The ongoing saga - now Stifles, info needed!

[BethH]

Groan, so having gone through nightmares with my horse over the last 2 years, he was very very lame again over Xmas. The lethargy seems to have gone I think mainly because he has become a pretty much retired horse and the protexein seems to have helped, along with every other supplement under the sun & he now seems much happier in himself, in fact so perky he was playing in the field with his friends and is quite bright eyed.

I've been complaining about lack of back end engine and 18mths ago suspected hocks were injected but the soundness came and went in waves, I've never been 100% convinced it was hocks that were the underlying problem, but the mechanical lameness on the right leg did go afterwards. Anyway a couple of days before Xmas he decided he couldn't trot (looked sound in walk) and started waving his left hind in the air in a very undignified fashion - my thought process ranged from Abcess to fractured pelvis!! - Merry Xmas!

Roll on the festive period, lameness work up, bute and confined to barracks for several weeks, my lovely senior vet who has been on my painful journey to get my horse happy and sound has managed to reschedule his diary to fit Ryan in yesterday morning. Is horrified at how lame he is ("I've never seen him this bad before!" - quote/unquote & I reply "Actually he's looking quite god in comparison to Xmas eve"!) finally he thinks he has found an arthritic change inside the stifle, he has found a lump that feels like remodelling so my poor horse is yet again off to the clinc for x-rays & nerve blocks - now uninsured!

So my question is has anyone had a horse with what appears to be remodelling of the stifle joint, what is usually the treatment & prognosis? The vet thinks it is interesting that I have always said he is happier after rest which is contrary to usual arthritis where daily work is better. After 2 or 3 days of consistent work he seems not cope so I can't get the muscle on to get him strong. This now makes sense to me and explains why he can't push from behind and curves his body and I suspect the problem was there all along even when trying to treat the hocks.

End of this chapter but thought would be good to ask if anyone else has experienced this? I've had Ryan for over 12years so he is part of the family and he is too busy in the head to do nothing, is there any hope of him being ridden again?? My wallet is sobbing!

 

[Farcical1]

It sounds similar in some ways to my mare. Her problem turned out to be her hind suspensory ligaments.
She also had no push from behind and towards the end was very bent under saddle, in an effort to get the weight off her worse leg. Unfortunately hers was bilateral so was very hard to spot until it got very bad.

A full vet work up is the only way to go. Good luck and I hope you find an answer.

 

[Goldenstar]

A work up is way forward .
Stifle issues often come along with chronic hock issues .
Does the horse get pain relief daily ?
Long term danilon might be an economic way forward to improve his quality of life .
Good luck at the vets .

 

[BethH]

Thank you - this is about his 4th work up in 2 yrs, I coughed up for scintigraphy, nerve blocks, ultra sound and xrays last year too. The main difference this time is there's no scintigraphy so at least it will be £1200 cheaper!!!! Mind you he had no hot spots in the stifle area last year. It's getting a bit boring all of this, but he is a sweatheart so lets hope the wallet can go on for a bit longer. My main concern is that he isn't in pain but it would be lovely to ride at some point in the next 10years! My chiro suggested that his skeletal gene pool was pants!

 

[BethH]

Hi - no he doesn't get bute daily because to be honest bute never seemed to have made any difference to him, we tried it and he was just the same and he doesn't look in pain, some days just a bit fed up when it is damp, but he is keen to go out and see his friends in the field and he is still the head honcho out there.

Funnily enough on Xmas eve I went to the vets to get some bute as I could tell he was unhappy, I gave it to him for a week and he seemed immediately happier. Hence the Senior Vet seeing him yesterday and he is off for further investigation. It's interesting that you say this can go hand in hand with hocks. He came 90% sound on the nerve blocks to the hocks last year and I was wondering whether it knocked out any pain in the stifle too. My vet is now thinking it could have been running alongside the hocks but not bothering my horse enough to show up as a problem.

My horse had KS as a baby and after the op aged 6 he was brilliant for 8 or 9 years until a new farrier utterly messed up his foot balance 2years ago and from there he has been on a slippery slope downhill. The only good thing is that he now has amazing feet, it's just everything else that seems to be knackered!

It would be so nice to get a conclusive answer, my poor boy is quite stoical so you really have to peel away the layers to get to the bottom of any problems!

 

[smellsofhorse]

You could also go the barefoot route considering his farrier history.

 

[BethH]

Hi thanks for taking the time to the reply. He is barefoot - has been for 2yrs after the last farrier debacle, I have a fab podiatrist who actually saw him this morning and said he was also struggling on the front right. Anyway to cut a long story short, he put wraps & road grips on the fronts and wraps on the back and he was immediately happier on the soft ground and the lameness from the back left seems much improved and he did offer trot without collapsing! We now think he was sore on the heel of the back left which meant he was landing more toe first and then whilst playing in the field also tweaked a muscle in his groin. I have rested him since before xmas when he got a week of bute and it seems to have mostly resolved. So investigation at vets now delayed for a couple of weeks to see if he comes sound once his foot cartiledge has toughened up as he is still slightly lame but not where he was lame! Sighing still - so much easier if they could talk!