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 Expert
Posts: 3782
    
Location: Gainesville, TX | We've recently had a bad turn with horse's and their health. We had one that was at the trainer, just getting pasture work and being headed off of. The trainer called my FIL (whom the horse belongs to) to tell us that his back left leg was really swollen one day and he didn't want to put weight on it. It took the trainer a couple days to get the horse back to us and then my FIL took him to just a local large animal vet who said it was a soft tissue injury after looking at xrays. After small turnout rest for a week and no improvement (the horse had lost weight too from pain), my FIL allowed us to take him to another vet who specializes in equine medicine. She xrayed him too and diagnosed a fracture. She prescribed stall rest for 6 weeks and 2 gr bute daily. We hauled him up to our new place where we have better stalls; he stalls reasonably well. The problem was he would get better and then get worse, especially in terms of edema/swelling up through his hock. Finally after Christmas we decided to call another vet out. He had a hock infection and the fracture wasn't just a fracture but a bone chip. He'd had the infection long enough to get into the bone. It took an ultrasound and joint tap to show the other symptoms. This horse had never had injections but obviously, and probably when he injured the bone, he scraped something though nothing is visible now. My husband and I felt sick. They gave him only a 50% chance of pasture soundness. A few thousand dollars later, IV antibiotics, and an arthrotomy, he is at least flushing clean. We still hope he'll make it but won't know for sure until the infection is completely gone in the next month or two of oral antibiotics. He will never be rideable; he has very little joint cartilage left. But he's a good horse and a good companion animal. Even the vets have gone on and on about his gentle temperament. If anyone else sees this type of swelling in the hock, make sure you have them check for infection. We didn't think about it much because of the fracture. We have felt absolutely terrible for not having the other vet do an ultrasound and tap.
Edited by oija 2015-01-20 10:42 AM
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  Warmblood with Wings
Posts: 27846
Location: Florida.. | glad you found it.hope he gets better soon. |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| Prayers for an uneventful recovery.
If the upper joint in the hock is not damaged, after the horse is healed you could look at surgical fusion of the hock and the horse should be able to return to being ridden.
I would suggest asking the vet if he is a candidate for hock fusion.
Also if there is no cartilage and once he is healed and not a surgical candidate for adequan IA supposedly the studies have shown less risk of infection now as compared to when it originally was liscensed |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Don't be so hard on yourself! Ya'll did everything you bould as quickly as you could. Besides whose to say he isn't happier being a pasture buddy and lawn ornament.  Prayers your year gets better.  |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | I'm so sorry for you. I've been there. I sent one for roping training and I called at week two for an update and he was off. I called at week three and he was still off so I sent hubs to go pick him up. Hubby called me when he got home and said I better get my butt to the barn. I went down and he was walking but his hock was the size of a basketball. Clearly the trainer and I had different definitions of off.
Had the vet out and six different fractures. Best guess was he got kicked by another horse. The xrays were reviewed by two specialists and prognosis was less then 5% chance he'd be pasture sound, and would never be ridden. Hubs and I sat for a long time and thought about it and we figured we'd give it a try anyway. Well we decided WE'D give it and try but I did all the work 
He was stall bound for 7 months and I wrapped and unwrapped his hock daily. Magnetic boots, BOT boots, 50/50 sweats, IM Adequan and lots and lots and LOTS of hand walking followed by slowly lunging for another five months. It took a year before I even dared swing a leg over but that horse is both sound and being ridden. He will never be a performance horse like we hoped but he's a great trail horse and he beat all the odds.
I have fingers crossed your horse pulls through as miracles do happen. :)
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| Is stem cell therapy an option to help with the cartilage issue? |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma | hate that you're having to go thru this. Maybe there are newer technologies that your vet isn't familiar with that might still help him! |
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Expert
Posts: 3782
Location: Gainesville, TX | Wanted to let everyone know Sherlock is home and seems to be doing okay. He can put all his weight on that leg now and most of the swelling is gone. He is on oral antibiotics for two more weeks and then we'll see what his prognosis is. |
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Rad Dork
Posts: 5218
Location: Oklahoma |  Hope the healing continues and impreses everyone!! |
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I just read the headlines
Posts: 4483
| Awesome update! Prayers for continued healing. |
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 Angel in a Sorrel Coat
Posts: 16030
Location: In a happy place | |
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