I need advice... torn meniscus

[JB]

@Ready To Riot

What I need to know is should she be stalled? Should she get pentosan and previcox? For how long? What else can I give her? When should I start hand walking? Can I take her out in the suck and hand graze her or can she really not leave the stall at all?

Keep in mind I’ve never personally dealt with a stifle injury, just other stifle issues, but IMHO, a true injury such as what you have needs, as previously stated, total stall rest for some period of time, no hand grazing, no hand walking, not even putting her in the aisle for grooming. The knee/patellar joint is inherently delicate, relatively speaking, and damage to it increases that instability exponentially. The only question is - how long for total stall rest before another set of xray is take to gauge healing? For that, I still think you need to get the original set to New Bolton or somewhere competent, and get a much more educated and willing opinion than your vet is willing to give. They can give you some guideline like “total stall rest for 3 months, then get new rads and we’ll re-evaluate at that point”. Stifle injuries are like suspensory injuries - you should really not judge healing based solely one external appearances.

Also IMHO yes to some NSAID as stated above. If you decide on Previcox you’d be off-label using a Rx for one of your dogs - can’t get a legal prescription for a horse for that But it’s cheaper than Equioxx, so… And yes, to Pentosan, or even start with a full loading dose of Adequan first, then switch to Pentosan. Anything you can do to support the joint is good.

[IPEsq]

IRAP is generally a series of 3 injections a week apart. It can be very good in helping this kind of tissue heal. Like Simkie said, it’s done standing at the farm. The main expense is in preparing the IRAP (something like $750 in my area, I think). The rest are the barn calls, sedatives, injection fees. Pro Stride is the 1 injection version of it. It’s popular in some areas of the country and hasn’t really taken off in others. It may wind up being more expensive than a course of IRAP, so you may want to investigate that. It could be better in instances where you don’t want to do 3 separate injections. Otherwise, may not be worth the expense.

I understand not wanting to spend even that amount of money, but Simkie is right–if you are going to do it, do it sooner than later. And, I think you’ve been misinformed about IRAP protocol.

For the feet issue, you may need some bute or banamine and a light sedative to help keep up with the trimming.

[Ready_To_Riot]

Farm call isn’t an option. Neither is trailering down every week. Which is why she would have to stay there for IRAP. Or any treatment like that. Which is why it gets so pricey so quickly. I’ll look into the one injection thing and see if it might be worth it.
i did just give her a bath… before reading “no getting out of the stall period!” But I guess she will be permanently placed in there. She did quite enjoy the cold water. I’m sure she is aching from standing in the stall for days!

my farrier works on a lot of geriatric horses and he has made little platforms for the horses to put their hooves on and stand so he can trim around them. I’m more worried about not picking them out regularly.

About to call the vet at UT back to see what he says! I will report back!

[kcmel]

My guy had a torn meniscus with ligament damage. I rehabbed him similar to Beowulf, 1 month of stall rest and then a small paddock for a month and then a slightly bigger paddock for a month. After that I had him on stall board with about 8 hrs a day turnout through the winter, and in the spring I moved him to where he could be on 24 hr turnout. This was about 2 years ago. I haven’t ridden him but the vet said I could do light trail riding on him if I wanted. I would if I had time.

Good luck! Sorry for the devastating diagnosis. My guy was only 8, and was very talented. I still cry…

ETA: I did do IRAP on him since he was insured, even though the prognosis was that he would never be completely sound.

[Ready_To_Riot]

Alright. First, how is it that a Vet that hasn’t made. Single dollar off me gave me much more information about my horse than the one I gave $500 to? Ugh!

Anyway, I spoke with the UT vet who was recommended to me by many horse people and my friend who used to work there and now works for auburn… he’s great.

He is surprised that that there is no fluid built up and also surprised the only time she is lame is during the stifle flex and moving laterally. He said with what he sees, she should be 3 legged lame. He said he can’t tell by those ultrasound images if there is a flap “floating around in there”. He said if I wanted a to wait a year-year and half before I could even think of riding her again, then stem cells injected into the meniscus are the way to go. I’d be looking at $1500-2500. He said if I just wanted to breed her, then he suggests I do nothing other than give her time to heal. He said spring should be fine to breed her (my original plan since before the injury). I asked about stalling her and he said she didn’t have to be stalled, but she could only have a small half acre or less that is flat. But it also can’t be muddy. Lol so in the stall she stays because it’s spring in TN and all we will have for months is mud! He said that for 3 months then I can introduce her to the larger pasture. But only walking… I sense drugs in our future. If it were only her anywhere around, I wouldn’t worry, but between my other nut head horse and my neighbors horse, they would run the fence for hours!

As as far as things to give her now, he said I could do pericox or equioxx and the pentosan, but he wouldn’t bother. Followed by “you can give them if it makes you feel better” :lol: He said with time she will be pasture sound as long as I give her the time to heal. He said my plan to get more images when she was no longer kicking at me was probably a good one.

[joiedevie99]

If you have the ability to put something in it, I would. Pro-Stride, PRP, and Stem Cell can all be effective as one-time treatments. IRAP is most commonly used in a set of 3. Pro-Stride is the cheapest - it costs around $450 by me. Stem cell is the most costly.

I’d be thinking about 60 days of stall rest with Previcox. I wouldn’t worry about the Pentosan. My vets usually prescribe controlled exercise during those 60 days - meaning hand walking only (with drugs on board if needed to prevent any outbursts). It usually starts around 5 minutes twice a day, and adds a few minutes each week. Around 60 days, you can ultrasound again to see how it looks before graduating to a medical-size turnout and letting nature try to heal it.

[beowulf]

@joiedevie99

If you have the ability to put something in it, I would. Pro-Stride, PRP, and Stem Cell can all be effective as one-time treatments. IRAP is most commonly used in a set of 3. Pro-Stride is the cheapest - it costs around $450 by me. Stem cell is the most costly.

I’d be thinking about 60 days of stall rest with Previcox. I wouldn’t worry about the Pentosan. My vets usually prescribe controlled exercise during those 60 days - meaning hand walking only (with drugs on board if needed to prevent any outbursts). It usually starts around 5 minutes twice a day, and adds a few minutes each week. Around 60 days, you can ultrasound again to see how it looks before graduating to a medical-size turnout and letting nature try to heal it.

Your vets say it is okay to have them moving around the first 60 days handwalking with actual stifle injuries? Not talking UPF or sore stifles - like physical tears and ruptures in the meniscus?

[joiedevie99]

@beowulf I should have clarified. The one I was referencing did not have a tear.

[Ready_To_Riot]

Yeah, mine is torn. No hand walking for us. I might look to see what pro-stride costs. Still not wanting to throw a lot at her especially being told that I could do nothing and she’d be pasture sound and happy. Pasture sound is my only goal.