Locking Stifle

[flintfootfilly]

Jackie

I suggest you email Beth Valentine: vetmed.oregonstate.edu/departments/biomedical/faculty/valentine Her email address is on that link. She's a vet/pathologist who is very interested in muscle disease in the USA, and she's very generous with her time answering emails relating to muscle stuff, especially EPSM.

I suggest her because she'll have come across lots of locking stifles, and maybe she'll have something else to add into the equation.

I honestly don't know how serious it is to have a stifle locked continously for so long, but I also don't understand how the pony is weightbearing on the locked leg, and can't take any weight on the other back leg. I thought the locked leg would be knuckled over at the fetlock and that the leg would be out behind the pony, so is she really taking all her weight on a knuckled over fetlock or am I imaging it wrong? Might be worth taking a short video and uploading it somewhere like Dropbox so that BV or another vet can see exactly how she is presenting.

I think I'd be looking for other opinions before too much time passes. Obviously the costs can add up, but you need to know what to realistically expect. Sue Dyson at Animal Health Trust in Newmarket is fantastic with lamenesses. Even if it's a phone conversation between your vet and her (or someone else), just to see if they've come across similar, and what the prognosis was, and what treatment/s were most effective etc.

Carrying her weight only on one of the two back legs isn't going to be good for her - is there any way you can encourage her to lie down for some of the time (give her a really thick comfy bed), or would that be too awkward for her.

Might also be worth posting on the vet section of horse and hound forum and seeing what responses/suggestions you get. You can't be the only person to have a pony lock up for so long.

Really hope things improve soon.

Sarah

[flintfootfilly]

Jackie

I suggest you email Beth Valentine: vetmed.oregonstate.edu/departments/biomedical/faculty/valentine Her email address is on that link. She's a vet/pathologist who is very interested in muscle disease in the USA, and she's very generous with her time answering emails relating to muscle stuff, especially EPSM.

I suggest her because she'll have come across lots of locking stifles, and maybe she'll have something else to add into the equation.

I honestly don't know how serious it is to have a stifle locked continously for so long, but I also don't understand how the pony is weightbearing on the locked leg, and can't take any weight on the other back leg. I thought the locked leg would be knuckled over at the fetlock and that the leg would be out behind the pony, so is she really taking all her weight on a knuckled over fetlock or am I imaging it wrong? Might be worth taking a short video and uploading it somewhere like Dropbox so that BV or another vet can see exactly how she is presenting.

I think I'd be looking for other opinions before too much time passes. Obviously the costs can add up, but you need to know what to realistically expect. Sue Dyson at Animal Health Trust in Newmarket is fantastic with lamenesses. Even if it's a phone conversation between your vet and her (or someone else), just to see if they've come across similar, and what the prognosis was, and what treatment/s were most effective etc.

Carrying her weight only on one of the two back legs isn't going to be good for her - is there any way you can encourage her to lie down for some of the time (give her a really thick comfy bed), or would that be too awkward for her.

Might also be worth posting on the vet section of horse and hound forum and seeing what responses/suggestions you get. You can't be the only person to have a pony lock up for so long.

Really hope things improve soon.

Sarah

[Anna]

Poor little mare, it's a horrible thing. We've encountered it once in an older mare and that was after a trauma, she had to be out, massage it until its unlocked and walk and walk and walk and walk her inhand. It kept slipping back out and we would just keep repeating. Initially it was every few steps and then it built up to stopping in for half an hour. She was then living out as the best thing to prevent and help it is walking and keeping the leg mobile.

I would be asking for a second opinion after so long of they leg being stuck, she may need a small operation to release it. I would be buteing not for pain relief but the anti inflammatory properties.

[majobgeorge]

Good Morning and what a good morning it is. Polly is walking. She has unlocked her stifle and is weightbearing on the other leg. She is stiff and slow but moving. Sarah the vet could not understand how she was weightbearing on her locked stifle. When we tried to move her the leg shot out back in the classic position you would expect with her hoof dragging on the ground, but then she would take weight back on it to support the other leg. Anna she is on bute twice a day which she has definitely needed. I have not got her out of the stable as I am scared to death of what will happen so waiting until I have spoken to the vet about what happens next. I cant tell you all how happy I am that she is at least moving. She means the absolute world to me as I am sure you will all understand. Thank you all for your continuing support and reccomendations.
Jackie

[harveydales]

Really pleased to read this. What a relief for you. It sounds like a very extreme and unusual presentation of locked stifle and hopefully no injury to the other leg. Do keep us posted.

[flintfootfilly]

Sorry, been out all day since early doors so this is my first check-in on the computer today. So pleased to hear that Polly had freed her stifle. Hope she will improve now.

Personally I'd still ask for a comprehensive blood test including muscle and liver enzymes....... and a copy of the full report..... and see if that shows anything up. Bloods can be really useful when the reason for something isn't immediately obvious, although equally there's no guarantee it would provide any useful info. But it's easy and relatively cheap to do.

Hope she is doing well tonight.

Sarah

[Deleted]

Jackie - this sounds terrible.....I really feel for you. The one thing I know about locking stifle is that it is not painful - just unattractive to the human eye. I would definitely be getting a second opinion as well.

[majobgeorge]

Polly has continued to recover. The locked leg is fine, the other leg is slightly stiff. She went out today for the first time in a week and in typical Dales style she decided charging around the field would be far too much effort and stuffing as much grass as possible into her mouth would be much more fun. It was wonderful to sse her out. I have noticed that one stifle is clicking a lot, strangely not the locked one but the other side. She has trotted up to me tonight and does not appear lame. This epsisode has only reinforced to me how lucky I am to have a Dales pony in my life.