Thermal Imaging - now what?

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pollypock1211

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Had Thermal Imaging today for my horse with complex lameness issues - not sure why I had it done now - I was hoping it would help me in making some decisions with my horse & all it's done is confused me all the more :(

Story cut very short - my horse suffers with OCD in his stifles accompanied with Osteoarthritis- he also has severe spavins in both hocks & last month was diagnosed with navicular :( oh & he is 9yrs old! I've tried everything to get him right and sound. The whole "quality of life" was discussed with my vet who seems to think there is still hope, despite everything. I am struggling to believe this & we have discussed PTS route which my vet also understands but I feel so damn guilty & I am really struggling to make a decision. Someone recommended the thermal imaging so I gave it a go - results were that he has some areas of "red spots" on his stifles & hocks but nothing of major concern. The only concern was around his withers ? A new problem??? The thermal image man told me he would have thought it's definatly not a PTS case! Would spavins show up as a major hotspot? There was no heat at all in his front legs - he would have thought there would have been with the navicular ?
Ideas & thoughts appreciated x
 
Not much help but my bet told me to avoid the thermal image scenario as she seemed to think it was quite pot luck.
Not sure navicular would show, would have thought it would more likely to show as a cold spot due to blood supply to the feet?
As far as I have learned of your vet sees hope I would not worry. My experience of vets is they are the first to give guarded prognosis.
I don't know anything about your horse or you but of he is shod maybe have a look at going barefoot for the navicular as it seems to be the only chance of reversing navicular based on my personal research and regarding the osteoarthritis, movement and diet are the way for that which works perfectly with barefoot rehab.

Sorry to hear your news but personally I would discount the imaging other then getting your saddle checked and or back if your horse is being ridden or not.
Good luck.
 
Thanks for replying :) he has been bare footed & It didn't work out so he is shod with wedges and full frog support to help the navicular - he is fully retired and has been 6 months now - he's had a new saddle last year aftr his back was checked and he has had monthly physio visits after he had surgery on his stifles. He did have back pain but this was secondary to his lameness and couldn't be sorted unless the lameness was :/
 
No advice but (((hugs))).

At the end of the day it is your horse. If YOU feel you have done your best and that your horse has had enough/won't be happy in field/won't be field sound then you must do what you must do. Never easy but sometimes when they have complex problems as you sort one thing out a sort of "knock on" effect seems to happen and another problem rears its ugly head.

I can say from bitter experience that once a decision is made the guilt does ease. Listen to your horse - he will tell you when he has had enough. If he is bright and you are able to carry on then good luck. It is soul destroying I know especially with such a young horse.
 
Hi again. Trying to be helpful whist gleaning some education myself. If this is annoying I won't be offended if you ignore me but I have a couple of other questions that may prompt others to offer useful advice.
How sound is he now? How long did you try bf for? What does he eat?
Re the withers, If you are confident in the reliability of the imaging, get a 2nd opinion from a recommended physio or chiro. Tbh with his other issues it may just be that he is moving differently and trying to weightload in an odd way or maybe his head and neck carriage could have caused this. I am obviously just guessing as anyone would be without seeing the horse.
Does sound like you have more to worry about then withers.

I would not be too happy paying a fortune for shoes to keep a horse field sound.
 
He looked like he was too sore bf, well the vet couldn't make his mind up if it was the navicular causing lameness or footsoreness - so he was shod & since he has been alot better on front however behind he's gone back to square one! Totally agree with the " you sort one problem out and another problem arises! " This is what seems to happening all the time - a young horse with so many problems all having an impact on each other. He was bf for about 8 weeks. He's just on forage diet at the moment with supplements (cosequin, cider vinegar). His lameness was hard to detect as he was lame all four.. Now hes bilaterally lame behind - he seems field sound he is just dragging his toes really bad & riding him is totally out of the question as he seems so uncomfy - all in all he has deteriorated so much in the last 8 months :/ x
 
I'm so sorry, had you had him long when all this happened? I know from experience how soul destroying and heartbreaking lameness is.
 
My boy has been diagnosed with navicular and with most of the ligaments and tendon inside the hoof damaged. I have taken his shoes (pads with a small heel lift) last week. He was sound in the shoes, tonight I could not decide if he was rf lame or just sore.

My farrier and everyone else I have spoken to or met or even Discussed bf with on here have all advised me to expect up to possibly 3 months severe up and downs and mostly to give bf a minimum off 6 months unless your horse is in far far to much pain.
I don't want to sound pompadour but to me you seem to have taken the biggest bravest step and no quite given it a fair chance. I can only speak of my own opinion though.
 
It is , I'm sure there's alot of people on here who knows what it feels like :( if only they cud talk to us - his lameness has been ongoing for nearly 3 years now & no, I only had him a week before I notice he wasn't right (totally my fault as I took a massive risk and didn't get him vetted) obviously his previous owners didnt want to know a thing & we set up a whole court case with solicitors but that's a different story! It wasn't until a physio came out two weeks later and confirmed his bilateral lameness! I was horrified! No1 else had detected it. The diganostic stage started there & has been ongoing ever since x
 
If your horse is sound in shoes and lame out of them, shoes is the logical step. Sounds like he is not sound now or what is his level of lameness currently? TBH this just shows how rubbish termal imaging is.. At the best.. with a pinch of salt.. it's going to show up active inflammation, not all arthritic changes etc. which can be causing pain. Presumeable radiographs have diagnosed the arthritis? Have you tried hinm on bute?
 
"""""""don't want to sound pompadour but to me you seem to have taken the biggest bravest step and no quite given it a fair chance. I can only speak of my own opinion though.""""""


Not at all - but I'm just following my vets advice - he said try bf & then decided he couldn't cope with it. However I am reluctant to keep up with the remedial shoeing to keep him field sound - and at £90 a time every 6 weeks! His hoofs are terrible x
 
Tbh with a horse with diagnosed osteoarthritis that is not sound I would be tempted to pts unless yuo can manage the pain. Sorry, but it is a degenerative condition and isn't going to get any better.
 
Themal imaging just shows heat so hot spots on the horse show I am not an expert but as navicular is associated with lack of circulation I am not sure it would show as a hot spot.
The new hot spot on the wither could anything from active arthritis to skin inflammation, it's interpretation of all these diagnostic tools that the difficult for what it's worth my vet does not find thermal imaging very helpful.
You are in a sad situation and I wish all the best in making what is a difficult desiscion Good luck withit all.
 
OP, is your horse rugged? If so a hotspot on the wither could be easily explained by rug pressure.
Thermal imaging really is not the be all and end all, it is in general very rudimentary.
 
Sorry to hear about your horse. My girl was diagnosed with Navicular 12 months ago although she doesn't have any other health problems. It was only diagnosed after getting a starting point from thermal imaging & I have it done every 6 months so I can see changes. Such a shame for a young horse to have so many ailments & not an easy decision regarding his future. ((((Hugs)))
 
Yes he is rugged up & exactly what i thought about the weird spots on his withers - i will post the images on here tomorrow night. My vet refuses to look at the images as he too says thermal imaging is totally unreliable. It depends on so many factors! yet another waste of money!
 
pollypock1211 said:
"""""""don't want to sound pompadour but to me you seem to have taken the biggest bravest step and no quite given it a fair chance. I can only speak of my own opinion though.""""""


Not at all - but I'm just following my vets advice - he said try bf & then decided he couldn't cope with it. However I am reluctant to keep up with the remedial shoeing to keep him field sound - and at £90 a time every 6 weeks! His hoofs are terrible x
Click to expand...

My normal shoes cost more than that every five weeks plus the visit cost.
 
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