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  Discussion on Swollen rear leg
Author Message
Member:
nadia

Posted on Thursday, Nov 8, 2007 - 9:19 pm:

Hi, Dr O,

I was at the barn Tuesday night to see my horse. He was standing in his stall - looking like he was asleep when I got there. I just gave him an apple and a hug. Nothing at the time seemed out of sorts. Wed AM, the barn called me. My horse does not want to come out of his stall, nor walk and would not eat his Equine Senior. His right rear leg is rather swollen - hoof is warm. I thought it might be an abcess. I get out to the barn - he is pawing in his stall, will not walk or move, resting his hind leg. I notice that there is a scratch on his right hip -it drew a small amount of blood, blood was dried. I put some nitrofurizone on it. He will not put weight on the leg and I can see his muscles are twitching in his hip. Sheath is also somewhat swollen. Temp is 104.4. I call the vet, she comes out. We can't find any puncture wound on his leg. She suspects ehrlichia as there have been a few cases reported in the area. Symptoms seem to fit. Left hind might be a little swollen. She takes blood, then gives him banamine and a large dose of tetracycline. He seems to be more comfortable and wants to eat his hay after about an hour. I go back out last night, temp is 102.4. I try to walk him around the arena - ok, but leg is still hurting. Vet out again today. More banamine and tetracycline. Temp is now 99.2. He now has a normal appetite, but leg is still rather swollen. The blood test came back - did not find the parasite - but had high neutrophils and monocytes. WBC-normal. I went out tonight - temp now 98.1. Healthy appetite, but leg is still swollen. I wrapped both back legs to see if it will help reduce the swelling. She wants me to start giving him Doxycycline tomorrow. Could there be something else going on - lymphangitis? Or could he have whacked his leg somehow? Should I have an x-ray done?

Thanks.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Nov 9, 2007 - 11:44 am:

Hello Nadia,
Fever, inappetance, bilateral swelling behind, sounds like systemic infection to me Nadia. To determine if there is something else going on in that RH leg, or if the RH leg is the source of the other symptoms would require a judgement call by the person who can examine the leg. Swelling, heat, and pain in the leg supports your idea that there is a local problem with the leg but systemic infections can cause swelling also.
DrO
Member:
nadia

Posted on Friday, Nov 9, 2007 - 12:22 pm:

I was out this morning. Temp is 99.2. His left hind is not swollen - I think it was initially slightly stocked up due to being stall bound. Right leg is still very swollen - hock looks bigger to me. He walking around though, not the best, drags the toe more than usual. His sheath area is also still swollen. He is eating fine. If it is this parasite, should the swelling be going down by now?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Nov 10, 2007 - 8:54 am:

Whether Ehrlicia or some other type infection the fever strongly suggests you are dealing with an infection and sometimes horse's legs become swollen and it is hard to get the swelling out. So the history does not rule in or out other problems.

Is the leg hot and painful to deep palpation? What specific therapy have you begun or are continuing to get the swelling out?
DrO
Member:
nadia

Posted on Saturday, Nov 10, 2007 - 1:24 pm:

I was out this morning. I had wraps on since yesterday. The swelling below the hock is down. Hock and above and sheath are still swollen. The area is warm compared to the other leg, but not overly hot. Hoof is not warm at all. The swelling feels rather hard, not squishy. I give him 1 mg of bute paste AM and PM. He also gets 50 tablets of doxy AM and PM. His appetite is normal, will eat just about anything. Vet said I could put some DMSO on, but I haven't done that yet. I intend to do that this evening. I walked him around the arena last night and this morning and he is walking pretty good - stiff joints, but not hobbling at all. I kept the wraps off for today and he is turned out in a small paddock where he can walk around. I will put the wraps back on tonight. I think whatever we are doing is working!

Thanks for the info!
Member:
nadia

Posted on Saturday, Nov 10, 2007 - 1:25 pm:

Also, I massaged and prodded around the area rather hard and it doesn't seem to hurt him at all.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Nov 11, 2007 - 8:17 am:

The lack of heat and pain suggest this may be a secondary complication and not the primary cause of your horses recent illness. Congrats on the improvement.
DrO
Member:
nadia

Posted on Sunday, Nov 11, 2007 - 8:57 am:

What does that mean? Should we look for something else? He had that cut on his hip that I suspect happened around the same time. It was about 3-4 inches long, but very thin - like a cut from a nail. It drew just a small amount of blood, that was dried by the time I saw him that first day. He had his fall vaccinations Oct 22. Anything there that could have affected this?

This is the same horse that had that odd swelling on his right side in early Oct. That lump ended up going away the day before the vet came out to our barn, so I didn't mention it, since there wasn't anything to look at.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Nov 12, 2007 - 6:54 am:

It means that since the lower leg is cool and not painful it does not sound like the source of the fever and horse feeling bad.
DrO
New Member:
sgracie

Posted on Saturday, Aug 14, 2010 - 12:36 am:

My 3 year old has the same inflammation you described on his back legs and some skin wounds which I am treating. I've called my vet and they said to cold wash and bandage and call in a couple of days if the inflammation is not better. He's had it before and it always goes away in a couple of days. It's been 4 days and he is still swollen in both back legs. I will post photos tomorrow. It is starting to worry me, he is sensitive and at the trot you can tell he's bothered by something back there.
I don't ride him yet but he is a very rowdy horse and he is a little on the clumsy side, so he could have injured himself maybe chasing off one of the younger horses or maybe he got into some kind of plant that makes him swell, sometimes his sheath appears swollen as well. Since this has happened before I am not sure if he is just getting into some kind of plant or something that makes him have a reaction... I am looking into poisonous plants for horses now. None of the other horses have swollen legs though.
By the way, I could not find where to post a new discussion or how to submit my question...
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