Shetland booked in for lameness workup (stifle) what to expect?

SaffronWelshDragon

SaffronWelshDragon

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Hi all,

Unfortunately Rosie, our little-talked about Shetland, hasn’t been right for a couple of months. Initially thought to be a bout of laminitis in her hind feet, the second time the vet came out we knew it was higher up, and now think it is a stifle problem. Not sure whether it was a slip in the field, or a lingering problem. She had a couple of weeks box rest which didn’t see much improvement, so she is now in at night and out during the day. She does seem to be worse after she comes out of the stable in the morning, and seems to loosen up during the day when she's out.

Anyway, we’ve bitten the bullet and she’s booked to go to our vets for a lameness workup on Wednesday. Thankfully this never normally happens with us, so I have no experience of what to expect! Does anyone know what’s involved? The vet mentioned nerve blocking, but other than this I’m a bit clueless. Feeling a bit worried about what’s going to happen, how much it’s going to cost (she is insured but up to £3500) and whether she will have to stay there for one day or more. Presumably I need to provide feed / hay etc.

Just looking for some reassurance really, anyone have any experience of this sort of thing? I’m a bit all over the place at the moment worrying about it.
 
My guess is she'll be lunged/ trotted up then they'll start by nerve blocking the hoof to see if this cures the lameness and if not nerve block higher and higher up the leg until she stops being lame? Absolutely nothing to worry about, good luck. Hope you find out what's wrong :)
 
Just took mine in for lameness workup - arrived they took him straight to treatment room - vet felt all over legs and took history from me (I am sad and had A4 bit of paper with dates etc of first incident and subsequent observations). He then took him outside and I stood with vet whilst horse was trotted up in front of us - he was then flexion tested (hind leg held up for a bit) and trotted off again, this confirmed what the vet thought which was stifle.

Back to treatment room, horse sedated, area clipped and we could then see a swelling on the stifle, he then xrayed numerous times, showed me the xrays and then used ultrasound. He was happy it was a bone cyst that had caused swelling on joint and area was then cleaned (this takes a while as they are v thorough) and then tap put in - fluid drained off then 2 injections given of steroid into stifle.

By time we had chatted and all this was done horse was awake, loaded on trailer, promptly unloaded himself stood on my foot and was sworn at and reloaded - signed paperwork in office and took horse home. All in all around 1.5 to 2 hours there - no idea of cost as all goes through insurance but I did have to pay excess of £145 to vet (to cover NFU insurance excess) and a £12 document fee. I got given joint supplement to take home (ask for some bute if required as will go on vets bill) and told to keep in for a couple of days, then turn out in field then after week or so bring gradually back into work.

It was all really interesting to watch and I was kept informed of everything happening.

Hope this helps cos it is hard to know what to expect !!
 
Aww thanks guys, that is great! Really nice to have a step by step account of the day. The admin lady did warn me about it taking longer than a day (which wouldn't be great as we have to borrow a trailer and my friend is towing for me). I keep worrying that she'll need to have an op or something! Unfortunately my excess is £500! I have no idea how I didn't notice that, I'm usually so good with reading small print. Thankfully I go halves with my sister on everything so at least that is something. That's the other thing, I haven't been billed for the previous vet visit yet, but can I combine it with this new appointment so I only pay the excess once? I'm slightly scared about calling insurance companies as they seem to be quick to exclude things, what if the treatment is ongoing? Thanks again, I will keep you updated.
 
SaffronWelshDragon said:
I haven't been billed for the previous vet visit yet, but can I combine it with this new appointment so I only pay the excess once?.
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You should be able to claim for the previous vet visits, as long as the reason for the vet attending was to examine your mare during her current spell of lameness.

It can be a bit tricky in that insurance companies don't like to commit to accepting a claim until the vet has made a definite diagnosis, but it may take a number of examinations before that stage is reached.

The insurance co may also want your vets to provide a full record of all veterinary attention that she has received whilst in your ownership. Be prepared to deal with a lot of paperwork!

The vets may want to have her overnight to repeat nerve blocks, for instance. They may get the rough area first time then have to wait for that block to wear off and repeat the next day but with much more precision.

Good luck with it all!
 
All done, picking her up tomorrow morning.

Vets were lovely, walked and trotted her up, and the vet who saw her originally thought she had improved, so nice positive start. Did a flexion test, and she was obviously sore, not surprised. The surprise was when she flexion tested the other hind, and she was lame on that as well! :( We think that the right hind (the original lame one) was masking the left one. Nerve blocked the right one on the hind cannon, and everything stayed the same so definitely stifle area. Sedated and x-rayed, couldn't really see anything odd. Nerve blocked the right stifle. Lameness went straight over to the left! She was then kept in overnight and scanned today. Again, they couldn't see anything obviously wrong.

We're picking her up tomorrow morning. Poor girl must be wondering what's going on, and we're really none the wiser :(
 
Glad to hear nothing awful found but how frustrating for you ! Could it be sacroiliac? That is what was suspected in mine before xrays showed bone cyst. The other thing is that xrays don't show soft tissue damage (I could be wrong on this) my vet also said could have been cruciate but he would have expected much more lameness......

Hopefully your little one will just come right with time !
 
Thanks guys! Yes it is frustrating not having any firm answers. They did scan both stifles as well and found nothing obvious. I agree that it's good the vet thought she had improved :) She's now on a bit of bute daily, and they're going to try something called iwrap, which uses the horse's own blood which is injected into the joint to help reduce inflammation. Have heard some good things about it so fingers crossed.

Here's a snap of Rosie, just so you can put a face to a name - so cute!


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oooh how cute !! I would be interested to know how you get on with the iwrap - its something I will be asking vet about (we have vet visiting at 3pm for progress visit) although not sure if it is useful with bone cysts.
 
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