Vet coming today to reassess Lanky 6 months post-op

[LankyDoodle]

And I don't think it's going to be very good news.

He was sound for all of about 2 weeks in about November when he started going out. However, he is now lame. Not as lame as he was, but noticeably so on circles and in trot. He will canter/gallop out in the field and while the lameness is there, it is clearly not bothering him enough to stop him being a prat.

The bit that worries me is that he goes down to roll and struggles to get down and then back up some of the time. He doesn't tend to bend the legs when going down, he just bends his fronts and then crashes down to the side! Then getting up is a mission for him some of the time.

He has terrible sweet itch that we do manage to control with a lot of hard work; and his feet crumble like biscuits in the spring and summer. I think the vet is going to tell us today that he's not going to be able to be ridden again, which in fairness was the prognosis we were given before the op, by the osteo surgeon from Liphook who did the op, so is not a total surprise but is upsetting.

I could give him longer (we have until 1st August for the claim to be closed), but I realistically know that the vet at the clinic was right in their prognosis and that with no meniscus in his nearside stifle, he is never going to be totally sound and is going to have bouts of severe lameness on and off for however many years of natural life he has left.

I don't see that there's much point to this post really. I just feel a bit defeated. The vet will probably ask us to transport him to the clinic for a final lameness workup (great now we've sold our 4x4 and the equitrek is parked up waiting to be sold!) as he can only do a limited assessment at our yard (no school). I just don't know what I should be saying to the vet etc. I'm half guessing he will recommend Lanky is retired... but a horse with sweet itch as bad as his and feet as bad as his, is going to do very poorly as a field ornament. Just in a hormonal, pregnant, confuddled mess.

 

[MontyandZoom]

Oh dear

I haven't really got much to say apart from how desperately sorry I feel for your situation.

Some horses are not meant to be field ornaments - some have wonderful retirements. You don't have to worry about that now, wait and see what the vets say.

Sending lots of hugs your way xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[tangotime]

Hi Lankydoodle,

you say your horse is still lame but improved post surgery, I assume he had an arthroscopy? If so, maybe if you work out a programme with your vet and maybe consider some additional therapy such as joint medication or low doses of bute he may become sound enough for light work.

My horse had an arthroscopy by on of Liphooks surgeons and was given a very poor prognosis, he is now competing at advanced level endurance. However, he had to give up jumping, so not all these cases are hopeless.

 

[LankyDoodle]

Hi.

Thank you for your responses.

tangotime, yes he had double stifle arthroscopy. Meniscus was completely removed in left stifle and right stifle was shown to also be affected although not as badly. The surgeon (Tim) said that he may make at best a light hack and gave us a programme for the 6 months post-op, which involved 6 weeks complete box rest, 6 weeks box rest with walking out (building up each day) and then 12 weeks turned away. In November, when he was being walked out, he seemed to be almost sound, although it was obviously difficult to tell as we couldn't trot him up or anything. As soon as he went out, it was clear he was still lame.

I've heard lots of success stories from OCD where the horse has had arthroscopy and I've tried to keep those in my mind over the last 6 months and told myself that despite the prognosis he'd come right in the end. Maybe he will.

Tim told me joint injections would not be of any help due to the stage the disease is at in his one stifle, but I suppose he may rethink and/or make other recommendations depending what happens today.

 

[tangotime]

Hi,

Tim Phillips is a very good orthopaedic surgeon, and he was the person who gave my horse less then 50% of a change of ever becoming anything else then paddock sound.

Unfortunately, the stiffle is a difficult joint and may be in your case the damage is to severe to restore normal joint function, but if he is improved there might be still a few option left. Is it Tim who is coming back to asscess him?

Good luck, and I hope the vets verdict is better then expected.

 

[LankyDoodle]

Hi,
Sadly not. My normal vet is coming to see how Lanky is getting on and will likely tell us to take him to the clinic where he had the op. Tim travelled from Liphook to Devon where he did the op on my horse.

Thanks for the good luck and I will let you know how things go.

 

[misst]

(((hugs))) no suggestions and no advice but know exactly how you feel. Whatever you decide whenever you make that decision it will be what is best for him. I hope you get lots and lots of support with whatever you decide.

As far as going to the vets is concerned I would not expect them to need to do a full workup if he is visibly lame at your yard. They know the reason for it so all they need to assess is if he is sound or not I would have thought.

Thinking of you.

 

[LauraWinter]

Good luck, I know how it feels. Let us know how he gets on

 

[Puppy]

No wise words, but I just wanted to say that I feel your pain, and send you a ((((big hug)))) xxx

 

[LankyDoodle]

Thank you everyone.

Well the vet has just been, examined Lanky, saw him walked, turned on circles, trotted etc, and yep he is definitely lame and the vet actually does not see there being much if any improvement since before the op.

So we have been told Lanky is a companion. We can try a couple of short rides on bute, to see how he fairs with that, but if he doesn't like it we must not ride him again. Well, I'm not sure how I feel about that tbh; lameness = pain and I don't ride horses that are in pain!! Vet said we CAN do that but the crux of the matter is, Lanky is now nothing but a companion.

Cue the suggestions to put him out on loan as a companion. Errrr, yeh, because there are literally hundreds of people queueing to take on a companion that is nearly 18hh, trashes the grazing, drops weight in winter, gets bad sweet itch and bad feet in summer and has arthritic stifles! Plus, I would not feel comfortable doing that. He either stays with me in his arthritic state or he is PTS.

He doesn't meet BEVA guidelines for humane destruction so in the vet's words, any decisions to put him to sleep is ours and ours alone and he will not recommend one way or another as it is not a welfare issue.

I could cry, but really I expected this. The welfare of the horse is my primary concern and I have to weigh up whether a horse in enough pain to make him this lame, who cannot be ridden and needs lots of hard work and £££££££££s to keep in a healthy condition, should be put through summers of misery and winters of dropping weight.

I can't help but think the vet feels we'd be a bit harsh to have him PTS as he kept emphasising that he looks healthy, interested and has a decent life. He's right of course... the horse is healthy and has a nice enough life in the field.

Why isn't life more simple.

 

[tangotime]

I am really sorry to hear your bad news. I know how you feel because one of my other horse is a homebred youngster (5 yo) who is a fruitcakey TB which just after being backed and ridden on got kicked in the field and damaged his hindleg suspensory ligament so badly that we don't know whether he ever will be able to return to work.

Having bred the horse myself, money doesn't come into the equation in this instance and if all he ever is is a field ornament so be it. But I can tell you it's hugely disappointing when you realize that a horse you had lots of hopes for might never do anything more then eat grass. However, if he would be unhappy/in pain I would PTS and I wouldn't pass him on to anyone else if I couldn't keep him. Also if you can't or don't want to keep an unsound horse I totally agree the right decision is PTS unless you can be very certain that you found the right companion home.

All you can do now, is think it through and then make the decision that is right for you and your horse.

 

[LankyDoodle]

My only concern is his welfare, really. Everything else is inconsequential. They're things that don't matter. I'd never put him out as a companion... it's not fair on him and I'd really struggle with it too. The vet said he doesn't meet BEVA guidelines because he's not in so much pain that he spends long periods lying down, struggling to get up etc. I just don't like keeping animals in pain just for my own selfish reasons. I'm not in a rush to make any decisions anyway.

 

[misst]

Sorry it was not better news but I know you expected this. As you say you have time to make this decision so use it to enjoy him for now! I know exactly how you feel having been in this situation once and now being in it again! You will know what is best for you and him when the times comes. Good for you for not passing him on as a companion - lucky boy to have you.