Thoughts for what to ask the vets to test for gratefully received!

maya2008

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TRH test done - as negative as can be, completely in normal range…and she’s shedding like mad right now so I believe it!

So on to x-ray guided trim with farrier and vet on-site together later this month and then our only option left is pain relief. Farrier says he doesn’t carry shoes that small, so best plan is wash her feet and bring her in for them to dry, then use the boots. Obviously fine in dry weather anyway.

To be honest I am not feeling massively hopeful. The last few years, as the ‘old guard’ have gradually aged and died, has just taught me that if a horse (especially an older one) becomes unwell when it’s already receiving what would be the treatment for that condition in care, it’s probably something the vets cannot fix.
- barefoot horse got navicular…she was already barefoot, it was actually arthritis in the hoof and none of the expensive navicular treatment did a thing.
- pony got canker again, despite keeping hooves clean, dry field etc. We tried, but her immune system was no longer up for the job.
- pssm pony struggling despite all the supplements and the daily exercise that always worked before. In the end we had to call it.
- now Shetland who used to be able to live out without a muzzle, got laminitis when slim, on rubbish grass and a little hay. A year later she’s still not sound.

Feeling a little glum. She’s happy for now on the medication but this is clearly progressive now we’ve tracked it all back to her initially wanting to slow down a couple of years before the lami struck in full. I think we are very much on borrowed time given she isn’t sound even with perfect insulin levels.
 
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maya2008

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Update in case anyone finds this while searching for solutions for themselves.

Ertugliflozin has, long term, made a huge difference to her soundness. We’re leading her out too and she’s enjoying seeing the world. BUT after the first few weeks she started losing weight faster and faster, coat dull, always starving hungry. Reduced dosage to match new weight and that has helped a little, but she’s eating an enormous pile of low sugar haylage daily just to keep the weight stable. She looks old too - the latest coat change has shown all the stress of the last year.

I’m fighting to give her this last summer - fun times with her friends in the warm. I don’t know how much further we will get. Vet agreed better to have less time but enjoy it than longer filled with pain, so we’ll stay on the meds and try to make it work, because without them her feet just hurt so much (x-rays good so nothing to see/do there).
 

Pearlsasinger

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We had an elderly cob who was retired for 6 years after a prolonged episode of colic. Aged 31, she went lame, farrier couldn't find an abscess, vet did xrays, found nothing significant to cause the problem. Then we were snowed in for over a week. After the snow went, cob was put out to graze daily in her own patch, so that the others couldn't harry her, weather was still cold and wet. I went home from work one lunchtime to move her and realised that she was ataxia. Vet called and everyone involved was present when she was pts. I have often wondered if the weather had been better would we have realised what was going on sooner.
Over the years I have learned that if you start to think of pts, it is usually not a good idea to prolong the process unless the vet can offer a real cure.
I hope you do get to enjoy a last summer together.
 

Birker2020

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Strangely enough two years ago today I had Bailey pts. She was lame, xrays had revealed the start of a crumbling navicular bone with her DDFT possibly catching the back of a spur.

She'd had a good innings and at 24 being a WB had done very well. You know when the time is right, you just know. She was pts about 2 years and 30 mins ago and like I've just written on my FB page it was the hardest decision and yet in some ways the easiest, and a decision I've never regretted. But you have to be ready in your own mind.

Thinking of you. X
 

SEL

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Strangely enough two years ago today I had Bailey pts. She was lame, xrays had revealed the start of a crumbling navicular bone with her DDFT possibly catching the back of a spur.

She'd had a good innings and at 24 being a WB had done very well. You know when the time is right, you just know. She was pts about 2 years and 30 mins ago and like I've just written on my FB page it was the hardest decision and yet in some ways the easiest, and a decision I've never regretted. But you have to be ready in your own mind.

Thinking of you. X

The hardest and the easiest decision is exactly how I felt too when I said goodbye to the big man last year.

@maya2008 I wanted a last summer and I got it (he went in September) but in the last fortnight I had to ramp up the pain relief whilst I sorted everything out and tried not to ruin some important family occasions. He went out in style - the hunt came past the day beforehand and it was like he was a youngster again - but also doped up to the eyeballs. I wouldn't change how it was for him, but it was stressful for me. If you find yourself starting to wake at 3am then don't keep hanging onto the one more summer dream and be kind to yourself xx
 

maya2008

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She’s full of energy and very happy - ran off and jumped the jumps that are permanently set up in our little ‘school’ today! Looked very pleased with herself afterwards, while we all gasped in horror at all that concussion on her front hooves!

If I could just get some weight on her, she’d have an amazing summer. Been looking at feeds…currently she has speedibeet mixed with mollichaff lite and a splash of oil 4x a day plus haylage mountains. I need more calories in a bucket or something I can just leave her to nibble on when she’s on her own during the day. Is it worth trying her on Alfa-A oil do you think? Alfalfa isn’t my favourite thing, especially as I have had it trigger laminitics in the past, but I am really stuck for options and I could leave a bucket of it mixed with beet for her to eat. Any other feed suggestions gratefully received!

I could try her on some grass, but if that goes wrong, I will have cut her summer even shorter, so that is very much a last resort.
 

HelenBack

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What about one of the low sugar and starch but high fibre and oil feeds aimed at ulcer prone horses to go in the bucket? Something like Baileys Ease and Excel or the Saracens Releve? Both available in mix or cubes and both high calorie. And then maybe some linseed or Equijewel on top of that. Should all be very high calorie but laminitis safe but obviously check the bags first.
 
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