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  Discussion on Very straight pasterns/popping fetlock
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 13, 2001 - 8:16 pm:

This is going to be long, so sorry in advance. A little history: My 20 month old gelding started to pop his right front fetlock in Augest. He seemed to have a grouth spurt right befor this. He has always been a little steep but it got worse and then he started to pop the fetlock, like a trick joint that had a hitch in it. I had one of the vets I use (my regular vet was out of town) out to check him. She said she had seen this problem before so we could try a few things, and if they didn't work, we could due surgery on the upper check ligiment. So 1st she had me put him on MSN, confine him, cut him down to basically no food to stop his growth, put a shoe on him with a toe extension, and lower the heals. She also had me put him on Bute for a week to see if possibily he had a deep bruse that started all this. Although the angle did seen to get better with this treatment, the popping seemed to get worse, but the popping was better when he was on bute. So after 1 month, I call out my regular vet and he had me put 3deg weg pads with a toe extion, opposite of what I had done before, and keep him on one tab of bute for a month. He also said that since his leg looked normal when he put weigh on it I wouldn't need surgery. So, when the shoes were new Milo seemed better, less popping, better angel. But things did deteriate some as his feet grew out. Now its time for new shoes agine so I called my vet and he said to keep with the same treatment and he would eventually get better. So here is my questions, Do you have any Idea how long I'm looking at? Also, Milo has never been lame, but there must be some "weird feelings" in that foot for the bute to have an effect. I think I'm going to have to leave him on bute untill he forgets about his foot. How long can I leave him on bute with out having problems? Sorry for the length hope you have some insight to my problem.

Posted on Sunday, Oct 14, 2001 - 9:46 am:

Hello Kim,
You are dealing with flexor tendon contracture and this is dealt with in the article associated with this forum, Tendon Laxity and Contracture. It will describe your condition, why we think it occurs, and give you some ideas as to different treatments and prognosis. How long he can stay on bute without problem is unknown but dosage and toxicity are covered in Equine Medications and Nutriceuticals: Anti-inflammatories, Steroids, and Arthritis Treatment: Phenylbutazone.
DrO
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