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Post by adcooper on Feb 15, 2003 16:04:16 GMT -5
Found Cypress standing in the field looking forlorn this afternoon. Her right hind leg is swollen from the hock down. It's not ghastly. She will walk on it, carefully. And there's no obvious cut or kick mark. Once I persuaded her to take the first step, she walked up a very steep hill to the barn with me. She wasn't limping badly, but did walk very cautiously and there was some head bobbing.
We are in some kind of snow emergency in this county and aren't really supposed to be on the road at all, and since this doesn't seem to be a crisis, I didn't call the vet to come out right away. I gave her some Bute and left her in the barn. I'll go back in an hour or so to see if there's any change. She seems most upset about the taste of the Bute paste, and was sulking in her stall. Only eating when she thought I wasn't watching her.
You never know what happens in these situations, but we've got heavy snow on the ground, making it impossible to see lots of ruts and rough spots in the turnout area. I suppose she could have taken a bad step at any gait. Think healing thoughts for her, please!
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Post by Lynne on Feb 15, 2003 16:11:28 GMT -5
Healing thoughts coming your way!! I hope its just a bumbled step that will heal on its own and be no big deal. Its so hard to doctor in this weather. Crazy's cut is gross and treating it right now is almost impossible. It'd be so nice to have a hifalutin facility to take care of them in ....right outside the back door?
Good luck and keep us posted.
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Post by niaru on Feb 15, 2003 16:20:28 GMT -5
I hope she will be fine after a good night's sleep and a little bute. And of course, it's so cold that hosing her leg down isn't very practical, right? She might have taken a wrong step and twisted something...I'll keep my fingers crossed.
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Post by Einstein on Feb 15, 2003 16:23:46 GMT -5
You can come share my stall ;D
Loff,
nate the great
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Post by Einstein on Feb 15, 2003 16:26:03 GMT -5
Nate thinks he's cute  , and cute, Nate is not! I'm hoping she's OK. Maybe you can call your vet and see if they have any suggestions until tomorrow? I'm hoping she's back to normal in the morning! |
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Post by ClaireLV on Feb 15, 2003 16:34:59 GMT -5
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Post by adcooper on Feb 15, 2003 18:02:56 GMT -5
I'm a little more concerned now than I was at first. The swelling hasn't gone down, probably increased a bit. She looks more uncomfortable now, too.
But she's SO hard to read. I led her out of the stall so I could see--she walks carefully but willingly. Puts weight on the leg, just steps a bit slowly. I wrapped one of those flexible cold packs around it for about 20 minutes and she stood quietly--even put weight on it periodically to rest her other leg.
After that she was quiet enough to let me feel it very thoroughly and slowly--always a challenge even when nothing is hurting. There's certainly a bit of heat there and it's swollen, but feels spongy like tissue--not fluid, not hard, no bulges. But she's not eating as energetically as usual. It must really hurt.
I call the vet's number but of course they are out of the office and the only option is to wait or dial the emergency number. I guess he'd be paged, and I hate to do it. I can't imagine what he's going to tell me to do differently. I'm already doing stall rest, bute and cold packs. Why can't horses get hurt during office hours and decent weather? It's nasty winter here. I keep hearing on the radio we're not supposed to drive unncessarily.
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Post by adcooper on Feb 15, 2003 18:04:24 GMT -5
Niaru, Nate, Michelle and ClaireLV, I appreciate your kind (and flirtatious!) words! I'll tell Cypress she has an admirer.
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Post by Lynne on Feb 15, 2003 18:10:15 GMT -5
Does that mean you do NOT appreciate my good thoughts? Harrumph!
I say call the vet anyway. Probably they wouldn't do anything differently. And, chances are that you found her relatively recently after the injury and its just going through the stages. Still, just TALKING to the vet and getting ideas is better than worrying. I know they hate it, but what would they do without clients like us? Its the people that CARE about their animals that give them their money.
Keep us posted and we're still sending good vibes.
Lynne
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Post by adcooper on Feb 15, 2003 18:20:30 GMT -5
I am just a mite distracted  I did just call and leave a long message on the vet's voice mail. He can handle it. That's what we pay them gazillions for, right  |
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Post by adcooper on Feb 15, 2003 20:14:39 GMT -5
It was a good idea to call. My vet was helpful, friendly and chatty. heck, I could hardly get him to shut up! I'll do what I was doing, except soft wraps (NOT cold) 12 hours on-12 hours off, and more Bute. He can come out Monday (probably) if it seems like a good idea.
I did get a little lecture about horses being turned out in this weather. Well I KNEW that! I'd actually talked to the guy who runs our barn Thursday night and said I'd like her kept in if we got this severe storm. He must have thought this weather wasn't that bad. Snow covered ice seems bad to me. But, oh well, if I had Cypress at home, I'd have to make these choices myself every day and I'm sure my batting average would stink.
I went out again to wrap and give more bute and she seemed a bit better, so I'm feeling better, too. That horse. She won't be tied while I mess with her leg. But if I just toss the lead rope over her back, she stands there like an angel. Ahhh....she's my soul mate!
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Post by ZenRider on Feb 15, 2003 21:14:26 GMT -5
It's nasty winter here. I keep hearing on the radio we're not supposed to drive unncessarily. Which means all the really stupid people are out driving making it all that much more fun for the people that have to be out in that kinda :curse: . Hope Cypress comes around quick and it's not serious. I suspect she was just needing some extra loving and is just playing it up a bit. ;D |
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Post by Bara on Feb 16, 2003 4:33:07 GMT -5
The Thug is waiting anxiously for news. I haven't told him that he has lost her to Nate The Great. (Horse-fight! Horse-fight!)
Seriously, you must be worried, all good thoughts for The Babe..
Love
B
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Post by LynnC on Feb 16, 2003 7:20:16 GMT -5
Sending good thoughts your way, Ad. Give Cypress a big kiss from us.  |
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Post by Smay on Feb 16, 2003 9:26:49 GMT -5
did the same as Teddy two weeks ago, when he came in with a big swollen hock, which progressed down to a swollen leg and fetlock. I'm sure he got kicked in the playfights, because there was no lameness and no cuts or scrapes, just an ugly swollen leg. The cold weather and snow helped him immensely, and the swelling slowly went down as he went to turnout and moved around. I hope she just got a "stinger" from someone knicking her...and that it just swole up like a TB does.... Good thoughts for Cypress Babe!!!!! Pamper her like the queen she is, and she will recover quickly. I also suggest hot mashes with carrots and apples to improve her mood.
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, and cute, Nate is not!
