Very swollen hock

Foxy girl

Foxy girl

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Hi all,
Went to turn out my 15.2 7yr old cob on Sat and he was lying down in his stable which is unusual. He was hopping lame on his back right leg and it was clearly his hock that was the issue. vet came out and clipped whole area and took a sample of the joint fluid which he tested and concluded it wasn't infected, just inflamed. On box rest and one bute a day. he seems much more comfortable today and is putting weight on it, but the hock is still hugely swollen although not as hot as it was.

Vet seems to think it's a sprain and he may have got cast although there was no sign of a struggle as I checked immediately, thinking the same.

He is such a resilient boy who is never sad sorry or lame - have to say I'm concerned by the size of it and can't believe it's going to recover.

Anyone had similar?
Thanks
x
 
Have you got a hock boot? Might be worth investing in one to help the swelling go down...

It is amazing how quickly they can recover from this sort of thing so don't worry yet.
 
Thank you CBFan - I wondered about a hock boot, may see if I can borrow one locally.

Really hoping it will start to look better this week. Scary how lame he was :-(

Thanks again
x
 
My youngster has just done similar thing. I used ice clay and bandage overnight, cold hosed in the mornings and left bare to dry and repeated it all. Did this for about 5 days and it went right down and is fine now.
 
putasocinit said:
A hock boot will make the area warm and sweat, you want to cold hose to bring the swelling down.
Click to expand...

Actually a combination of the two would do it good. My vet always reccomends sevral short spells of cold hosing are better than one long one, together with bandaging to take the swelling down...

I am talking from experience here too!!... Hock boots are fairly cheap (I got the shires lined neoprene ones which are pretty hard wearaing compared to some, which split within a few uses) at just £16...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Brand-New...A%2BFICS%2BUFI&otn=21&pmod=360534490577&ps=54

Sorry for the delayed reply... any improvement OP?
 
Thanks for your replies - Bo was admitted to Leahurst this morning as an emergency case and was operated on at lunchtime to flush out his hock joint as it was determined to be septic. He has had no injury that we know of, and no wound that's visible so it remains a mystery. He sustained a wound to that leg on 5th November - I can't believe it would lie dormant for that long but that seems to be the only explanation at this point.

They may have to flush it again (under general anaesthetic again) on Friday - the prognosis for this kind of injury isn't great unfortunately...
 
Thanks for your support everyone - spoke to Leahurst twice today (only about 35 mins from me - luckily) and Bo is bright and doing well BUT the infection was substantial and the debris in the joint was significant. They are planning to do another flush tomorrow by nerve blocking the leg (rather than a general) but are prepared to have to do another flush via GA over the weekend.

Having spoken with my insurers, the limit on the policy is £5k and we are already at £3k. I have to pay 17% of the claim and the insurance doesn't cover livery or transport (currently totalling £800). Reading up about the procedure it sounds like the success rate is pretty poor and I just don't know what to do. I can't believe this has come out of nowhere and that a gorgeous 7 year old horse's life is on the line ... I love him to bits but my finances aren't unlimited. Feel sick to think I might have to make a decision based on funds... :-(
 
Poor bo and what a horrible situation to be in , it's very hard as the bills mount up very quickly when they are there , In a way I suppose if the vets felt the prognosis wasn't that good they would not consider doing any more sx with him ? I hope u have a good outcome for bo , update us tommorrow x keep strong and healing vibes !! X
 
my daughters horse had a major infection in the fetlock joint just over a yr ago, the joint fluid came out looking like cream! we did not do any further test on the fluid and my vet flushed the joint under sedation at the yard immediately. we took her in the next morning and she had gone from non weight bearing to being able to load and move fairly comfortably overnight, he flushed the joint a second time with sedation only, she was then on injectable ai for a week and never looked back.
her was caused by a blackthorn penetrating the joint capsule-i only know this because i had removed the thorn 3 days prior to her being unable to walk and in so much pain she just laid down groaning. my fingers were obviously not crossed firmly enough when i removed that very expensive thorn-but if the infection responds quickly the damage is lessened.

good luck with your lad
 
Just spoken to Leahurst. Bo is comfortable and walking well on leg BUT they are not happy with the level of infection still in the joint. They had flushed it today using a nerve block (with horse standing) but results not as good as they would have hoped. Planning another flush on Sunday using nerve block and then another flush via GA if that doesn't change the readings of the sample.

However, I will by then have reached my £5,000 limit on the insurance and already have a bill of £1,300+ for livery and transport plus 17% of the total claim. Not sure how much more I can afford, especially if another flush is needed after Sunday.

Feel sick to my stomach at the thought that he might not come home. All down to a tiny scratch that we can't even find.

Just waiting for my vet to call after he's spoken with Leahurst so I can talk frankly to him about the realistic prognosis. :-(
 
so sorry to hear that foxy girl ,its a very sad day when youve got to make that decision based upon money alone. one of my horses came back from a terrible hock injury so there is hope . ive got everything crossed for you both(((hugs)))
 
have a frank talk with your vet any way, i was told the longer the infection is present in the joint the less likely hood there is of a full recovery so its not just money making any decisions here, ask what the chances are of being sound enough to do what you do know with your horse in the future
 
Thank you for your support. I can't believe I may have to make a decision based on funds but with two small children and a large mortgage I can't keep finding money from nowhere... The infection has definitely been there for a week now and maybe longer as he's a tough cookie who is never sad, sorry or lame - the vets couldn't believe his level of mobility considering the level of infection so he has obviously got a high pain threshold.

