Update: swelling back: Random poofy legs: not lame.

[CHT]

Looking for ideas (it’s a holiday, vet will be called tomorrow if this isn’t resolved).

1. Friday during the day, owner came out and cleaned up her horse for a photoshoot. Horse looked good. horse still looked good at 4:15 when I brought him in, but by 9:15pm when I turned him back out, his white hind leg was filled with edema. No heat and sound trotting on the driveway, so I hosed the leg and turned him out. I assumed he had reacted to something she used to clean his leg as he is a sensitive/reactive horse.
2. Saturday morning leg is 50% better. She lessons/jumps that morning and he is good and the fill goes down even more. By 4pm though (when I go to bring him in) the fill is back, and now is starting in his white front leg. She come out that night to cold hose. I suggest avoiding letting him eat the clover (she likes to take him to graze on our septic field which has a mix of clover…I think it is white and red clover, but might be alsike?)
3. Sunday morning, white hind still a bit puffy. By afternoon both hinds (white and brown) puffy
4. Now today, Monday. the white front is still normal, but the the white and brown back legs are big. Go down with exercise.

His temperature is normal. He is otherwise normal. No changes to his feed other than she has been taking him to hand graze more (his paddock doesn’t have much grazing). He is out with 5 other horses on 3 acres, and in for 5 hours at night.

We have had a huge weather change: it went from near constant rain and temperatures in the 60’s-70’s, to hot/humid for here (high 80’s - low 90’s). His paddock hasn’t been muddy, but until last week, the ground would be constantly damp (a lot of soft footed horses) We can’t see any sign of scratches, any obvious heat, or any lameness. He has been in my care for 5+ years, and this is the first time this has happened. he is on 1/4 previcox daily - he gets it at 4:15 when he comes in.

Any ideas? I told her to call the vet tomorrow to book an appointment, but anything to try in the meantime?

[cayuse]

Do you have ticks where you are? Leg swelling can be the first symptom of anaplasmosis.

[Highflyer]

Allergic reaction to something in the grass.

[CHT]

@cayuse

Do you have ticks where you are? Leg swelling can be the first symptom of anaplasmosis.

I have seen one tick in 18 years…but this horse isn’t in long grass/treed area, and his owner is meticulous in grooming and is out every day. I think if he had had a tick, one of use would have seen it? Interesting idea though, and maybe possible? I don’t really know much about ticks as we rarely ever see them here.

[cayuse]

Sounds like you don’t have enough ticks for it to be a tick related illness. I live in a tick infested place and have had two horses with anaplasmosis so it was the first thing that came to mind. Hope you get him sorted out!

[foggythistle]

My guy stocks up a bit when it’s humid out. I do too :). Gentle exercise usually helps get fluids moving again.

[mmeqcenter]

My first thought was stocking up or cellulitis. Can’t really tell from the OP if the swelling appears to be worse after being in the stall or after turnout.

[ThreeFigs]

Sometimes clover or alsike causes allergic reactions with swelling. Keep him off the septic field for a while & see if that helps. Agree that calling a vet if this persists is good – cellulitis/lymphangitis is not something to ignore.

[endlessclimb]

I vote allergic reaction. Friends horse did this in response to equiderma.

[CHT]

@mmeqcenter

My first thought was stocking up or cellulitis. Can’t really tell from the OP if the swelling appears to be worse after being in the stall or after turnout.

it seems to get worse during the day. So best at 7am (or after she rides), looks worse at 4pm when I bring him in, and then even worse at 9pm when he goes back out. So at its worst after being in, but just being out and moving isn’t enough to keep the fill down.

@endlessclimb I agree, this horse is very sensitive, but we can’t think of anything for him to be allergic too. She has switched up/reduced any products she uses on him, and kept him off the clover.

Vet is supposed to be out tonight.

There isn’t the heat/hard swelling that I have seen with cellulitis. but I am worried it could progress there. I have never seen that randomly affect different legs though: last night all four legs were affected, but in different ways. The white front had fill low down, but the brown front just had fill on the outside of his foreleg.

My other worry is a heart issue.

