Is it time? Going on year 6 with DSLD

[FatCatFarm]

August will be 6 years that my coming 16yr old gelding will have been dealing with DSLD. He still looks great, is an easy keeper, loves his food, stands good for the farrier. But I have been noticing him just standing around more and laying down more. His fetlocks have dropped, his hind legs have straightened and his ankles are biggish. He walks fine, ankles are not touching the ground, yet. He wants to follow his brother when taken out for a trail ride.

But, it sounds like he’s got rocks in his hind ankles when he walks past and I keep thinking, better on a good day than a bad one.

I know, I know, if you’re asking the internet… but he still looks good, but I think he is in more pain than I realize. Previcox did not help. He is on daily MSM. And how long do I want to/should keep kicking this can down the road for him. It’s a struggle.

[Alterration]

I don’t have much to offer beyond hugs. I’ve been wondering that about my old guy with DSLD as well. Mine still can canter and fart around when the weather is cold and walks around with the herd, but his cribbing seems to be worse and I just worry that he is ever less comfortable.

[sascha]

Sooner rather than later. I saw one deteriorate to way, way too many months past his feeling great date and it was very miserable to watch.

Listen to your gut - he sounds like he’s got rocks in his ankles, he’s standing around a lot more, his ankles are bigger, his hocks have straightened, and his fetlocks have dropped more.

We don’t have to wait for a worse day when we can already see that today is a little worse than yesterday and there is no chance of recovery.

[beowulf]

I’m sorry you are dealing with such a heartbreaking situation. Sometimes my metric for weighing QOL also comes down to if I’ve seen personality changes lately. Does he still romp around the pasture and get wild hairs under him? Did he used to trot to the gate when he heard you call?

[oldernewbie]

My poor sis struggled with this decision for her DSLD horse for a couple of years. We knew the time was coming but he was still getting up and down, enjoying his pasture time with my gelding, and bright eyed every morning. Things got bad enough in less than a week to put him down. Logistics were a little crazy and that was more stressful for her than it should have been. I was in Alaska on vacation, came back with COVID and had to move my horse all in a rush while feeling crappy. Fortunately the barn I moved him to knew that the time could come suddenly and someone who planned to move in that day decided to delay so I had a place to go.

Moral of the story: Maybe slightly earlier than you would like to put him down but plans are made and things go as smoothly as they can under the circumstances. Or, wait for some decisive but wildly inconvenient event that makes up your mind for you.

I am sorry you are going through this, it’s never easy. Hugs!

[IPEsq]

I’ve seen a couple that were too late. Both pretty lame. Would not lay down. One horse also started this almost tying up behavior in the evenings. Shifted weight a lot. Sometimes would lift a hind leg kind of high and seem to get stuck like that. Periodically 3 legged like a bad cramp. (Did not have shivers, stringhalt, etc.). Went on for far too long. I am not sure what it was like for the first one on its last days (horse moved away), but for the second one, by the time the owner scheduled the appointment, one of the suspensories really let go. Horse really couldn’t walk and poor thing had to spend the day before in a stall loaded up on a lot of drugs which didn’t do enough. At the time of the appointment, needed a lot more drugs to try to walk out of the barn to a spot that the body could be out of the way and picked up. It was heartbreaking, and I was just a fellow boarder.

I also took care of another for a time who could still get up and down, fart around if he felt like it, was engaged with his buddies and people and the boss of his pasture mate. He had been a rescue with a host of issues and not rideable for a long time anyway. I believe he was eventually put down due to an unrelated infection. I worried about him (as I suppose you do caring for any super senior), but he was ok in retirement while in my care. The other horses I boarded with were very hard to witness. One I did some contracted care for (bed sores care, hand walking, bandaging, etc), and the downhill trend was obvious to me but not so much to the owner.

It sounds like you are nowhere near the bad place, and there is nothing wrong with making sure your horse doesn’t have to go through any of that by being perhaps a little early.

[4horses]

I had a mare with DSLD. Sodium naproxen as a pain reliever worked better than equioxx ever did for her. I think equioxx isn’t a very good pain killer. Maybe for mild pain only.

She ultimately bowed a tendon in the front and the minute I saw that I called the vet to say goodbye. She had a very good and long life.

My rule is whether they can stand for the farrier okay. She was getting to the point she couldn’t, but we trimmed her with her laying down and she was a smart enough horse to cooperate with that. If it had been any other horse, I would have stopped sooner but she always had a strong will even to the very end. She would lay flat if you pressed on her neck and had such complete trust is us. Really a special horse - the kids all loved her and she was so careful with the little ones.

My suggestion is to manage it one day at a time. There will be signs that they are getting more uncomfortable and sometimes it’s obvious that they are no longer happy. They may run around less but if they look happy and bright eyed, sometimes that special will power keeps them going. Pain management is important with these guys as you want to keep them comfortable. It does progress but usually rather slowly, in most cases. You know your horse the best and can make that decision when the time is right.

