Sam had a day out today, at the vets. I dropped him off at 8am and went back at 2.30pm for his appointment. He had a lovely stable, lucerne hay, fresh water and a neighbour to keep him company. There was even a video camera in there so when you were in at reception you could watch him! That was awesome. I hadn't been to this vet clinic before, it is part of the university here in Wagga, a teaching veterinary clinic. Relatively new so the best of everything.
I got back at 2.30pm and they were ready to see us. First Sam was weighed, he is a hefty 534kg. I thought he would be heavier..... We went through the history of what has been happening, trotted him out and he was a lot worse than he was at home, both ways on the lunge this time. They said he was lame in a straight line as well. Flexion tests, hoof tests, they still couldn't pin point it. Next step was nerve blocks. So far we are up to 3 lame legs. We ran out of time so he is going back next week to check the other leg, have x-rays and they are having a farrier come and look at him. I did ask if it could be his shoulders or more in his body but the further investigating we did it doesn't look like it.
I asked the vet what she was thinking before I left, she didn't want to speculate but it is looking like it might be the shoeing job. My farrier is not the greatest farrier I have ever had, but is always on time, will travel out to me (most think I live out in the sticks) rings me when he is going away to see if Sam will last or if he needs to do him a little earlier and he is a gentleman. Good farriers in this area are hard to come by and the goods ones are not taking on any more clients. The farrier who will be examining Sam next week is one that I have been trying to get into since we moved here. I am hoping that this might be my in. It would mean floating him into the uni for him to be done but if it means that I would get a great shoeing job then I am willing to do that.
Maybe it won't be the shoes, maybe his arthritis and the degenerative changes are starting to play up. I guess we just wait and see.
Sam was their best client today, easiest to examine, to do things with and the most polite. I was very happy to hear that! So Sam gets to stay out tonight as the vet thinks he might get some swelling from all the injections so he is out in his paddock grazing.
4 comments:
It could be the shoeing job - particularly if either the shoer trimmed his feet in a way that wasn't natural for him - many horses have irregularities in their limbs and the way their feet are shaped and that has to be respected. Hope they're able to bring it right for you. Have they tested thyroid? Sometimes endocrine imbalances can cause overall body soreness - Noble had this and was quite sore/lame until we put him on thyroid medicine.
One other thing that I'm sure was already checked - if all or most legs are affected it may very well be systemic/metabolic - we have some viral diseases in N. America that can cause symptoms like that - Lyme for example - don't know what your equivalents are but assume they tested for them.
Poor Sam! Hopefully, it is just the shoeing job, as that would be a relatively easy fix. I know that good farriers/trimmers are hard to find here in the US as well, so I guess it's a world-wide problem.
Fingers crossed for Sam!
I find it interesting that the vet is bringing in a farrier to consult. I think that vets and farriers should work together. I hope you find out what's going on soon!
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