Has Anyone Used A Sling???

[LKR]

We have a weanling filly who got out a couple of weeks ago and ended up
5 miles from home. She ran on pavement and gravel. All four of her feet had worn through in the front at the toe. The two front ones aren't as bad as the hind feet. Her right hind foot has about an inch and a half of the sole gone in the front. It is oozing still. The left one has less gone. She is having problems getting up, in fact we were only able to get her up on her feet once yesterday. Last night she just couldn't seem to do it. She is urinating and pooping and her appetite is good. She has dropped a little weight of course, but not bad yet. We thought if we could get her into a sling to take some of the weight off her feet then we could keep her up and going. If we did put her into a sling, do you keep them up 24/7, do you let them lay down part of the time or what? Also, what would be the best treatment for her feet while they heal? She is on smzs and bute for inflamation. She weighs about 550 to 600 lbs. She has a couple of sores from laying down so much and from struggling to get up. It appears most of her problem is due to the pain from her feet. We had a vet look at her when this all happened and have been in contact with him since, but I don't believe has had much experience with something like this.

[Mood Swings]

I would get in touch with another vet in your area and contact local large animal clinics to get their advice. Poor filly is in a world of pain by the sounds of it Good luck.

[madelyn]

You could try putting mac boots on with a lot of padding inside.

[ratherrapid]

this is a vet thing. my thoughts: 1. anti-inflamatory medication, pain killer, immediate anti-biotics!. 2. boots as madyln said. think i'd prefer wraps though--cotton with vet wrap and duct tape. 3. epsom salt paste possible. you posted things are oozing. swelling, infection? appropriate treatment?

your question was about slings. i've seen them used, but, again, that's vet stuff!

[LKR]

She is on anti-inflamatories and I am wrapping her feet. I irrigate the holes with epsom salt water. Spray with gentle Iodine and rewrap. She is on smzs twice a day.

[ratherrapid]

the failing to get up puzzles me. tough one, and you'd think something serious going on in the hoof. might consider posting at www.horseshoes.com. expert farriers and vets there!

[LKR]

Update on filly: At about 7 p.m. tonight I walked by her stall and she was on her feet. Apparently there wasn't any thrashing around when she tried as I was filling the water barrel in the next stall and I didn't hear a thing. When I came home from town today, she was in a different spot and laying on the opposite side from how I left her earlier. I just assumed it was because she had tried to get up and floundered around. She only stayed up for about 5 minutes but she urinated and pooped while she was up so I take that as a good sign. I think I will give her another e-se shot tomorrow. We gave her one when this happened per vet instruction. I will check with him tomorrow.

[ratherrapid]

touch and go. hang in there! one thing does occur to me. when you put a wrap on hoof tissue i'm supposing it's possible you'd actually "prevent" healing. depending on the depth of the wound, the soft laminae really karotenize (sp??) very quickly. I've had vets put the horse under anethesia to dig out sole abscesses make a fairly large wound till the abcess is found, BUT the tissue generally hardens in 24 hrs. sounds as if for whatever reason the little horse is very sore. very concerning. best of luck!

[freshman]

It sounds like she could have road foundered from all the concussion and sole trauma; servere inflamation or bruising of the lamina can cause it to separate from the hoof wall and rotate or drop P3.

The wounds to her feet could have comminuted with the coffin joint or navicular bursa, causing sepsis. I guess I don't have a clear idea of the damage you are describing, but any deep wound or puncture of the hoof makes this a worry. The typical scenario is that the horse gets a "street nail" puncuture or the horse has a lacetation to the heel bulb, slicing it deeply enough to go into the joint, etc.

But even a bad abscess can work its way into the joint space or create such a significant defect in the foot wherever it blows out that the deeper structures are exposed to infection.

These are the scenarios that I can think of that would cause her to still be so painful and down. I'd have get radiographs ASAP to evaluate for founder or obvious boney involvement. If the vet suspects a septic joint the horse will probably need to go to a referral center for treatment. They may recommend surgery to evaluate and flush the joint. Not to be a downer, but this can get very expensive to treat (think $2000-4000), and it still carries a bad prognosis.

She does have the fact that she is young and lightweight going for her. An adult horse would have had a lot more concussion from galloping on the road.

[madelyn]

What is comminuted?

[TJ]

What is comminuted?

A Comminuted fracture is when a bone is crushed or splintered into many pieces. TJ

[madelyn]

Thanks. It sounds like this filly needs to see a real vet real soon. X-rays are probably needed and time is precious.

[Tucumcari]

Iwould be calling another vet.