[red_mares]

I haven’t dealt with this in horses, but I have lived with my own crappy ankles. The pain sucks. On the bad days, I (theoretically at least) knew it wouldn’t last, that tomorrow might be better. Your horse doesn’t. Unless your horse is good with rum & coke or hot chocolate with raspberry vodka, I’d let him go.

[RedHorses]

When do you know it’s time? The toughest decision of all:

Journey to the End

Trust yourself:

Journey to the End

I think these two blog posts are the most relevant, but it might be worth starting at the beginning.

(((hugs)))

[FatCatFarm]

Thank you for those blog links. They helped. Because yes, I am 2nd guessing myself even though I know better on a good day where I can plan than on a bad day that involves suffering.

Pic is from 3 yrs ago.

[Angela_Freda]

I kept my horse in retirement six years after diagnosis.
He eventually colic’d and was down in his stall and had a not so great last day before the vet got there and drugged him up.
I wish I had done it sooner. The stuff he endured, and that the people at the barn had to do, on that last day to get him up was unfair to everyone.

What a beautiful boy.

[Smiles]

This decision is on my plate too. My gelding has had dsld pretty much his entire life, he’s an 07 baby. I went and cleaned him over the weekend and his good hind leg is starting to show signs of break down. Now If you saw his bad leg you would probably say damn and not in a good way. But he runs/eats/poops and fights with his pasture buddies. So how do I judge when he’s had it, if he does xyz fine? The last two years he’s managed to choke and brake his face. I had the vet out for both and he just keeps pulling through.

It’s not an easy decision but if you think it’s time don’t over think it.

[joiedevie99]

My unconfirmed but likely DSLD horse lives at a retirement farm a ways away from me. Every time I get up to see him, I feel like he’s deteriorated more and the question crosses my mind. This fall, his hock (on the leg he had suspensory surgery on) got so straight that he slipped his superficial flexor tendon off the hock. Cue massive swelling and stall rest. I thought about making the call, but the vet was so optimistic about how well those heal and how most return to pasture soundness, so I went along. She was right, and he’s back outside happily, but not without further deterioration of that leg.

[Catherine616]

I am in this situation with my 25 year old mare. She also has Cushings and EMS with history of mild laminitis (no rotation). So with spring coming she will spend most of her day in a dry lot or stall since she can’t have grass. She gets daily bute and dorm/banamine for the farrier. Still lays now with a little difficulty getting back up. So, the decision would be easy except for the complicating factor of her 22 year old mini companion, who also has Cushings and EMS. They are inseparable. My thought is to let them go together, which horrifies my family.

[FatCatFarm]

I am calling and setting an appt for a farm call with my vet to evaluate him and putting euthanasia on the table.

[Arelle]

I put my first horse down in 2010 after his DSLD had progressed to the point where his hind fetlocks were parallel with the ground and his hocks were very straight. He still got around fine, and wasn’t in “bad” shape, but I also think that he was very stoic - he was 24 at the time.

My vet, about a week after he was gone, told me she was relieved with the choice I had made and it was the best thing as an owner I could’ve done. Her concern was that he was one bad step or fall away from a broken ankle and an emergency - but she didn’t want to be the one to make that decision for me, as I was a college kid, this was my first horse, and emotions were high.

I don’t ever want one to leave this earth in an emergency situation if I can help it. I’d love it if all of my animals would live happy and healthy until they’re old and grey and then quietly pass away in their sleep. However, we generally don’t get that luxury and so I’m of the opinion that if a day/week/month too early preserves their dignity until the end, it’s the kinder choice.

[FatCatFarm]

Just an update: My guy is still with me. By the end of the winter, I really thought it was time to let him go, but he improved with warmer weather and then adding a gram of Bute a day to his feed and then 2 on farrier day, has made him so much more comfortable. He gets around mostly fine and will even run, buck and play a bit. So I’ve given him the grace of the summer.

But, it’s been a brutal summer here weather wise. Extremely hot and dry with very little rain, and then a bad incursion of army worms on top of that, pretty much trashed my pastures. I have had to feed hay all summer long when I normally catch a break. Everything has gotten so expensive with horsekeeping.

I have rehomed my two goats and have just offered my 3 minis to a good home if they will take all three. I have 5 horses which is ridiculous at this point and it seems stupid to keep throwing good money after bad for this guy. His fetlocks haven’t dropped much further and I can honestly see him going on quite a while the way he is, but it seems foolish financially. I loathe that it comes down to that, but nothing about horsekeeping these days is in any way cheap. I think I honestly need to go ahead and let him go plus sell one more and regain my sanity a bit from having more on my plate than I need.

[beowulf]

No advice, just lots of sympathy. Give him a mint (or some other safe treat) for me, please. You two are in my thoughts. Everything is just so dang expensive, and nothing ever seems to pan out easily.

[FatCatFarm]

Current photo:

[4horses]

I’m sorry to hear that. If it’s any comfort they only get worse over time, never better.

What breed is he?