Dislocated hip/Locked Stifle

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Minimor is right. In Daz's case they did try to pop it in and keep her in a sling, but she fought the sling and it popped back out. It is very rare they can pop them in and get it to stay. If they could that would be the best option...Her surgery is commonly done in dogs and cats and mini horses have had it done successfully. She is the biggest mini my vet has done though.
 
Also interested in how your girl is doing. I have a similar case, a mini mule, that, as a long yearling, broke her femur right at the stifle end growth plate. It was misdiagnosed as a major tendon/ligament issue - she already had moderately severe locking stifle issues, and the initial xray didn't cover where the break was. After five months with no real progress - I know tendon issues can take a long time to resolve - I got a second opinion. Long story short, she immediately had surgery (late Feb 2016, included a human grade plate and four screws) and is now just past the six month mark. The break is healed, but due to the delay, she had both bony growth and resorption in the patella and parts of the femur head, causing significant arthritis in that joint.

Now, she walks/trots/runs on it as well as she is ever going to - there's some mechanical lameness due to the damage - but she still won't put full weight on it, standing, without pain (it's a bit of a fight to clean the good rear hoof). She's on a full horse dose of Adequan, every two weeks, which seems overkill to me, and something I'm going to ask about in a different post.

I hope your little girl makes a full recovery!
 
I try to check in here every few days.

She continues to make slow progress. She is bolder coming out of the barn sometimes wanting to come out before me. We have also made a little progress rasping her front feet. Her good hind I trimmed while she was laying down this time...I wanted to clean it like that this morning but she got up as soon as she saw me.

JMC keep me posted on your mule...how tall is she? Do you have any tips on trimming the good hind, other than getting it when she is laying down.

Here she is a few days ago.

 
It is definitely an ordeal for all of us. This week we are reducing her meds to once a day and hoping next week to remove them all together. This is day 3 of meds only in the evening. So far she is handling it well.
 
She is holding her own. She has some stifle soreness. It is still locked. My vet was here yesterday and we are trying some Surpass (a topical NSAID) to see if that will offer some help and are talking to her surgeon to see about possibly further manipulating the joint. Her hip area seems to be healing well. SHe is in good spirits.
 
We are up to 25 minutes of hand grazing twice a day and then I rush home at lunch to bring her out for 10 min . After her evening walk I give her the option to meander for a bit.

Starting just today I am letting her stay out of her stall in her paddock while I am doing chores...so tonight she got an additional 30 min out.
 
For our situation it was worth it. The day of her diagnosis, our girl wasn't ready to go. Her eyes were full of life and her spirit full of fight. We made the decision to try and as long as she was trying, so would we. This has definitely been a very emotional experience with ups and downs but I am grateful for the chance to fight along side her. We have shed tears and we have had laughs and we have cheered her on. I am always listening to her as we work through this. She still loves life and people. If anyone else faces this, know that recovery may be long, but listen to your horse and plan your treatment from there.
 
Just wanted to give everyone an update on Daz. I haven't posted in a while because this fall has been a roller coaster of ups and downs. Earlier this month she was back in the hospital for more diagnostics...she ended up getting a steroid injection in her hip area and started on gabapentin. While she was there a wonderful farrier built a special boot lift to make up the difference in her leg height.

We didn't see much difference in the first 2 weeks that she was back home but earlier this week she has started to really do well during her hand walks. We are taking it easy and are very careful since it is now winter in the North East but we are hopeful we have turned a corner and that she will continue to thrive.
 


Just wanted to give an update. Daz has continued to make slow progress but her spirit and will are strong. Though she is mainly on stall rest, we have recently added some supervised turnout time, which she loves.
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