Dusty’s Final Treatment

"Glad that's over with, how about a treat"

Our vet was here this morning and Dusty had her third and final shock wave treatment.  She’s out in the side paddock by herself today so she can recuperate without being annoyed by the boys.  She doesn’t mind; she’s got a hay net all to herself.  The paddock where the boys are congregating to keep an eye on her is frozen into hoof cups of mud. I felt that putting her there to navigate the moon craters wouldn’t be helpful after her treatment.

The diagnosis is good.  The vet palpated her suspensories and with just two treatments he seems to think that she’s doing really well.  After this treatment she should be good to go.  Color me surprised that this worked in such a short time.  I remarked that I should have done it months ago, but he said that it wouldn’t have worked then.  Apparently, a fresh injury doesn’t respond to shock wave therapy, it’s better to wait until the injury has calmed down, and seems best suited to chronic conditions rather than acute ones.

He suggested starting her back slow, but she’s ready to start back!  He said we could begin right away under tack, but I’m going to begin in hand.  I’ll be hand walking her for ten minutes and increasing each day gradually.  Once she’s used to being in a routine again we’ll start to add a little walking under tack.  When the time is right and she has built up her muscle and endurance through regular walking, she can do a little trot interspersed with walking but nothing too strenuous—about five minutes per session to begin with.  And we’ll just have to take it from there.  Her progression in getting back to her old self is going to take as long as it takes; we’re in no hurry.  There’s no way I’m going to risk a re-injury of those suspensories.

Dusty’s laminitis is also doing really well and growing out perfectly.  I owe my farrier and our vet a big thank you for working together to make her well. When all is said and done and her hoof grows out the coffin bone rotation should be a thing of the past.  Fingers crossed.

So right about now I’m feeling really good about this diagnosis.  Truthfully, I wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to be ridden again.  And that would have been okay too, but this is so much better for her.

I’ll keep you posted on her progress.  I’m going to give her the weekend to heal a little from her last treatment and we’ll start her exercises soon after that.

Until next time
Quote for Today
I love my horse from hoof to head
From head to hoof and tail and mane
I love my horse as I have said
From head to hoof and back again
    - James Whitcomb Riley

It’s Working!

"That was lots of fun, where's my treat"

Dusty had her second shock wave treatment last Wednesday.  The vet was very happy with how well she is doing.  He palpated her injury site and felt that the inside suspensory was much tighter and she seems more comfortable in general.  The outside suspensory branch is still on the mend.  So it seems the treatments are working.  Dusty is due for her last treatment in two weeks and then we’ll see where she is.

A sort of fun story attached to this treatment.  Grady was in his stall to be looked at for a different problem.  His stall is near the cross ties where Dusty was tied. He was a perfect gentleman while she was examined, but the minute she received her sedative and he realized she wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, he took the opportunity to bite her on the butt.  All she could do was put one of her ears back.  But this mare doesn’t put up with any nonsense and Grady knows it; Dusty has a long memory and he will pay for his indiscretion.  It may not be right away but she will get him for biting her butt.  Poor Grady he’ll never know what hit him.

I’m hopeful that these treatments will speed her healing and she will be ready to resume her lessons by springtime.  Personally, I think she misses working and learning new things.  She’s one of the few horses I’ve met that enjoys working.

If only her work ethic would rub off on the rest of the herd…

Until next time

Quote for Today

Life is good; a horse makes it better!

Dusty’s Vet Visit

" This is getting old, I'm fine...really!"

 The vet was here yesterday to reevaluate Dusty.  It’s been three months since her last ultrasound and it was time to see where she is in her recovery from laminitis/founder and the tearing of her four suspensory branches in both hind legs.

Dusty jogged out fine and then it was inside for the ultrasound.  Our vet came to the conclusion that her laminitis is growing out beautifully, so no need for x-rays right now.  Our farrier is doing a wonderful job helping her be comfortable and more mechanically correct.  With his help, she’s got hooves that are now healthy and growing out at a better angle with the aim of de-rotating her coffin bone and making this last founder a thing of the past.  Now we can begin to focus more on management and prevention of another episode.  

The ultrasound pictures showed a marked improvement in three suspensory branches and one that still has some healing to do.  Basically, her right hind is fine and the one outside branch on her left hind is slow to heal with lots of little holes still present.  He suggested three shock wave treatments a few weeks apart and feels confident that this will help her to heal more quickly by stimulating repair in the affected area.  I’m going to go ahead and do this.  She’ll have her first treatment on Tuesday.  He didn’t seem to think the PRP (platelet therapy) would work for her because there are too many tiny holes to have to inject and it might not work anyway because the injury is old now and that particular therapy works best when done within a week or two of the injuries start.

