 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
 
| Anyone here have any experience with a keratoma. My farrier discovered a spot in a horses hoof last Friday We've had the horse less than a years time and he's never taken a lame step or given us a reason to suspect anything was off. My farrier just happened to have worked on a few cases and recognized the signs of it. An xray verified his suspensions.. however since the horse isn't lame or hasn't ever abcessed the vet recommended monitoring it for growth or spread. (For those that don't know, it's a rare cancer that's benign but can deteriorate the hoof and coffin bone if it gets that far) I've never heard of it up until last Friday myself. It's small and close to the toe as of right now. Surgery is usually recommended if horse is lame or constantly abcessing from it. The horse is to return in 6 weeks for more xrays to check and see if there are any changes and my farrier will be there as well to do his reset. Vet recommended 2 6 week xrays and if no changes once or twice a year xrays as long as the horse stays sound. The last case my farrier worked on and the keratoma was surgically removed, the horse made a full recovery and is back to work completely sound after 3 to 4 months of rest and recovery. This horse was dead lame and had pretty invasive removal. I have a few photos of the xrays and the spot on the hoof he found if anyone is interested in seeing. The vet told me typically they only discover them because a horse has unexplained lameness or constant abcessing in the hoof. Ours was found because my farrier has experienced it before and recognized it. My gut reaction is to remove it BEFORE it presents an issue but the vet is saying to just wait. It might not ever change or grow or cause issue. |
Keratoma