Last week I blogged that Jack was lame again and the vet was booked to come back and have another look at him. :0( When I had booked the appointment I had been pretty worried as he seemed very lame however 2 days later when the vet arrived he was actually hardly lame at all - typical! We talked through what had been happening and I trotted him up for her, it was very hard to tell at first if he was lame or not as everytime I asked him to trot he was putting his ears flat back, throwing his head around, trying to bite and generally not being helpful. As I had feared it looks like putting him on bute has cause his ulcers to flair up, the vet thought so too as he had not behaved like this a few weeks ago when he had been far more lame. We gave him a little feed of healthy tummy to help with the acid and then tried again to trot him up. She also performed flexion tests on both front legs and checked his back and pelvis thoroughly for any pain. The good news was that his back was fine and his Pelvis much, much better than when she had seen him a couple of weeks ago. I also lunged him for her and while he was slightly lame it now seems to be his off fore rather than the near fore which it had been the last time she came! As ever Jack likes to complicate things! So Based on all the info and his current level of lameness the vet concluded that the check ligament is the problem, but that as it seems to respond well to rest, that it isn't too serious and a longer period of rest should see him right. So she prescribed another 2 weeks of bute plus rest in a tiny, stable sized paddock where he cannot run around and keep undoing all the healing that is going on while he is resting! I raised my concerns about more bute because of his ulcers and also showed her what I feed him and the ulcer supplement which says it cannot be given with bute. She felt that it was more important to give him pain relief for the ligament and deal with the ulcers after. I feel quite differently as my poor horse is miserably unhappy and I feel dreadful feeding him something I know is only going to make him worse. I joined a facebook group for people with horses with ulcers as I find the kissing spines group is so helpful and full of great people who really support each other. I put up a post about the situation to see if anyone had suggestions for alternatives to bute or a supplement I can feed along side to help him. There were a few suggestions but everyone agreed the bute is not a good idea. So I spoke to the vet and although she wasn't keen to stop the bute already she has agreed to try it and see how he goes. I've also ordered some Protexin quick fix and hopefully this will help settle his tummy back down. Will have to see how it goes over the next few days but hopefully we can get his ulcers back under control quickly.
For the first couple of days after the vet visit Jack did stay put in his little field which is next to his mates but the morning after bonfire night I found him in the big field having pulled half the electric fence posts out! He wasn't injured or distressed so I don't know what happened, I put all the posts back and popped him back in with a bucket of feed while I went to get him some hay, by the time I returned he was out the field again! Little monkey! So I set about adding another wire of electric fencing to try to contain him. It worked that day and he stayed put hurrah! I move his paddock every night onto a bit of fresh grass as he soon eats it and that night is was pouring with rain and getting dark and windy so maybe I rushed the job but the next morning he was out again! This is not going to be doing the leg much good :0(
Luckily since then he has stayed put so hopefully he stays that way now and properly rests the leg. When I brought him in last night he was looking pretty lame again so I really want him to rest it properly and not go running about!
I'm feeding masses of hay so he's not hungry so hopefully that helps keep him put and he gets the rest he needs to heal his leg. Being off the bute might help keep him a bit more quiet too as if he's feeling it he hopefully wont want to run around.
I have to admit as it's going on I'm getting more and more concerned that the lameness does not seem to be improving. All I can do at this stage is give it more time and if we are still not seeing an improvement at the end of the 2 weeks of rest the vet will come back again with her boss for a second opinion. I really just want my boy to feel better.
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