Another reason I like this therapy is because it can be done right here in the barn and not stress her out by being moved to a clinic.  She’ll continue to get her laser light therapy treatments at night and her medications:  (Isoxuprine, for improved circulation in her feet); and her supplements:  Ligand, that is based on Dr. Kellon’s DSLD protocol to help heal her suspensories.  She also gets her normal supplements which are:  ½ multivitamin; joint supplement (Smart Flex Resilience) which has ingredients which is supposed to help and repair joints, tendons and ligaments (we don’t know if it necessarily works but as long as it can’t hurt, why not); additional magnesium in the form of Smart Calm Ultra -- she doesn’t need it for calming, but it has a lot of magnesium; Vitamin E – Uckele’s Vitamin E 5000 which is the best vitamin E supplement out there in our opinion; and a hoof supplement, Smart Pak’s Smart Hoof (we like the copper and zinc content in particular.)

I’ll let everyone know how the shockwave treatment goes on Tuesday and how Dusty reacts to it.  Fingers crossed that this will help her on the road to a speedier recovery for those suspensory injuries.

Until next time

Quote for Today

Gypsy gold does not chink and glitter. It gleams in the sun and neighs in the dark.
    - Saying of the Gladdagh Gypsies of Galway

Dusty’s Coming Along

Mellon keeping Dusty company

Our vet was out today to recheck Dusty and see how she is progressing.  Her laminitis/founder is doing really well.  There is no more rotation; it’s stabilized at 8 degrees. She has a good, thick sole now and her hoof is growing out evenly from her coronet band, which is a good thing.  He feels that we can correct the rotation in time with proper shoeing and care.  So that was a bit of good news concerning both her front feet.

The suspensory injury in her right hind is doing much better also.  The ultrasound shows that the fibers in the branches are knitting together and there are no gaping holes left.  So that was good news too.  Her left hind, which seemed to be the worst injury site, is no worse and it is hard to say if it’s any better.  Looking at the ultrasound, the tear in the suspensory branch still seems to be about the same size as it was previously.  The only difference we can see is that in her last ultrasound it looked as if the fibers were sort of hanging loose and compared to this one they seem to be gone.  Maybe there is scar tissue forming, I don’t know.

Our options are sort of limited as to more treatments.  The vet is suggesting shock wave therapy.  This would consist of three sessions at around $400 or more for each.  Will it work?  That’s unclear; maybe yes maybe no. He’s also pushing for PRP therapy, which is even more expensive.  From what I’ve researched it seems that this particular therapy has a chance of working if it’s done within a few weeks of the injury, after more time has elapsed it’s basically another maybe. The PRP treatment is very invasive the way they want to do it.  I’m not totally sure what they’re advocating but apparently this is an interesting case for their surgeon. He wants to split her suspensory to get in there and administer the platelets which is going to cause more damage before it can begin healing and will enlarge the ligament with scar tissue as well.  For me that’s not an option right now.  There would be a longer recovery time in her stall and the risk of infection, in my opinion. The shock wave sounds like a better option, but not right now.  

Dusty had a lameness exam too.  She’s not lame in the least trotting on the pavement or making tight circles.  On the longe line she broke into a very natural balanced canter and looked wonderful and sound.  Her trot was the same; no lameness and she looked like she can’t wait to have a job again.  Sorry girl, not just yet.

She doesn’t seem to be in any pain and she is healing, although slowly, so I’m going to hold off on any big decisions for now concerning different treatment.  I’m going to keep giving her supplements and light exercise in her turnout time and she’ll be sporting her laser boots each night.  It’s only been a few months and she is fifteen, so I’m going to give her a few more months to heal and see where we are then.  In the meantime I’m going to check into alternative methods and see what they have to offer. Acupuncture might be an option.  If anyone has suggestions for a suspensory branch injury and how you treated them I’d be interested to hear about your methods.

Until next time

Quote for Today

Ask not what your horse can do for you - Ask what you can do for your horse.

The "Dusty" Diagnosis

This past Friday the vet came to reevaluate Dusty’s suspensory injuries and her laminitis/founder.  The x-rays to her front feet show that she has 6 and 9 degree rotations in both feet.  The ultrasound to her suspensory branches on both hinds show minimal improvement in the right hind and not much at all in the left, where the pictures showed she still had a decent sized hole in her suspensory branch.  Not great news, but we do have a protocol that we are going to follow.

We’ll continue to rest her in her stall on and off during the day. She is allowed out in her own small paddock with a grazing muzzle under supervision a few times a day; obviously no running will be allowed.  She will continue to have her laser boot treatments and will be getting shoes on her hinds, which she doesn’t have now.  The vet and farrier will confer as to what kind of shoes will be most beneficial to help her be more comfortable and give her the support she needs so she can continue healing.  Dusty is on isoxuprine right now and some bute also.  Very shortly we will also be starting her on a DSLD regimen that we used on Sweetie that helped her a lot.  Dusty doesn’t have DSLD, but we’re hoping the supplements will help to heal her ligaments and tissues.  It’s worth a shot and many horses have had good results with this particular treatment (you can find out more about it here.)

