Vets say nothing is wrong but there is? (Long)

[_Spot]

I have a 27 yr old Appy named Spot that has mild arthritis in his back legs. He is on Prevocox daily in addition to MSM liquid. For the last few months we have been just hand walking for 30-60 mins a day as I am not allowed to ride right now (medical issue). Sometimes he will trot and slow canter and I’ll run beside him. This has been the majority of his out of stall experiences as it has been REALLY cold in Ohio lately.

What he does:

The last two weeks when we are walking, he will stop, do a mad swishing of his tail and stomp his front leg while grunting. This will happen if I walk him over 10 min or so. He will repeat it if I continue walking him.

What happened with the vet:

His leg that he stomps has a large big arthritic knee but it’s been like that for years. Xrays show nothing. Two vets have pretty much told me I’m crazy and over thinking. I have showed them a video I took of it and their opinion was sometimes horses do that (they do but consistantly during an action when they are in pain?). He did do it in front of them both.

His General Behavior and Changes

When he is loose, it doesn’t seem to hurt as much but he will stop walking for long periods.

He was trimmed three weeks ago and it started after that. Nothing seems unusual with his feet.

No heat, no soreness at the touch on any legs, no soreness on his back when I push. He will let me stretch his legs as usual.

He is a chronic stall walker. He has been totally blind for the past ten years but even before that he has been a horrible stall circler. He wants to be out 24/7 but it isn’t possible right now with his blindness in the winter (summer it’s 24/7).

He is getting up from rolling like a champ. Lately he has been laying down more in the stall and not eager to get up but when he does it is like a normal horse.

This is odd behavior

I have had this horse since I was 9 and he was 3. I know this horse better then any other thing in this world. I KNOW he is in pain because of his wincings, swishing, and stomping. He is in pain and I need to find out what is wrong.

Please, has anyone had their horse do this or had them start this and then it led to something else? There are no other symptoms right now.

[AliCat518]

If you think it’s caused by pain, can you add bute as a test for a few days? If that stops the stomping, then it’s probably pain. If not, it may just be a random thing he does.

Otherwise, I’ve had a horse that swished his tail, stomped, and grunted when he was irritated for some reason. Maybe your horse has a ton of extra energy from being cooped up? Or wants to go back to his stall? Or is irritated by something else?

[Zu_Zu]

You know ! Do Not Stop ! Pull Blood !

you know your horse !

don’t stop !!

Pull blood ~ allow the blood tell the non-believing vet •

good luck ! Be persistent !

[marta]

i’m with zuzu. trust your gut. you know this horse better than anyone. sometimes when it’s potentially bad news we want to ignore our gut feeling and go with “good news” offered by someone else but that’s just denial. i don’t know if blood work will give you a definite answer but it’s a start and it’s not overly expensive.
good luck!

[Susan_P]

Find another vet and ask for someone more open minded, maybe one that offers knowledge of holistic medicines.

[QUOTE=Spot;7385703]
I have a 27 yr old Appy named Spot that has mild arthritis in his back legs. He is on Prevocox daily in addition to MSM liquid. For the last few months we have been just hand walking for 30-60 mins a day as I am not allowed to ride right now (medical issue). Sometimes he will trot and slow canter and I’ll run beside him. This has been the majority of his out of stall experiences as it has been REALLY cold in Ohio lately.

What he does:

The last two weeks when we are walking, he will stop, do a mad swishing of his tail and stomp his front leg while grunting. This will happen if I walk him over 10 min or so. He will repeat it if I continue walking him.

What happened with the vet:

His leg that he stomps has a large big arthritic knee but it’s been like that for years. Xrays show nothing. Two vets have pretty much told me I’m crazy and over thinking. I have showed them a video I took of it and their opinion was sometimes horses do that (they do but consistantly during an action when they are in pain?). He did do it in front of them both.

His General Behavior and Changes

When he is loose, it doesn’t seem to hurt as much but he will stop walking for long periods.

He was trimmed three weeks ago and it started after that. Nothing seems unusual with his feet.

No heat, no soreness at the touch on any legs, no soreness on his back when I push. He will let me stretch his legs as usual.

He is a chronic stall walker. He has been totally blind for the past ten years but even before that he has been a horrible stall circler. He wants to be out 24/7 but it isn’t possible right now with his blindness in the winter (summer it’s 24/7).

He is getting up from rolling like a champ. Lately he has been laying down more in the stall and not eager to get up but when he does it is like a normal horse.

