I am having a definitive lameness issue with my TB gelding, that some vets think is in the back, some believe is the neck, and yet another says hocks. One thing they do all agree upon is that he needs a complete work up. Both Littleton Equine Clinic and CSU have been recommended. I am trying to determine which would be best in this situation. Of course, money is always an obstacle. I realize both offer wonderful clinical skills, but just wondered if anyone had an experience they would share. Thanks!
[QUOTE=exuma28;7472432]
I am having a definitive lameness issue with my TB gelding, that some vets think is in the back, some believe is the neck, and yet another says hocks. One thing they do all agree upon is that he needs a complete work up. Both Littleton Equine Clinic and CSU have been recommended. I am trying to determine which would be best in this situation. Of course, money is always an obstacle. I realize both offer wonderful clinical skills, but just wondered if anyone had an experience they would share. Thanks![/QUOTE]
I just had my horse at Littleton and I would recommend them. I brought her there after getting 3 wildly different opinions from 3 different vets. At Littleton 2 vets examined her and agreed with the vet I felt was right all along. IMO they have the best team in Colorado and I doubt CSU would be less expensive. In fact if I had brought my horse to Littleton in the beginning I would have saved a $fortune$ and had the correct diagnosis and prognosis from the start.
I have not had a lameness work up done at CSU, but I have had 2 surgeries done there. One was a frontal flap sinus surgery and the other was a laparoscopic ovarectomy. In both cases the cost was less than estimates from Littleton Large and the care was excellent.
I have not used CSU lately, and know that Littleton has many very good vets who are very experienced with sport horses.
But…What I have learned over the years, is that if I had bit the bullet cost-wise and done Nuclear Scintigraphy instead of hunting with radiographs, ultrasound, try this, try that, I probably would have been ahead. Not guaranteed to find it, but at this point, I think it would shorten the search even if by ruling out areas.
I have had horses at both facilities and both had good results.
For a lameness problem, I would go with an experienced sport horse practice.
I would go see Dr. Mindy Story. She was at Littleton but recently took a position at CSU. She is a boarded surgeon that has a lot of sports medicine experience and takes a “whole horse” approach.
Second Dr. Story – she’s fantastic.
I’d not go to CSU. I have never walked out of there happy with the experience. I’ve also had some terrible experiences with LLAC, but it’s probably been 15+ years, so I imagine a lot has changed.
I use Amy Jergens for stuff like this. She’s in Gill, CO (a little south and a lot east of Fort Collins) and she is BRILLIANT. She’s got a full clinic with surgical suite, along with all of the equipment (barring really fancy, expensive stuff like bone scan…)
[QUOTE=Plumcreek;7473294]
I have not used CSU lately, and know that Littleton has many very good vets who are very experienced with sport horses.
But…What I have learned over the years, is that if I had bit the bullet cost-wise and done Nuclear Scintigraphy instead of hunting with radiographs, ultrasound, try this, try that, I probably would have been ahead. Not guaranteed to find it, but at this point, I think it would shorten the search even if by ruling out areas.[/QUOTE]
I agree with this, I had a horse with off/on lameness in all 4 legs. I bit the bullet and did the Bone Scan instead of guessing where to do xrays/ultrasounds. I’m glad I did because we found out exactly what was going on, both hocks and both front feet.
I much prefer CSU over Littleton. For lameness I would try to get an appointment with Dr. Chris Kawcak.
I’ve had one too many negative experiences with Littleton Large, plus they charge through the nose. CSU is less expensive for sure.
I also agree with Plumcreek about biting the bullet on the bone scan.
Thank you everyone! I have made an appointment at Littleton, mostly because it is closer and I have to get my horse in and out before my boys get out of school. Will keep you posted.
