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Jazz's fetlock....

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her back left fetlock is swollen and warm, it seems to hurt her more on the back than on top. She's been lame for a week but only shown signs of heat/swelling in the past 4 days or so. I treated her with bigeloil (sp?) gel yesterday, because it was all i had, and today I got her some DMSO and put that on her. She did not enjoy it at all, she has never tried to run forward in crossties before, but luckily Nike was standing in front of her so she couldn't even get far enough to pull. She just held her leg in the air after I was done. I feel so bad for her. Mom thinks she sprained something. I'm just worried. I want my baby girl to be ok. But I was also wondering, I don't know much about DMSO.... Anyone care to enlighten me?

Heather Tue, 02/16/2010 - 16:30

YOU should not handle DMSO without gloves...to us old folks its OK lol but to a potentially still growing reproductive system, no touchy!

Heather Tue, 02/16/2010 - 16:34

it should help take some inflamation out, but if she has something serious she might need stall rest, my old appy mare one time fell when we were being kids and racing down the power lines and she was lame on her back fetlock, I had her x-rays after a huge scolding by my father...she chipped a bone that was not critical but she had to have stall rest for 6 weeks if I recall and he did use DMSO but i wanna say it was mixed possibly with DEX and Fura.

Krickette Tue, 02/16/2010 - 16:44

Well she's not on stall rest at the moment but she doesn't seem to be leaving her stall often. I saw her out in the small paddock just outside her stall for a little while yesterday, but she spends the majority of her time in the stall either moping or laying down to nap. We think she slipped in the mud that's all over the place at the moment. I would love to take her for xrays but i dont see that happening right now.

Morgan Tue, 02/16/2010 - 19:18

If it didn't swell right away I wouldn't think it was acute like a sprain? More like an abscess. Those can make swelling clear up the cannon bone after some days. Can you find a throbbing pulse under the fetlock? (If it is there it wont be hard to find) Vet's have told me if there is a big pulse then the trouble is in the hoof.

TwinCreeksFarm Tue, 02/16/2010 - 21:00

I always make a sweat with DMSO. Clean leg throughly, slab it on (with gloves), and then ceran wrap and bandage.
Any advice, clean leg thoroughly before and after application.

Krickette Tue, 02/16/2010 - 21:28

I'll check for the pulse, thanks for the advice.
And by cleaning before and after do you mean right after, washing the dmso off, or after you take the sweat off. How often do you do it and for how long?

Krickette Tue, 02/16/2010 - 21:28

Also, would you be able to see an abcess? If I take pictures do you think yall could see anything?

accphotography Tue, 02/16/2010 - 21:38

If we could see an abscess, chances are you could. IME they're not usually that visible until they open, by which point most horses aren't lame any longer.

Krickette Tue, 02/16/2010 - 22:18

when they went to the vet nothing was really swollen or hot, she was just lame. It really wasn't that bad, they just wanted some bute for her because she was obviously uncomfortable. So no radiographs, nothing.
She's definitely not putting any weight on it. I see it propped up most of the time, though after i put DMSO and after she got up from laying in her stall she was holding it in the air.
I've never dealt with an abscess before, so I don't know what I'd be looking for. I'll have to do some research and see if that seems like what it might be.

accphotography Tue, 02/16/2010 - 22:38

I've definitely seen them completely 3-legged lame due to an abscess. However if her ankle is swollen... But I dunno. I recently saw a horse with a swollen ankle who was totally lame and it turns out he just had an abscess. It seems his keeping his weight off the foot caused it to stock up. That may not be your case though.

Krickette Tue, 02/16/2010 - 22:50

Tomorrow morning I'm going to haul water from the house to the barn so I can properly soak and clean her foot. Then mom and I will be able to get a good look at it and see if we can see anything. Her feet were completely terrible up until recently when she got them trimmed, and he did a very good job making them presentable...I don't know, I want her to feel better, I hate seeing her like this.

Monsterpony Wed, 02/17/2010 - 00:39

Is it a front leg or a back leg? Three legged lame that is not responding to pain meds is usually indicates either a fracture or an abscess. And horses are not meant to be three legged ever, so if this is ongoing, you need a much more thorough work-up ASAP.

Krickette Wed, 02/17/2010 - 18:13

Turns out its a big abscess rupturing out the back of her heel. Thanks for all your help guys!

Krickette Thu, 02/18/2010 - 08:20

So, yesterday we soaked it, cleaned it, put [url=http://www.calvinsequine.com/drv0010531… lady[/url] on it and wrapped it to keep it clean. Then that night we took the wrap off and put more pink lady on. I know it should stay clean but it's so dang muddy outside! Is it ok for it to get gross during the day? I'm back at school now and mom and dad said that when they feed in the morning and evening they will clean it and put more pink lady on it, but other than that I don't know what to do for the poor girl.

Jenks Thu, 02/18/2010 - 08:40

It should be kept clean, wrapping is to keep bacteria from entering and causing infection. I pack the area with antiseptic-soaked gauze, wrap and duct tape the outside to hold it on after soaking in epsom salt. I do it 2-3 times per day - or used to when Jorge was home - none of my others get them. And he stayed in the paddock with stall open where it was not muddy.

Simple pincers are used to locate the abscess - I would think your vet should have done this - and then carefully release the pressure by opening a drain hole. Jorge's were always on his sole though, I don't know about the heel.