This is odd behavior

I have had this horse since I was 9 and he was 3. I know this horse better then any other thing in this world. I KNOW he is in pain because of his wincings, swishing, and stomping. He is in pain and I need to find out what is wrong.

Please, has anyone had their horse do this or had them start this and then it led to something else? There are no other symptoms right now.[/QUOTE]

[leaf]

You might want to consider ulcers. It couldn’t hurt to try some ulcer meds, I don’t think.
Get another vet’s opinion if you can. You know your horse better than the back of your hand, and he’s telling you something.

[chicamux]

How about having your farrier go over his feet with hoof testers? You said it started right after he was trimmed. I’ve had barefoot horses get sore from frozen ground. Worth looking at.

Chicamuxen

[SAcres]

If it started directly after a trim, my guess is that his foot is unbalanced or was trimmed incorrectly (even if it isn’t visible to you). Lowering heels, leaving extra toe, etc etc, will effect the whole leg and could be making his arthritis worse. I would stop riding for a bit and have the farrier out, maybe pack that foot in the meantime.

[bluecharm7]

X-rays will never show everything. I am actually thinking nerve damage or an impingement or swelling somewhere that could be pressing on a nerve.

Walking him around would be best, is there anyway you can get someone to hand walk him for an hour each day? Or even turnout in a small paddock?

[fourmares]

Give him bute for a few days and see if the symptoms stop. If the vet won’t give you bute you can get asprin boluses for cattle.

[Marla_100]

I’d hone in on the new trim aggravating something or maybe his toes were trimmed too short.
Can you borrow some hoof boots to try for a couple days? I just bought some SoftRide boots for an ouchy horse and they help a lot. They’re padded and give good frog support and can relieve sore, tender soles.

Another temporary test if you have no boots would be to pad his feet w/ styrofoam wrapped w/ vet wrap. I’ll bet his feet are sore from the trim.

[independentlyawesome]

I thought it was a bad idea to stack NSAIDS? So, raising the dose of Previcoxx for a few days would be better than adding bute to the mix? I remember reading that somewhere but not why.

OP: Are you able to get a veterinary chiropractor or massage therapist out? Sometimes they can be good at getting to the root of niggly issues like your guy is objecting to.

[SuckerForHorses]

He is a chronic stall walker. He has been totally blind for the past ten years but even before that he has been a horrible stall circler. He wants to be out 24/7 but it isn’t possible right now with his blindness in the winter (summer it’s 24/7).

You might want to consider ulcers. It couldn’t hurt to try some ulcer meds, I don’t think.

Yes. This is a horse that prefers to be outside, and you’ve restricted his access due to the weather. Can’t blame you there, he’s blind and can’t see icy spots. However, it sounds like being prevented from 24/7 has caused him some stress, which is exhibited by the stall walking behavior.

Doing some ulcer treatment would be my first step in this case if he were mine.

[Zu_Zu]

Bumping for a ‘good news’ update ~ Jingles & AO continue ~

[I]
Bumping for a ‘good news’ update ~

Jingles & AO continue ~[/I]

[HealingHeart]

Could his leg, foot fall asleep and he is reacting to waking it up

[_Spot]

[QUOTE=independentlyawesome;7386643]

OP: Are you able to get a veterinary chiropractor or massage therapist out? Sometimes they can be good at getting to the root of niggly issues like your guy is objecting to.[/QUOTE]

I don’t know the first thing about finding a chiro. I’ve thought about it before. Where would I start? I’ve searched online for my area and to be honest, they all seem like people who took a quick course and decided to do it for a living.

I have used a vibrating massager on him and boy did that get some weird looks at the stables :lol: He didn’t like it and i tried to rub his legs and he liked it but yikes, that it some exhausting work!

[AliCat518]

You could check to see if any vets in your area also do chiro or acupuncture. If not, you could always ask them who they might recommend.

[_Spot]

I am doing Ulcergard right now. He did get switched to Previcox in late Nov so it might be from that.

I want him out so badly but we are at 2 degrees here. He gets out for three hours in the indoor but he’s just an active old guy!

For some reason he stopped stall walking as well. Not like him at all but it is freezing here.

[_Spot]

I have never thought of packing with styrofoam and vet wrap. It seems so smart and simple!

[cyberbay]

Could it be that he is getting arthritis ‘twinges’ in his legs? In the cold weather, there can be a real uptick in stiffness, etc., in the joints, and it could be what he’s feeling. Add that to his sudden drop-off of movement and he could be really unflexible at the moment.