My young horse has very noticeable swelling in both hind fetlocks. My other horse gets minor stocking up in her legs if she stands around without moving for a long period, but his fetlocks look much worse then that. He’s not lame but a little sore and his leg is warm.
I’m worried it might be cellulitis. He got caught up in some vines earlier this week and I think gave himself some little scrapes. Would it be a good idea to start some SMZs?
He looks worse in person than in the pictures.
No, that doesn’t look like cellulitis to me. Is there a fever? Lameness? Cellulitis generally comes with both. They’re usually very uncomfortable. Bilateral cellulitis would be quite unusual.
I wouldn’t start antibiotics in this circumstance. Wrap if you’re worried, and see what he looks like in the AM.
Did the horse have any vaccinations recently? We had two horses have stocking up and heat -presented like cellulitis or soft tissue injury but in bilateral front limbs- after getting vaccinated last year. Was some strange immune response
I agree that doesn’t look like cellulitis. It doesn’t even really look stocked up to me. Does he have a fever?
I think the pictures are misleading. The swelling is very obvious in person.
About 4 days ago he wrapped a vine around his neck and shoulders and pulled about 20 feet of vines and a tree limb down out of a tree and took off dragging it behind him. He stopped pretty quickly and I was able to get him out of it but it was all around his back legs. No swelling the day after. Just wondering what would cause the delayed swelling, because I would have thought if it was an injury it would have swelled immediately.
See if this shows it better. He has very delicate legs so normally you can see the ligaments going up the leg. Both hinds are swollen. The black right hind leg is worse and more painful than then the left hind.
I cold hosed and applied diclofenac ointment.
This still doesn’t look anything like a cellulitis.
If you have concerns about filling, wrapping is best.
During a clinic if I was worried about stocking up I would do a wrap with clay, the legs would be cool and tight the next day.
Painful would have me worried. I think my inclination would be to ice or cold hose for a good twenty and then standing wraps. If there is still tenderness in the AM I’d put a call in to your vet. Stocking up happens but tender, especially following a tangle with something would make me worry about soft tissue. I hope he’s totally normal with beautiful cold tight legs in the morning.
I agree that cellulitis almost always has a fever, so if his temp is fine, I don’t think it’s that.
When you say it’s painful, what do you mean? Sore to the touch? Lame? Doesn’t want to bear weight?
I would definitely ice - and I mean really ice and not just slap on a Velcro ice boot - or cold hose for at least 20 minutes each.
If the pain is of the sore to the touch variety, try some gentle walking on a firm surface and see what happens. Sometimes whatever is causing the swelling just needs to work it’s way out.
Wrapping is also good. I really like my EquiCrown compressions wraps for a case like this. They fit so much better all the way down to the pastern than I can ever get standing wraps to do.
If not better by tomorrow, I’d call the vet to be on the safe side. Do conservative turnout until then , as in, walking is good but no more than that.
Id hose the legs and then ice them for 20 minutes, and then I’d apply a furazone sweat wrap for 12 hours. I’d also give bute.
I think it’s a good idea to wrap and keep an eye on your horse’s temperature. Let your vet know what’s going on.
Anectotally, for my horse, this symmetrical swelling was due to a mild viral reaction. He was the first one at the farm to show symptoms. Within a few days, almost all horses at the barn were like this. The vet knew right away when I described it over the phone. No fever, both lower hinds swollen, stiffness - but not lame. He indicated pain meds, wrapping, and to keep him turned out so he could keep moving.
If he were mine, I’d call a vet. You mentioned the vines were wrapped around his hind legs… I wonder if he could have something like a mild bandage bow. I see one area that looks more swollen when I blow up the picture.
Any update?
My horse had exactly that recently.
He is still swollen. I plan to call the vet tomorrow. Today it didn’t look worse but it didn’t look better either. Appetite is good and no fever. It’s possible he took a slip in the pasture- the mud is bad with all the rain.
I’m not super worried as he doesn’t look uncomfortable. He objected to me icing his legs but he has never needed ice and once I hung up a hay bag, he was fine with it. I use ice blankets and polo wraps.
Good luck
It’s looking better today. I still don’t know what caused this but he seems to be improving.
This sounds very similar to what my horse had (posted up thread). He had high leukocytes when we pulled bloods, but not outrageously high. Vet deemed it a virus that he seemed to be clearing on his own. He’s fine now.
My horse also had this recently! I kept her moving with light exercise and it cleared up. No issues
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