I am pleased to announce that Scottie’s ear is so much better and he is returning to work! He has stayed sound in front with the changes we made to his shoes, so it really does seem like that was the problem. But we will probably never know!
I popped him on the lunge the other day to slowly start bringing him back into work. In his defence, he had just come in from the field so I didn’t walk him for as long as I usually would. But it looks like his arthritis has flared up again. On the left rein he didn’t look too bad at all. But he did look quite uncomfortable on the right rein in trot.
He isn’t resting that leg more than the other, so he is still better than when he was first diagnosed. I’ve also had a good feel of the joint and I don’t think it is particularly hot or swollen compared to his other leg, again this is better than when he was diagnosed.
It is disappointing, but I am hoping it is just because he hasn’t been in work and has stiffened up. Plus combined with Jo having her baby, he might have spent a bit more time in the stable than normal and the ground has been very hard when he has been in the field. So it could be a combination of all of these things. He is back to wearing his magnetic boots at night, I’ve upped him to a loading dose of his glucosamine for a week and I’m going to bring him back into work and do a lot of walking. I am also tempted to give him a few days of bute to help with any inflammation I can’t see/feel. I will then look at him again in a few weeks and see if he has improved at all.
We are about 6 months on from his steroid injection, so there is a chance that this has worn off. It wouldn’t be ideal as I was hoping to have at least a year between injections. But he also only had the steroids, there are still more treatments we can try alongside the steroids if he doesn’t improve with a bit more activity. So while this isn’t great news, I’m trying not to worry too much about it. I know we still have a lot of options to keep him comfortable, he might just need a bit more help than we first thought.
Last Updated on 03/07/2022
