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| Author |
Message |
    
Denise Conroy (Denise)
| | Posted on Sunday, Jun 10, 2001 - 6:46 am: |   |
Hi Dr O & anyone else that can help,
Our little filly, Annie was born 2 weeks ago with alot of difficulty standing & suckling. It has been a long 2 weeks, but she is improving. My concern is her inability to move around. She can now stand, walk to mom to nurse on her own...but that's about it. She immediately lays down and waits for 45 min. til her next feeding. Up until yesterday, she had complete stall rest.
Her trouble is in her knees, & her front fetlocks. She walks on her heels, with toe elevated. We have tried various supports for her with some improvement, but we aren't sure if this would do best with exercise or more stall rest. Our feeling is that she is not using these muscles as much as she should and as a result just gets weaker. I wrapped polos on her front legs today for support, not sure if that is the right thing either. Our vet says nothing can be determined until she is a month old. But in the meantime, this poor pitiful thing needs help. The other concern is that one of her legs folds under alot at the fetlock causing her to stumble.
Would PVC pipe spling be advisable?
Thanks for any help.
Denise |
Robert N. Oglesby DVM (Dro)
| | Posted on Monday, Jun 11, 2001 - 8:32 am: | |
Hello Denise,
I know how difficult it is to keep a stiff upper lip with these. You have two problems that must be assessed seperately, angular limb deformity and laxity of flexor tendons. The angular limb deformity can have a number of causes that require different treatments. You need to read carefully these two articles for assessing your problems and possible treatment options:
1) Equine Diseases: Foal Diseases: Tendon Laxity and Contracture
2) Equine Diseases: Foal Diseases: Angular Limb Deformities in Foals
There is not enough information in your posts for me to make judgements and to some degree it will depend on observing the foal so het armed with information then discuss it with your vet.
DrO |
