I came home from work yesterday to find Danny sacked out in the sun. Normally this wouldn't have concerned me but it was awfully close to feeding time and usually he is standing at the food tub waiting for his senior feed. I woke him up and he got right up, but I noticed immediately that his RF knee is swollen. I felt for heat, there was some but not a lot. He is putting weight on it, has full mobility, in fact doesn't even seem to notice it at all.
I left him be, and told the guys to keep an eye on him. Last night I checked it again, still the same.
This morning, I spent a good amount of time messing with it. There is no heat now, but swelling is the same. There is a scar there, that I have never seen before. I'm not sure how that can be, but I do not recall it. It is squishy under the scar. This is not a new cut and if I follow the scar with my finger it actually goes up all the way above his knee (click on picture 2 for better view and arrows showing where it starts) It is obviously filled with fluid.
I am absolutely stumped as to what this is or when it happened. The fact that I have never noticed it before bothers me. Did it happen when he got beat up, and I just missed it? I just don't know. There isn't any proud flesh on the scar. Just dry flaky skin.
I sent some pictures to my vet to see what he thinks.
The worry wort in me wants to rush him in, the person in me that is trying to make every penny count says just watch it, and see what the vet says. (Danny says, "Hey lady, why are you sitting underneath me taking pictures of my leg? Can't you see I am trying to eat?") Obviously xrays would be pointless, maybe an ultra sound. Maybe there is a foreign object in there which is infected, but that should produce heat shouldn't it?
This morning before I fed I let him out to see if he is moving any different. No he isn't. He does not seem to be in any pain at all. He isn't bothered by it if I push on it or probe it. When he was eating he had equal weight on both front legs. No limping, no nothing. I am completely at a loss at what to do. Guess I will wait to see what Bruce says and go from there.
Last year my hubby's TB had something similar on a knee. We assumed he had been kicked because there was a smallish mark, barely broke the skin, but it was swollen and no signs of lameness or heat. Just like this. After a week or so of no changes, we had my boss do an U/S and he also thought it was inflammation due to trauma. He mixed us some triamcinelone and dmso 99% pure stuff, both liquids, and put it in a dauber bottle for us to apply topically 1-2 times a day, am and pm. The triamcinelone is a steroid and dmso work together to reduce inflammation in the joint. The bump never truly went away, swelling reduced in time and he's never been lame on it. Sure doesn't slow him down any so we don't worry about it. Hope it resolves and puts your mind at ease. They're just like kids, worrying their moms... :) Hope you have a good weekend!
ReplyDeleteStrange things with no apparent pain are just as frustrating as when a horse is in pain and we don't know why! I hope you find out what it is soon.
ReplyDeleteSorry you have such a perplexing mystery to solve! If he were my horse I might just give him bute and cold hose it twice a day and see if the swelling goes down. Or even just leave it and see what happens, as long as he's not racing around making it worse. But if he was my main riding horse I would probably have a vet check it out.
ReplyDeleteSometimes a scrape will get flaky skin later when there was really no skin tear to speak of , the fluid sounds a little concerning but if there is no pain it might just resolve with some TLC
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