[RedHorses]

I had a horse play Fat Leg Roulette with me one fall. Nothing I did had a consistent effect on the fat legs. The vet checked for heart issues, infection, and in the end suggested max dose antihistamines for a week. That worked but we never really got to the cause. He never did it again either.

[RedHorses]

I had a horse play Fat Leg Roulette with me one fall. Nothing I did had a consistent effect on the fat legs. The vet checked for heart issues, infection, and in the end suggested max dose antihistamines for a week. That worked but we never really got to the cause. He never did it again either.

[joiedevie99]

Is he running a fever?

[Freddo]

Any update, OP? Did the vet make it out?

[CHT]

Vet came out: compared the horse to a pregnant lady retaining water… gave him a shot of lasix and steroids. Blamed it on the extreme weather change/heat. A couple horse later his brown hind leg spontaneously started to ooze blood/serum from below his hock? The bigger, white leg, is scabby at the front. A (different - small animal) vet who was out for her lesson, just thought it was the built up serum coming out. But by this morning it was mostly better, and it continued to get better through the day.

Hoping the swelling stays away.

The heat is supposed to last until Thursday, and then be quite cold again. If the theory is correct, then that should help right?

I am not 100% convinced of the diagnoses, but as long as the horse continues to improve, I guess it doesn’t matter.

[CHT]

The swelling stayed away until Thursday night, when his legs filled back up during his 5 hours in the barn. It was still hot Thursday, but the heat broke overnight and the temperature dropped drastically (from low 90’s to low 60’s), so we thought it might still be the heat. Friday was very rainy, so the horse spent most of his day in the shelter, not moving much…but his legs still didn’t swell up, Then on Saturday, the weather was still cold, but dry…but by Saturday night, when I went to turn him out after being in the barn 5 hours, his legs were big again. The fronts as big as they had ever been but the backs not quite as bad as at their worst. By Noon sunday, the swelling resolved considerably, but not 100%.

So it doesn’t seem to be the heat. Owner is going to call the vet again.

[joiedevie99]

@CHT

The swelling stayed away until Thursday night, when his legs filled back up during his 5 hours in the barn. It was still hot Thursday, but the heat broke overnight and the temperature dropped drastically (from low 90’s to low 60’s), so we thought it might still be the heat. Friday was very rainy, so the horse spent most of his day in the shelter, not moving much…but his legs still didn’t swell up, Then on Saturday, the weather was still cold, but dry…but by Saturday night, when I went to turn him out after being in the barn 5 hours, his legs were big again. The fronts as big as they had ever been but the backs not quite as bad as at their worst. By Noon sunday, the swelling resolved considerably, but not 100%.

So it doesn’t seem to be the heat. Owner is going to call the vet again.

Sounds like it could be some sort of low grade infection/cellulitis.

[dungrulla]

Is he outside?

This is exactly how a few horses at my trainer’s barn reacted after they ate something that gave them a ripping case of photosensitivity. Mine was affected and all the skin peeled off his shoulders–the horses with leg swelling lost skin on their legs. If he’s been eating alsike that’s a known culprit. Fortunately in my case even though the cause was never found everyone recovered.

I’d get the vet to run bloodwork to check liver function and I’d keep him inside out of the sun until you know what’s going on.

[CHT]

@joiedevie99

Sounds like it could be some sort of low grade infection/cellulitis.

I was thinking possibly viral, but with no fever, and with no other symptoms, it is hard to know what to test for. It doesn’t present like any cellulitis I have dealt with: Not hot or painful. Not at all fussy when you flex the puffy joints.

@dungrulla I thought that at first, so she has been keeping him away from any clover, as it started in his leg with a big sock, but his white front isn’t affected more than his brown legs, and his white face is fine, as is the rest of his body (he doesn’t wear a blanket). If we had some sort of covered turn out I would consider keeping him in, but as it is, I think immobility would be risky as that seems to be what causes the edema the most. he isn’t on pasture in turn out: he is with the pudgy horses.

[thebiggrey]

What about bugs? I have one that blows up with too many bug bites. Gets worse when he stands in his stall. Scabby legs all over, sometimes oozes if we don’t wash his legs enough. How’s the bug situation where you are?