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Discussion on Horse to Get MRI for "Navicular SynDrOme"
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Member:
george76
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Posted on Wednesday, Sep 17, 2008 - 10:20 am:
I had posted about my horse, George, a couple weeks ago in the "Shoulder Sweeney" section, because that is what I thought was wrong with him. I was able to haul him 3 hours away to a really great vet in Weatherford, TX (Dr. Conklin of Reata Equine Hospital) and he was able to give me an intelligent, straight-forward answer: My horse has chronic heel pain, or "navicular synDrOme."
My horse has been standing very uncomfortably since early April '08, with his right front leg held forward, with the toe of his hoof pointing outwards. Of course, I have been trying to find out what has been wrong with my horse for 4 years.
Anyways, the lameness exam went like this:
I showed the vet some digital x-rays that were taken of my horse's front feet in April '08. He did not find anything significant on them. Then, George was trotted straight, to the left and to the right. The vet noticed that going to the right made George's head bob and he was obviously lame. He flexed the right leg and then had my horse walk off. The poor horse was quite lame just walking straight. Finally, the vet only blocked his front right heel and George was 100% sound. So, his conclusion is that there is soft tissue damage in the horse's heel.
Dr. Conklin offered to try and shoe him differently or to inject his foot. I didn't like either of those, because there is a lot of "guess-work" involved. Another option was given to me: Have my horse participate in a medication study for Tildrene. If anything, George would be able to get a FREE MRI and we'll know exactly where his problem is and have a much more educated solution for his recovery. So, that is what's going to happen: George is going to head back up around Fort Worth/Dallas to get an MRI and maybe be included in this study. Since there doesn't seem to be any "bone" issues that we can see in the x-rays, he may not be a good candidate to continue after the MRI. Who knows.
My point is, that after 4-5 years, I'm finally doing what I should've done to begin with and that is getting my horse an MRI so we know what's going on. George is scheduled for Sept. 30th, so I will keep everyone posted on how the study process goes. I'm terribly excited.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Sep 17, 2008 - 2:36 pm:
Thanks Asheley, sounds like you are on the right track and keep us appraised.
DrO
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Member:
george76
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Posted on Friday, Oct 3, 2008 - 1:00 pm:
NO LUCK - George made it to the heel block portion of the preliminary section of the Tildrene Study, before getting kicked out before the x-rays and MRI. It was very disappointing news for myself and my husband. We both actually cried when we got the news, because we knew we wouldn't be able to afford the $1,800 MRI ourselves... Basically, George did not block 100% sound on his front right foot, which meant he could not go any further into the study. The vet told me that it's probably a tendon/ligament tear and that he'll never be a sport horse again, which I'm fine with. He's not lame enough to euthanize (which isn't what I want to do), but I don't know if he'll be sound enough for trail riding.
The only option I have left, is to turn him out for a year, or so, and see what happens. Too bad I live in TX and the terrain is terribly rocky, otherwise, I would pull his shoes. I'm assuming that he just needs to wear the most basic ones there are.
I was very curious about supplements. Are there any out there that aid in the healing of soft tissue problems, such as tears? I was looking in my Smart-Pak catalog the other day and saw a supplement called, "SmartFlex Repair." It's the only supplement that I've found, so far, that actually addresses this subject. Here's the link:
https://www.smartpakequine.com/productclass.aspx?productClassId=4662&GCID=C11284x 040
Right now, George is wandering around in a herd of horses on approx. 80 acres. Should he be penned up for a while, to give the soft tissue some time to heal? Or, will he be fine to roam free? He doesn't run around, or anything. He's kind of a snail out in the pasture.
Does anyone have any other suggestions on how to help George on the road to recovery? I know it's discouraging when we don't know exactly what is damaged in his foot, but there has to be some sort of routine that can help.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 4, 2008 - 8:12 am:
Ashley, your next step should be to take the off hand comment of the vet for what it is worth: a conjecture. We have conflicting information above, in one case the foot blocked out 100% and in the other it did not. The question is which accurately reflects your horse and if it does not block out in the foot where does it block out. You need to carefully review exactly where the problem blocks out at then consider the diagnostic possibilities. Only when someone is bright enough to figure out what is wrong with your horse can you accurately come to a good treatment plan and prognosis. As long as the lameness remains undiagnosed check out Diseases of Horses » Lameness » First Aid for the Lame Horse for a complete discussion on how to treat the undiagnosed lameness.
DrO
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