Wednesday 11 November 2009

Horses...who would've them...The saga continues...

Whoever is responsible for heating in my office is doing a really bad job! The winter is here and surely this should now be taken care of...there is also a lot of mud and rain and cold. Hmm.

First, some jolly things so I don't sound too grim throughout the entire post. I had a fab time at my darling crazy friend's birthday, laugh therapy is certainly one to go for. We also ran a rather hilarious 'Have-A-Go' day today for some uni students who have never ridden before. I thought I was going to roll on the floor laughing, it must have been some post bad news trauma release! Either way it was funny.

Now, onto the bad news.
Kingsley. I wanted to give you an update yesterday but I was so tired and so upset by the results of physio and vet's visit that I thought I'd better leave it for today and write it all down without feeling so emotional and too dramatic about it all. Especially that we are still awaiting the diagnosis.
So here we go. The physio found no improvement after a month of TENS and walking. He is still oddly uneven in trot on all 4 legs really. She suggested the symptoms make it look like some sort of neurological problem that might improve via rehabilitation of movement patterns. She suggested a series of exercises and rehab programme to follow to aid balance and improve motor skills.
However, my gut feeling was that there is something seriously wrong as since I got to know him more now I can tell there is a lot of things about the way he moves that are way out of normal. The chance had it that one of the other liveries needed a vet for some quite dramatic back problem and was going to have a vet specialising in such I thought it was wise to share the visit. After having a chat with P., the owner, she agreed it really was the time to get a totally unconnected vet to have a fresh look at the symptoms and take it from there. The vet came yesterday and unfortunately he was rather concerned about little Kingsley.

Looks like he is uncomfortable to varied degrees along his entire spine, from the poll to the tip of his tail, the poll and sacroiliac joint being the hot spots.
He will now have his poll, back and sacroiliac x-rayed on Monday to make a proper diagnosis a little bit more possible. If X-rays don't show anything, then he will be referred for MRI.

I really am trying to stay positive but hearing about cortisone injection in a 5 years old just doesn't make my day. That little horse is ever so lucky to have such a fantastic owner like P. who will do all there is possible to fix him.
And I am very lucky too that she has this wonderful attitude as the entire situation makes me feel dreadful.

So we are now waiting for the results of the X-ray and hope that whatever it is it's not the end of the ridden life for little man.

Some links to various resources on Sacroiliac Pain and Injuries in Horses:
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4 comments

Anonymous said...

Poor guy - sorry he has back pain! I assume they've ruled out some sort of neurological disease like rhino that could have led to his problems? I don't think you have Lyme disease over there, but it can cause problems like that. My mare had persistent soundness issues and back pain, primarily in the sacroiliac area, probably due to her long back and a hind suspensory injury that caused her to carry herself crooked. We did extensive chiropractic work and she is now sound and moving well. She stays sound as long as we do chiropractic tune-ups on a 6 month basis. I'm a bit of skeptic on joint injections - I think in the long run they can cause more problems than they solve. My chiropractor is also a vet, and I think it's nice to have a professional who considers the whole picture, muscles, joints, neurological, etc. and not just one component. Good luck, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Suzie said...

Oh no! I'm so sorry... I had a feeling everything was going to be good - shows what I know! I really hope you manage to get to the bottom of it soon.

Unknown said...

Kate - yes, he had various tests done and he doesn't have any obvious neurological disease. However, physio seemed to think that it's possible that he had a serious viral infection which left him somewhat uncoordinated/compromised nervous system?
It's very difficult to describe the type of lameness he shows, it's more like overall body discomfort when having to come from walk to trot or trot to walk, turn, bend etc It's not all the time and sometimes it improves the more you repeat particular exercise, sometimes deteriorates. No obvious pattern.
There has always been some level of discomfort in his pelvis area but it was suggested to be muscular which is why we treated with physiotherapy.

I guess the X-ray will at least rule out certain diseases and we will just go forward eliminating one by one until we get to the most probable one.
Sigh.

Suzie - I know :( Me too, really hoped there was going to be at least some improvement but I think deep down I knew there is something more to it.
We'll just have to wait and see what the X-ray show, if anything.
Hope all is well with you and Echo x

Anonymous said...

Really sorry you've not got to the bottom of it. Keep strong.

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