Hattikins
Well-Known Member
Well i dont know how many of you have followed the intermittent tale of Fiddler the invalid, but there is now well and truly a new chapter to this drawn out story
Quick summary: All started a year ago after Eridge PN, didnt seem himself - didnt want to jump, was getting very thuggish and strong. Vets scratched their heads and thought it was near fore suspensory trouble. So 3 months off ensued and he came back into work in December. Went beautifully went to one dressage competition and won one class and was 2nd in the other which was amusing as he beat Hattie by a place in both! Anyway we started to jump him again and he seemed really unhappy, took him to vets and they thought it may well be navicular, they ruled this out in favour of thinking it may be deep tissue damage in the foot. (He is a very strange case bearing in mind he ranges from being almost sound to being hopping lame and back again in the course of a week and there is absolutely no heat, swelling or anything!)
So we decided on an MRI scan to see if they could find tissue damage in his foot. They scanned both front feet and found nothing! So as a last ditch resort they scanned up to his fetlock and found a very rare bone cyst on his sesamoids. Took him back to our vet who nerve blocked him - he didnt go sound so we searched for another cause of lameness now thinking that he may have had this cyst since birth and it may not be causing him any pain at all!
Thought we'd found a damaged ligament that joins the long and short pastern in his near fore and when nerve blocked he came fairly sound. So concluded that a year off could do the trick and stuck him on cartrophen for good measure. He completed the remainder of his 2months box rest and we put him out in the field. He had the first two cartrophen injections. Wedsnesday he came in hopping hopping lame from the field - the worst he had ever been
Called our fantastic long suffering vet out and he concluded that x-rays were needed asap and that this had to be the cyst causing the problem.
Went up for x-rays on thursday - bad news. The cyst which had already made a sizeable whole in Fiddly's sesamoid had now destroyed more of his sesmoid and was now much bigger. Basically there are only two options - one of which we couldnt bear to do to him. First option is to just leave him in the field getting worse and worse and knowing that in maybe as little as a year and a half's time he would have to be put down - being in so much pain - we've well and truly decided this is not an option - he deserves a chance.
Second option is for him to undergo surgery to drain and pack the cyst with an 80% chance of being happy to wander around his field for the rest of his days, a 50% chance of going back to full competition life and a 20% chance that it wont work at all. Of course there's also the chance that they open him up, decide they cant help him and put him down then and there - but it's the risk we will have to take
Our fantastic vet is now talking to top surgeons to decide whether this is definitely the best course of action and then hopefully if it is he will go for surgery in the next month
. A BIG ouch as insurance money is running out!! bloomin' horses!
Cant believe its come to this, but he is so so special i couldnt live knowing we hadnt given him another chance.
There will be another update when we know whether he will or will not go for the operation
Quick summary: All started a year ago after Eridge PN, didnt seem himself - didnt want to jump, was getting very thuggish and strong. Vets scratched their heads and thought it was near fore suspensory trouble. So 3 months off ensued and he came back into work in December. Went beautifully went to one dressage competition and won one class and was 2nd in the other which was amusing as he beat Hattie by a place in both! Anyway we started to jump him again and he seemed really unhappy, took him to vets and they thought it may well be navicular, they ruled this out in favour of thinking it may be deep tissue damage in the foot. (He is a very strange case bearing in mind he ranges from being almost sound to being hopping lame and back again in the course of a week and there is absolutely no heat, swelling or anything!)
Thought we'd found a damaged ligament that joins the long and short pastern in his near fore and when nerve blocked he came fairly sound. So concluded that a year off could do the trick and stuck him on cartrophen for good measure. He completed the remainder of his 2months box rest and we put him out in the field. He had the first two cartrophen injections. Wedsnesday he came in hopping hopping lame from the field - the worst he had ever been
Went up for x-rays on thursday - bad news. The cyst which had already made a sizeable whole in Fiddly's sesamoid had now destroyed more of his sesmoid and was now much bigger. Basically there are only two options - one of which we couldnt bear to do to him. First option is to just leave him in the field getting worse and worse and knowing that in maybe as little as a year and a half's time he would have to be put down - being in so much pain - we've well and truly decided this is not an option - he deserves a chance.
Second option is for him to undergo surgery to drain and pack the cyst with an 80% chance of being happy to wander around his field for the rest of his days, a 50% chance of going back to full competition life and a 20% chance that it wont work at all. Of course there's also the chance that they open him up, decide they cant help him and put him down then and there - but it's the risk we will have to take
Cant believe its come to this, but he is so so special i couldnt live knowing we hadnt given him another chance.
There will be another update when we know whether he will or will not go for the operation
