Equestrian006
New User
Hi all, for the past six weeks my horse has been dead lame on his left hind, and he is not getting any better. Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Here are the details:
6 weeks ago he came up dead lame, as if he had broken his stifle. The vet came out and he blocked him from the fetlock down and he went sound, so we accounted it to a deep crack he has in the central sulcus (which was new). The crack runs pretty deep, and he was quite sensitive when we poked down there. The vet had one of his farriers come out and put eggbar shoes on his hind feet, to try to take some weight off of his heels. He looked a slight bit sounder once they were put on, but not as much as we had hoped. We decided to go a week and see if stall rest and the shoe would help.
A week later, after the stall rest and packing it with an osmotic sweat and wrapping it and a week on bute, he did not get any better. We decided to radiograph the fetlock, pastern, coffin, etc. All xrays came back clean, so the vet still stuck with his guess that it was just the crack. He gave me 'canker paste' which is a good past to clean out and kill any bacteria down in the crack. I have been cleaning it out and wrapping his foot religiously, and he has been in his stall all day/night, only to come out for short walks and his foot-wrap changed. Four weeks later, the heel is looking and feeling a little better, but he is still dead lame.
Yesterday the vet said he would give it three more weeks, and if he was not any bit sounder we would have to think of other options, such as an MRI. He also wants to try re-blocking him at the coffin joint. He works with some of the top podiatrists in the world, and they have only ever seen this condition once, and they said it took a while to heal, however my vet was expecting him to look at least a little better. He is now questioning whether it is a tendon or ligament issue. The only thing that doesn't fit the equation for a tendon issue is that he is not swollen or hot anywhere. I am really frustrated and can't find anything in books or the internet with this problem, so if anyone has any information or suggestions, please let me know!!
Thanks!
6 weeks ago he came up dead lame, as if he had broken his stifle. The vet came out and he blocked him from the fetlock down and he went sound, so we accounted it to a deep crack he has in the central sulcus (which was new). The crack runs pretty deep, and he was quite sensitive when we poked down there. The vet had one of his farriers come out and put eggbar shoes on his hind feet, to try to take some weight off of his heels. He looked a slight bit sounder once they were put on, but not as much as we had hoped. We decided to go a week and see if stall rest and the shoe would help.
A week later, after the stall rest and packing it with an osmotic sweat and wrapping it and a week on bute, he did not get any better. We decided to radiograph the fetlock, pastern, coffin, etc. All xrays came back clean, so the vet still stuck with his guess that it was just the crack. He gave me 'canker paste' which is a good past to clean out and kill any bacteria down in the crack. I have been cleaning it out and wrapping his foot religiously, and he has been in his stall all day/night, only to come out for short walks and his foot-wrap changed. Four weeks later, the heel is looking and feeling a little better, but he is still dead lame.
Yesterday the vet said he would give it three more weeks, and if he was not any bit sounder we would have to think of other options, such as an MRI. He also wants to try re-blocking him at the coffin joint. He works with some of the top podiatrists in the world, and they have only ever seen this condition once, and they said it took a while to heal, however my vet was expecting him to look at least a little better. He is now questioning whether it is a tendon or ligament issue. The only thing that doesn't fit the equation for a tendon issue is that he is not swollen or hot anywhere. I am really frustrated and can't find anything in books or the internet with this problem, so if anyone has any information or suggestions, please let me know!!
Thanks!
