Whats wrong with her??

[Equi]

Guys, really hoping someone can help me. I have posted three videos here.

1 - This was my mare at the start of summer. I immediately put her on a lami diet and had her at the vets. He, without touching her body at all, said its laminitis and tested for cushings (negative). I was not 100% sure but..they are the professionals. After a while with zero improvement i sought a second opinion.



2 - This is the mare after a visit with the second vet who just did flexion tests and ruled out lami (no pules, no hoof pain or heat, no other symptoms) I personally think she looks marginally better. They said that the pain is in her hips, and that it is more than likely arthritis or something like a trapped nerve.



3 - This is after a professional chiropractor had a go at her. He said she was very tense all over her body and really would not relax her back end at all. He said her hips need to be stretched out with walks and her pasterns need to be strengthened with backing her up and hills etc.



Personally i think she looks just as sore but walking in a different way. Running out of ideas? I also notice that she seems very reluctant to bend her hocks, at all. Even when picking up her feet she will stretch the leg out straight.

Maybe the issue is actually the hock? Whats my next move?

 

[skint1]

Difficult, she does look kind of a bit pottery in the first 2 videos, like she's a bit tender in the feet but she could also have body issues, I am no expert at all really, but I know it can be frustrating trying to get to what is wrong with them, have you tried a bute/danilon trial?

 

[SpringArising]

I really don't think the issue looks like it's coming from her hocks. Definitely looks like feet to me.

How does she go on a softer surface?

 

[Equi]

Difficult, she does look kind of a bit pottery in the first 2 videos, like she's a bit tender in the feet but she could also have body issues, I am no expert at all really, but I know it can be frustrating trying to get to what is wrong with them, have you tried a bute/danilon trial?

Yes on danilon she went marginally better but was still doing the thing where she is like stamping her feet down ? Only way i can describe it.

I really don't think the issue looks like it's coming from her hocks. Definitely looks like feet to me.

How does she go on a softer surface?

She does definitely go better. Shes always had soft hooves and always been a little more footy on hard ground though.

not a very long video sorry. This is a video around the time of the 1st one, but later on (after a strict lami diet) She is still very short in it and not extending as much as she should and hock still not moving an awful lot.



I will note that in the field she will run off like a beast and roll and get up and buck etc. Shes not being slow all the time.

 

[JillA]

How old is she? She has fat in the hollows over her eyes and a crest, I would ask for a retest for Cushings (it isn't that unusual to throw false negatives) and ask for a Prascend trial, and ask them to consider EMS. She is definitely footy, and the more you exercise her if she does have compromised laminae the more you risk her pedal bones moving. Is she still on a low sugar/starch diet, off grass and on soaked hay?

 

[twiggy2]

I think she looks like a lami pony in the first video but with something else going on, I too would want a retest for cushings, I would also send her for a referral for a full work up and investigations-I would suspect laminits/cushings and possibly a stifle issue but after this amount of time I would be wanting answers fairly fast-treat as laminitic diet and excersise wise.
she still has a fair amount of weight to lose

 

[Equi]

Yea she is still on lami diet as per my summer routine anyway. She's 16. I have been trying to get vet to test for ems but one said they wouldn't bother and to just treat her as ems anyway and another I can't get the hold of. She seems to stiffen up in the stable so turnout helps but then if she's lami she's going to be hurting her feet. It's so hard to know what's for the best.

I don't think she has cushings though.

 

[ester]

tense all over as chiro says and the videos are screaming sore feet to me, were her feet xrayed? Who does her hoof care?

Has she been kept in? and what time line are we talking since the first vet visit?

 

[Equi]

First vet was coming up two months ago. No he didn't X-ray he literally watched the video and watched her walk in front of him and said lami and put her on the diet. Farrier disagreed and said she was just footsore. No one professional agrees on a diagnosis! I kept her in for a good few weeks but she gets even worse and stiff. Maybe she has the start of arthritis AND lami. I have a lami paddock but it's only just been secured again yesterday so she will be able to go in there.

I do want X-rays done but the vet just has not returned any of my texts or calls. I may try a different vet.

Edit(Have sent a message to one now)

 

[JillA]

Where in the country are you? Someone may be able to recommend a decent vet, sounds as though the ones you have used so far aren't up to speed on lammi.
The problem is if she does have laminitis the laminae are no longer supporting her bone structure, which is why box rest on a deep bed or frog support are the usual main treatment options. If you turn her out, even if there is no grass, her pedal bones aren't getting the support they need and would get from a deep shavings bed - or even living in a manege, like mine is while his laminae heal

 

[Equi]

Yeah her stable is deep bedded and rubber mats down and she has a run about in the sand arena too. Im in co. Down and have tried Dunlop, Steele.

 

[Equi]

Another video, two weeks after her chiro treatment. No real change in her management, maybe on less hay cause shes been out overnight in the bare paddock but its been literally two days out so i can't imagine a change that fast.

Shes definitely walking a little better, her head is up more and she seems more free. Scans booked for Monday, so will wait for those results!

http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v714/heatcomm/video-1438954842.mp4 1_zpsyelm29pg.mp4

 

[Equi]

Update, pretty much turn out as much as possible and she seems a heap better. Farrier was out today and said she had a lot of stones in her hoof and to clean them out better (as in they are getting up into the white line and i need to get a nail or something and really dig them out) but there is ZERO indication of laminitis and no real foot pain apart from the stones causing discomfort.

also had some thermal imaging done on her, and showing heat in the hips and shoulder which would back up the old age/arthritis diagnoses, and without me telling the man where the pain was (and he didn't see her walking just in stable) he picked out each place she has had the worst movement. So that is what i'm going with! Will be looking into supplements for it now

(this is just a few of the scans he didn't send them all but i saw the legs on the scanner and they are not red/white at all)

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I would try magnetic wraps/rug. I have had real improvement with an elderly arthritic horse and know someone who manages her lami-prone pony with the wraps.

 

[ester]

Me and my trimmer have a very small flat screwdriver for removing small stones from white lines. - Easier to handle than a nail but small enough not to damage the white line. Thanks for your updates though, it's been interesting even if worrying for you!

 

[Equi]

I would try magnetic wraps/rug. I have had real improvement with an elderly arthritic horse and know someone who manages her lami-prone pony with the wraps.

Would they be available in ridiculously miniature size?

Me and my trimmer have a very small flat screwdriver for removing small stones from white lines. - Easier to handle than a nail but small enough not to damage the white line. Thanks for your updates though, it's been interesting even if worrying for you!

That is a bloody genius idea!! I will hoke out my computer screwdrivers.

 

[ester]

Lol, yup you've already got one then!

 

[Equi]

Thanks, i never would have thought of it!

My mare is in such better spirits. Shes been so grumpy and depressed not wanting to leave her stable, but shes been hopping about like a spring lamb today when her BFF was turned out with her (loan mare who went home for a month but came back to me)

Just needed some time and TLC.