Our vet recommended PRP (platelet-rich plasma) treatment as a possibility for her suspensory injuries.  I’ve read up on it and I’m not at all sure it will work; one of the reasons I have my doubts is that the information available says this treatment should be done within 2 weeks to 30 days of the initial injury.  Well, it’s been a lot longer than that, so it might be too late to start.  But I suppose it’s an option.  It’s also very expensive for a “maybe.”  He also mentioned stem cell treatment, which is twice the price.  If I were absolutely sure either of these options would work I might use the butter and egg money and give it a try, but I’m under the impression it could be a shot in the dark.  If the supplements don’t do the trick I might have to really consider these options.  As always, these things are wait-and-see, and healing takes a very long time.

I would like to mention that when we took her out and put her on the longe for a walk for the vet Dusty immediately broke into a beautifully balanced canter as if to say:  “See I’m better, really!  Now can I please go out with the herd!”  This mare will do anything so she can go back to work.  I’ve got to admire her spirit.

Until next time

Quote for Today

Don't look at a horse as an animal; look as if the horse is a real person, because a horse can tell the difference.

The Results Are In

" I'm feeling better and think I can go back out now, you know "

" Hey, where do you think you're  going, come back here, right now !"

" That did it, I'm not speaking to you anymore"

I’ve been waiting for the results to come back from Dusty’s many tests performed by our vet.  Yesterday I got the call: there is absolutely nothing wrong with her.  She had a slew of blood tests and all her chemistries are good, just a little underlying Lyme, but that’s to be expected since they are constantly exposed and, as many believe, once you have Lyme it never completely leaves your system. Dusty is not insulin resistant and doesn’t have HYPP, which were the two big ones I was worried about.  When she first injured herself her muscles were so tight she looked as if she might be tying up.  She may have been tying up, but it was most likely due to the stress and pain of compensating for the pain in her feet.

She is still on stall rest until next Friday when the vet will come out and evaluate her progress.  I’m hoping for an ultra-sound of her hind suspensories to give me a clue as to how they are healing.  Dusty is not getting any grain or grass but I do take her out for short walks on soft ground and grooming.  I’ve even let her in the small paddock with a grazing muzzle on for a few minutes just so she can roll; it seems to make her feel better. 

Even though the vet wants her to have no grain or grass, I’m not totally convinced that the reason for her founder is the grass and grain. I know it’s the pat answer for any horse with this affliction in the spring, but I’ve read in studies done that they can’t reproduce founder/laminitis in a controlled setting with spring grass or grain.  Personally, I suspect it could be due to the multiple vaccinations she gets in the spring.  Some of our horses have bad reactions to them.  Blue is one of the ones who swells up terribly (and not just at the injection sites), Nate often gets lymphangitis, Mellon gets colicky and once had a bout of laminitis after his vaccines, etc., and Dusty often runs a fever after her shots despite giving her bute.  This year in particular they all seemed especially miserable for a few days after their vaccinations….

I’ve been to some message boards concerning a certain company, which shall remain nameless because I don’t want to open a can of worms here; I’ve found horse people with the same problem of founder and colic after the vaccinations are administered.  This happened to her last year after the vaccinations so I am suspect and wary and will most likely change companies for future vaccinations. I should mention too that my horse Erik colicked and died two days after his spring vaccinations.  We have always tried to limit the number of vaccines we give and space them out over several weeks, but the reactions are still an issue.  Our previous vet wouldn’t use this particular company’s vaccines because of just these reasons.  Makes me wonder…

In the meantime we’ll try to make Dusty as comfortable as possible. Being locked in her stall, she is going stir crazy and is making her annoyance known: there’s a lot of door slamming and ear pinning, of course, she’s in a raging heat again which isn’t helping.

Until next time

Quote for Today

The essential joy of being with horses is that it brings us in contact with the rare elements of grace, beauty, spirit, and fire.
    - Sharon Ralls Lemon-

Dusty Developments

" Dusty "

We’ve had some new developments with Dusty.  Not only are the both branches of her suspensories practically shredded (and I hope on the mend), she now has laminitis/founder in the same front foot as last year.  The general theory last year was that it was a mechanical founder, but this time we think it’s metabolic.  But I guess you never know for sure. Unfortunately, she has a little more rotation than the 5 degrees she had last year.

She is on stall rest for the time being.  Our farrier and vet have conferred and she has new shoes and pour-in pads that seem to be helping her stay comfortable and giving her sole the support it needs.  During the week Dusty was very tight through her back and her muscles were also tense.  Our vet recommends administering a small quantity of ace three times a day to help to dilate her blood vessels and hopefully improve circulation in her feet, with the added bonus that it will also keep her quiet while she’s stuck in her stall.  She’s had many blood tests and we are waiting for the results to see if there is something going on metabolically. 

Saturday I gave her a complete grooming and a Reiki treatment and it did seem to help her relax her stiff muscles. I feel so sorry for her; she’s in a lot of pain but she’s such a good sport about it all, except for being confined to her stall. She’s not enjoying her time indoors by herself and spends most of the day looking out her window or nickering for the herd.

Hopefully, she’ll pull through her injuries in time with proper care.

Until next time

Quote for Today

The horse through all its trials has preserved the sweetness of paradise in its blood.
    - Johannes Jensen