Horrid just mucking out the pony and not having his big friendly face here. Can't bear to think about the future without him...

Still waiting to speak to vet...
 
Spoke to vet late last night and we have agreed a plan of action based on the results of the standing flush Leahurst are due to do tomorrow.

If the white blood cell count comes back as higher than it was on Wednesday then I am going to discuss with them the prognosis and consider PTS at Leahurst.
If the white blood cell count is slightly reduced but not enough to be 'in the clear' I am going to ask them to stop with the flushes and GA and bring him home on antibiotics to be monitored by my vet.

I think this is the best course of action based on his welfare - he is a horse who is used to being turned out most of the time and I know being stabled in this environment will be very stressful for him, as well as all the invasive treatments.

Praying for a miracle to turn the situation around in the meantime ...

Going to visit him this afternoon with bags of carrots. Can't wait to give my poor boy a hug.
 
Hope u enjoyed ur visit today and hope ur horse has lots of other horses in to
Keep him company !!, hope results
Are good tomoz x x
 
Hi thanks race buddy - Bo looks SO well, it's hard to believe he's so poorly - apart from the HUGE bandage on his back leg :-(

They've bathed him and he's all shiny and fluffy and snuggled in a lovely rug with nice hay and lots of lovely horsey neighbours. He's his usual bolshy self so must be feeling ok but I think he's on quite a bit of byte. He's putting lots of weight on his poorly leg, but he was on Monday, so that's no judge really - he just has a very high pain threshold... Gave him SO many hugs and carrots and apples and told him his pony friend was missing him and that the HHO forum were asking after him!

Will see how they get on tomorrow - hoping to visit again tomorrow pm but depends on when they do the flush.

Thanks for your support all xx
 
Sorry to read about your boy and I've only just seen this thread.
My 26yo is recovering from a massive hock joint infection. His happened 4 days after colic surgery, just as he was about to be sent home. They think bacteria from his gut migrated to his hock and settled there. He had 2 further ga's, arthroscopy and joint flush, interspaced with about 6 standing flushes in total. Took ages to grow a culture to find out what bacteria was in there - turned out to be Aeromonas, never before seen in a horse, usually fish - so god knows where that came from. His readings fluctuated like mad and we too were getting desperate as the bill (including the colic surgery) was hitting £10k & not insured. After a couple of reasonable but nowhere near perfect readings and discussions with vet hosp he came home and continued on oral Baytril for a further 7 days. The view was that although the readings weren't the "perfect norm" we didn't know what his "individual norm" was. That was at the beginning of November and his hock is pretty much normal size now.
I do hope you are able to get your boy home, mine's pretty laid back but he perked up no end when he got back.
 
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Thanks Zerotolerance - so pleased to hear your boy made it through colic AND hock infection and is home and doing well - hope he continues to get better.

Leahurst did another standing flush this morning and the white blood cell count has gone down slightly but the protein levels remain the same. They don't plan to do anything invasive for now, just keep him comfortable and probably do another tap tomorrow. I think if that tap shows the white blood cell count has reduced again, I will bring him home and see what we can do with antibiotics here.

I may never have a sound horse but as long as he's not in pain I'll keep going..
x
 
I had the same thing as you 6 years ago with my mare except she was found in the field non weight baring. We had to drive a trailer down the field and even with six of us and a vet who had given her a mega pain killer it took hell of a job to get her in the trailer.

The vet told me there and then he thought it was a pts job as he thought she'd probably been kicked and had a smashed hock. Up until that point I'd been really calm.

We took her to the vets (who luckily have an operating theatre etc) and x-rayed which showed no damage what so ever - he x-rayed her twice as he couldn't believe that there were no broken bones. There were not cuts and no foreign bodies or penetration points ever found.

This was on a Friday night, went to see her on the Saturday and she appeared much happier. Her hock was still enlarged. The Sunday she seemed quite restless but I put down to her being in a different yard (I'd only moved yards 9 days prior to this)
On the Monday morning I got a phone call saying they were taking her through to surgery as they were concerned about how she'd gone downhill over night. I stupidly asked what chance they thought she had and they said 30%.
The hock was flushed and she also had septacemia but came through the surgery. She had a 'wobble' a couple of days later and they considered another flush but didn't have to. She was in for 2 weeks and then had a couple of months box rest. She then went hopping lame on that hock one day when I brought her out her stable so rushed her back to the vets (on their advice) and she came off the lorry sound !

She made a full recovery and has since Hunted, team chased, xc, Dressage etc etc. The only sign of the problem is that the hock is slightly enlarged. However I've shown her at County level right up to Hickstead (ROR finals) and no judge has ever commented.

However as a legacy of the trauma she now has arthritis in that hock :( This was diagnosed last March. She had the hock medicated and it was like having a new horse. The vet has said she can do everything she did before except any decent amount of Dressage and I'll know when the hock needs it's next treatment. She's 10 this year. The only thing I would / should of done differently was to put her on cortiflex and Chrondroitin straight after surgery.

Hope your boy comes good and totally understand the emotional predicament you're in.
 
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