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  Discussion on Swollen tendon?
Author Message
Member:
kaarina

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 18, 2008 - 9:41 am:

Hi there,
I had a lengthy chat with everyone regarding this mare on the laminitis forums a while back... she has been doing extremely well with her new farrier and has been off bute and moving perfectly for a month... Until yesterday morning when she was suddenly three legged and unable to put weight on the left fore. There was no heat in the foot yesterday but the ankle up to about 5 inches above the fetlock was swollen. Today after icing the swelling is just along the tendon and there is a little heat in the heal. The swelling is firm but does not seem to hurt when palpated. She will not bend the ankle and when she does move she keeps that leg straight and does not bend the ankle. It is clearly very painful to put any weight on.

I have been icing the area and giving her bute according to the articles here.... I was wondering who I should call for this - vet or farrier - and what it might be?

Thank you
Member:
kaarina

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 18, 2008 - 1:25 pm:

This afternoon I also found some swelling on the inside back of the knee, which she also refuses to bend. When she tries to walk, she swings the leg out straight from the shoulder. A vet is on call and will hopefully make it out today....
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 19, 2008 - 5:29 am:

Let us know what the vet finds tamara.
DrO
Member:
kaarina

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 19, 2008 - 7:16 am:

Hi DrO

She believes it is a severely strained ligament on the inside of the knee towards the back and that the swelling lower is fluid accumulation and a side effect. When my horse goes to her winter barn next week she will do an ultrasound to be sure. She is fairly sure it is not totally torn.

I am to continue ice (vet says it is actually fortunate it is -10c out), give her high bute today and then lowered dose for the next week or two and apply standing support bandages to the other fore. She is on stall rest indefinitely. We are very concerned about laminitis recurring in the other feet as well from the extra weight. Fortunately my mare is still very thin.

So questions - is there anything I can do to help prevent laminitis from recurring during her stall rest? And she is already stocked up in back, would you recommend support bandaging the hinds as well for that?

It is all very depressing as she was trotting around her little drylot just as beautifully and soundly as can be a week ago. The vet and I cannot figure out how on earth she hurt herself in her "safe lot". Perhaps an icy spot overnight.

Thank you,
Tamara
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 - 9:07 am:

Unfortunately the only way mechanical founder can be prevented is getting excessive weight bearing off the leg. Besides getting the horse more comfortable on the injured leg you are left with the idea of putting the horse in a sling. There are special slings available for such a purpose but they are a bit pricey. Experimental is raising the angle of the hoof by 14 degrees but this requires a prolonged period of bearing weight on the other leg so often impractical.
DrO
Member:
kaarina

Posted on Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 - 9:34 am:

My vet told me basically the same thing but I wanted to confirm that there was nothing else out there. She is lying down at night and I think when she moves to the indoor stall she will lie down quite a lot and I'm hoping this will maybe be her best hope so long as she doesn't hurt her leg getting up and down. I guess we do what we can and hope for the best. Thank you for the input DrO.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 7:29 am:

tamara, has your veterinarian considered the use of firoxicib in the inexpensive dog formulation? For more see Treatments and Medications for Horses » Anti-inflammatories (NSAID's, Steroids, Arthritis Rx) » EQUIOXX (firocoxib) and the discussions associated with this area.
DrO
Member:
kaarina

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 7:49 am:

No, I will take a look at that article, thank you.

My vet did prescribe a "sweat bandage" using a clay poultice like ice-tight underneath a layer of saranwrap and cotton after the days of icing. I had not seen ice clays used under sweat bandages in other discussions. Do you have any thoughts about this?
Member:
kaarina

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 9:25 am:

Follow up on that question - a lot of what I am hearing is use of nitrofurazone and DMSO for true sweats. However I am pregnant and have been told the former is carcinogenic and the latter causes birth defects. So obviously both are out. Would you recommend using the clay or something like petroleum jelly in its place?
Member:
dres

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 9:57 am:

tamara, I can't answer your question re wrapping after iceing..
But I do use the clay when away from home, cus i can't keep the ice boot frozen.. After a work out on a road trip i will clay my horses leg / saranwrap it then put a standing wrap on top for our travel home..

I always ice this mares leg after riding , vet said I don't need to do this anymore... but habits are hard to break and it makes ME feel better..

On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 11:04 am:

Tamara,

I have had a lot of luck with a product called Victory Lane liniment. It is specifically made for bowed tendons and can be used with or without a sweat. I will look up the ingredients, but I do not think there is anything it it that would be harmful, but as a precaution use disposable rubber gloves. It is very gentle and does not cause scurfing or irritation.

You can do a Google search for it to see if any of your local tack shops carry it or you can directly call the guy located in Monticello, NY before 1 pm EST, and they ship it out the next day.

I happens to be a very soothing rub and I have been able to use it on some very sensitive horses.

Hope it helps. Here's the number 1-800-370-5715.
Here is the link,but I don't think you can order this online, you need to call them.

https://www.ahealthyequine.com
Rachelle

PS. If you want to poultice the leg and keep the poultice moist, my preference would be not to use saran wrap, this might keep it moist, but it will also keep the heat in it which is what you are trying to get out. I would instead do the following. After applying the poultice, I would put several layers of either wet newspaper or brown bags ( or brown paper) on the leg and use a wet standing stall bandage around that. Then use a regular stall bandage to wrap with. This keeps everything moist and makes the pultice work properly to cool out and take the inflamation down.
Member:
kaarina

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 3:16 pm:

Thanks for that link Rachelle, I will definitely see if I can get ahold of that. When you use it, do you massage in and then cover with a standing bandage directly?
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Friday, Nov 21, 2008 - 3:51 pm:

Tamara,

There are some people who prefer to sweat with the Saran wrap directly on the leg and I do that too the night before I race, but that is for a different purpose its to increase circulation to the joints by keeping them warm.

In your case, I would put the Saran wrap over the standing bandage because as the leg sweats the moisture will wind up in the bandage. When you take the bandage off you will be amazed at how wet they are and I would recommend having two sets, so one can dry out while the other one is on.
Rachelle
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 - 12:10 pm:

tamara, the rule of thumb on addressing leg swellings with bandaging is if the leg is warm (that is it still has acute inflammation) wrap it to cool it out, if the leg is cool (healing phase with some chronic inflammation) wrap it to warm it up. You will find a detailed discussion on this at Diseases of Horses » First Aid » Pressure Wraps, Poultices, Cold and Heat Therapy for Swelling in Horse Legs.
DrO
Member:
kaarina

Posted on Saturday, Nov 22, 2008 - 2:45 pm:

Thank you DrO, I will read those. There is almost no swelling in the leg at all anymore but she still refuses to put any weight on it and is reluctant to bend either the knee or ankle when she tries to move around the stall. What remains is a tiny amount of puffiness at the inside back of the knee and a very slight thick, hard feeling on the lower half of the tendon as compared to the right leg.
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