabilitation.

Box rest - 3 months - no handwalking nothing.
Then 3 months of box rest but with daily hand walking starting off at 5 mins, 10 mins, 15 mins spread evenly over the 3 months.
Then 3 months of small (half a tennis court size) of limited turn out i.e. an hour a day building up slowly.
Then we had 3 months of DAILY lunging. Starting off at 5 mins on the line and increasing by 5 mins daily ever 2 weeks.

So it is a hard and frustrating and a daily grind of hard work but it will come good if you follow your vets advice on the rehabilitation.

We also had 3 monthly check ups at the vet school / scans etc to determine the above regime.

It worked for my horse and I believe it will work on all that have suffered a similar injury. As I said my horse was 4/5 lame so a really bad injury but he is 100% sound now and back in work.

I wish you ever success. The best piece of advice I can give you is not to lose hope and to really develope a good relationship with your vet as you will be seeing them a lot over the next year.

Good luck. It's all worth it in the end once you are back in the ridding again.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Hi there Nik

Your post really caught my attention as I have been there and done it with the SDFT. It was not an experience I would wish to repeat. Please do not give up hope. My gelding had just about the worse injury to his SDFT that the vet had ever seen. In fact the injury had only ever been seen in race horses.

I want to let you know first of all not to give up. But you will have a long, frustrating time ahead.

I got my boy 100% sound again.

I followed my vets instructions, not just to the day, but to the hour and to the minute.

My boy required one full year of box rest and rehabilitation.

Box rest - 3 months - no handwalking nothing.
Then 3 months of box rest but with daily hand walking starting off at 5 mins, 10 mins, 15 mins spread evenly over the 3 months.
Then 3 months of small (half a tennis court size) of limited turn out i.e. an hour a day building up slowly.
Then we had 3 months of DAILY lunging. Starting off at 5 mins on the line and increasing by 5 mins daily ever 2 weeks.

So it is a hard and frustrating and a daily grind of hard work but it will come good if you follow your vets advice on the rehabilitation.

We also had 3 monthly check ups at the vet school / scans etc to determine the above regime.

It worked for my horse and I believe it will work on all that have suffered a similar injury. As I said my horse was 4/5 lame so a really bad injury but he is 100% sound now and back in work.

I wish you ever success. The best piece of advice I can give you is not to lose hope and to really develope a good relationship with your vet as you will be seeing them a lot over the next year.

Good luck. It's all worth it in the end once you are back in the ridding again.

Hi there Victoria

Thank you very much for your post. these are new vets I am using so if I dont have a relationship with them just now I sure will do when i am done

Its good to have read someones direct experieinces!! Thank you so much. She can have as long as she likes to come right, Im not in any rush

 

[victoria00]

Brill - just as you said that there about not being in any rush, i had a flash back about my vet saying "we need more hand walking, period of small pen limited turn out - we have the luxury of time". Thats great if you can at least be prepared for at least a full year of rehabilitation.

All the very best. Your mare can and will come good.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Brill - just as you said that there about not being in any rush, i had a flash back about my vet saying "we need more hand walking, period of small pen limited turn out - we have the luxury of time". Thats great if you can at least be prepared for at least a full year of rehabilitation.

All the very best. Your mare can and will come good.

Thank you very much We will take all the vibes we can Will give me a chance to get things sorted with her feet and to see if its her workload giving me bother with her weight of if it is just her being naturally thin and hard to put weight on

Might stop her separation axiety issues as well as my gelding will be getting worked and she will have to stay in the stable.

 

[katiemg]

Have you had a good look at the VetCell website becuase my friend had that done for her horse (stem cell rather than E-PET) and he didn't have much box rest - was a headcase so just as well really! They have the rehab timeline listed and it doesn't seem too bad really...
http://www.vetcell.com/assets/Procedures/VetCell-PIRP-SDFT.pdf

My friend was told that this is a guideline and it varies for each horse. It may be that urs would be better in a small outside space rather than inside but at least she can get out for exercise from day one. My friends horse has bounced back really well and is out eventing again. Her insurance paid for it so if yours is insured then that would help lots