Talk me down off the ledge as I wait for vet visit/ultrasound. Horse presents couple weeks ago with mildly swollen fetlock, sometimes warm. Watched it for a week or so because no lameness. Then, mild lameness and swelling had not gone away. Vet palpates and says that there’s moderate swelling at tendon sheath, not sore to palpation BUT that suspensory branches also have visible swelling and palpate 2/5 soreness. Didn’t have U/S on truck, so vet will return this week. Horse is LAME, like “abscess lame”. This morning, I felt bounding pulse and hot foot. Thoughts? Can they have a soft tissue injury and be this sore?
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Sorry to say you’re probably going to have to wait to get the U/S to have a definitive answer. I was in the opposite situation as you a couple months ago. My guy had heat, some fill and gimpy in hind L. First thing I thought was, “Oh crap, he did some soft tissue damage”. The farrier was there so had him use the hoof testers hoping for an abscess, but he couldn’t get a reaction 
Vet happened to be coming for another owner and he poked around and also pulled out his testers, although the farrier was still there and said he didn’t find anything. Well, my horse just about knocked the vet over jerking his leg. Vet said he also felt a strong digital pulse and said he’d bet money it was an abscess. I was never so relieved in my life! Horse was fine 6 days later. You just never know and everyone interprets symptoms through their own filter. Will send jingles and hope your vet over-reacted in his field diagnosis and that the U/S won’t find anything!
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My first reaction was exactly that of yours. IN the past, my horses with abscesses have either had hugely swollen stove pipe legs (vets diagnosed cellulitis) or no swelling at all, but were three legged lame. This one has swelling “in all the wrong places” and it would be very easy to think it’s soft tissue, and I don’t 100% not agree. How’s that for waffling, LOL?! UGH, the waiting game while your horse is so very sore. 
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Positive stories: you know how many abscesses I have dealt with my life that presented like other worst case scenarios? There’s a darn good chance it’s “just” an abscess.
But with that said, one of my horror stories was when I worked at a boarding barn. One owner’s sweet horse came in toe-pointing lame, with a bounding pulse in his foot. It looked like a textbook abscess. I called the owner, but she couldn’t come out. I told her what I saw and she asked if I could soak/wrap it and kick him back outside.
Well it wasn’t an abscess. It was a career-ending suspensory tear. 
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This just happened to me at the beginning of March—the vet who says everything is an abscess looked at my horse and was like hmmm that might be a soft tissue injury. I had seen it develop to that point (non-weightbearing on a stovepipe leg) though and was 99% sure it was an abscess. I had the vet look though while he was out for shots anyway. There was a small shadow on the X-rays that I asked for, for peace of mind, but vet wasn’t convinced. Pulses were pretty equal in both fronts. Neither of us could find anything with hoof testers, but he was sensitive to palpation around the inside heel bulb, which gave me hope. I kept soaking and sure enough he had a blowout on the coronary band a few days later! He has very hard feet so it had nowhere to go but up.
Two trims later, this appeared:
I hope yours turns out the same!
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Yeah, it’s either one or the other. I’ve been around enough to know that if this IS a soft tissue injury, it’s not going to have a happy ending.
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Thank you!!! I had one once where the horse presented very lame, but also almost like their stifle was catching, and they had a history of that sooooo…vet went with that. Then the leg blew up like a stovepipe and the vet switched to cellulitis, so we went with that. Swelling went away, but horse still not sound so he xrays the leg (hind, at that!) and said he “saw a splint”. Ok, did the protocol for that. Sigh. A few weeks later my farrier was out and just like yours she asked, “UM, when did your horse have an abscess?” Hole was from the coronet down to the bottom, I was instructed to keep it cleaned out with a hoof nail and away we went. UGH. I really hope it’s just that. Cool pictures, I wish I had some of mine, it was quite impressive too. 
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Lol yes, that sounds familiar! With my last bad abscess (different horse), the same vet was worried he had broken a shoulder so we went to the clinic for X-rays. But often when I’m worried about something, “it’s an abscess.” 
I’m sure he’s right most of the time! I use someone else for serious soundness stuff though.
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I am hanging out on the same ledge. Horse presents sudden hindleg lameness, but not the pitiful, acute screaming abscess lame. No bounding pulse, and some of the steps look like the stifle. He has not shown any under saddle behaviors that would support slow brewing stifle discomfort, but he is out with the “Frat Boys” who play hard and make poor choices. Hmm, some of the markers can go in column A and some can column S.
I start supportive general therapy, make vet appointment, climb out on the ledge and put in my 2 am worry time. My farrier kindly offers to use his better hoof testers a couple of days later and finds a bruise on the inside of the sole near the toe. He reset the shoe to reduce pressure, and horse is a happy camper. So, I will check tomorrow and decide, keep or cancel vet appointment. I did give the pony a stern lecture that if he is not working, he will have to have the extra goodies eliminated. Hopefully that does the trick.
Jingles to you that when you spin the wheel of veterinary misfortune it lands on Abscess!
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Yeah, I stopped using that vet after the 3 strikes, LOL! This one is pretty smart, so that’s what has me so concerned. Did not sleep well (again!) last night. Doesn’t help that this is my favorite horse of all time. Sigh. Thanks for the encouragement though!!!
Hah, I put in some 3 AM worry time last night and yes, extra goodies are currently on hold due to this one being an air fern. I will keep fingers crossed for BOTH of us, can’t hurt!
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Yes…I had one the vet said had sprained her fetlock. Mild lameness, mild swelling in the fetlock. Took her home with instructions for paddock/pen rest and bute for 3 days. She did improve so I took a break from going to the barn after her bute was finished…for 1 day.
Next day I went out and she was 3 legged lame with massive stovepipe swelling in her left hind clear above the hock!
I thought she had blown something soft tissue up. I got her in the barn to do some cold therapy and after that was palpating her leg to see where any mush was. Her leg was fine. However even after 20 minutes in cold, cold well water, her heel was blazing hot. I had had abscess in the back of my mind. Vet had put the hoof testers on her and I thought she was rather pissy about the left hind but he wasn’t impressed with her reaction. I had set up with the BO to put her in a stall when I thought she had ripped a tendon or ligament but when I found the heel heat, I canceled that. Thankfully, the next day she was much better and yes we had a hole in the coronet band above the medial heel. She quickly came sound but that swelling took about 3 weeks to resolve (and she was out 24/7).
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I hope that’s my future as well. WE shall see. Thank you for sharing some words of comfort. I’m glad your girl was all right in the end. Phew!!!
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