Need Advice on Pain!

[tinypony]

First of all, yes I have a call in to the vet and chiropractor but am hoping for suggestions if you have experienced this before. I just recently obtained a new gelding with no history. He is supposedly around 15yrs old and was team penned. Breed unknown but he is gaited. He is medium height, very narrow and slender, long face, tiny hips, wonderful perfect feet, not trained gaited but naturally gaited. I was warned that he was slightly limpy if cantered for way too long but otherwise fine. So I don't canter him at all. Suddenly he is losing weight (but eating lots, blanketed and stalled, UTD on all care), limping heavily at all times, won't put weight at all on rear right leg, won't let me handle his pastern, and when I tried to ride gently in roundpen he tucks his head into his chest deeply when walking (I got down immediately). No swelling, no heat, no injury, but his back makes tiny crackling noises when he turns his head. I think I was tricked and bought a lemon but has anyone had this happen to them? Obviously the vet will know best, but I am impatient waiting for them to see him. I buted him last night but it didn't help at all so I won't bother with it today. He has double shavings at all times in his stall, his hay is kept in a feeder at head height for comfort.......help!

(p.s....I have only ridden him 4 times since I got him 1.5 months ago and I was gentle so I doubt it was me....)

 

[Taylor Jo]

Not sure about the back cracking, but laminitis maybe. UTD on his teeth being floated too? POOOR baby....

 

[jess]

Not sure if you have many ticks in your area but you may want to have your vet test him for Lymes disease....Just a thought we had a mare at the stable that showed simular signs and she was positive for Lymes disease...

 

[jleonard]

If he threw out his back, it may cause muscle wasting as the muscles are not being used properly. Also, a lower problem (i.e. in the limb somewhere) could make him back sore. If he has been lame for a while, limping to compensate may have affected his back. Just some ideas. I will be interested to hear what your vet has to say.

 

[tinypony]

I just recently emailed the lady I got him from to gently "complain". She says it is all my fault for keeping him in a stall and that I have ruined him. He is in a stall that is 20' long by 12' deep, gets turned out into a small paddock, has plenty of shavings so how is this my fault? She says he is all stoved up because he was fine when she had him for 30 days. Heard a rumor from someone locally that he was diagnosed lame, nice. I had a vet check but without long-term history, xrays, and more than a 45minute typical exam, they couldn't see the lameness because he wasn't limping. She also says he is losing weight due to nerves, whatever. While I agree this is possible in some cases, his overall syptoms point to more than just nerves, and wieghtloss isn't nearly his biggest issue right now.

Lyme disease? I do have ticks, thank you I will mention it to the vet today but since I haven't had him long and with the "rumors" I suspect I just wasted my money and time because I'm not rude enough to sell him to someone else to deal with. I hope the chiropractor can fix him Thanks all.....cross your fingers for us....

 

[tinypony]

....and now a new worry ( I worry way too much). Vet gave me the number for the chiropractor and I called him. He says he doesn't adjust backs, he does range-of-motion therapy. Is this normal for a chiropractor? Is there any chance this is the way to go? Now I'm worried my vet gave me a bad referral when what I wanted was his back worked on. I should have bought goldfish...

 

[MinisOutWest]

we had an older ranch horse. He was not use to our feed program or the type of 'little' bit of grass on the dry lot we had. He started to founder off of the handful of grass he would get thru/ along the fence line and the type of grain was not helping either. the vet changed his feed to a senior feed and the plainest grass hay, almost a cow hay, we could find, but he never really got 100% again, he was a great horse, but he just needed to live in a cow pasture again, just like where he come from and never see a drop of grain again. good luck

 

[Marty]

I feel sorry for what you are having to go through. You need a correct diagnosis to work with from a much more interested vet that cares. Your vet's lack of interest would encourage me to certainly move along and quickly I might add to another vet who will do a series of X rays and a very complete exam. Besides having his back cracking and being lame, loss of weight, this to me indicates a complete emergency. He is in obvious pain that needs to be addressed fast. Being told the horse has a case of "nerves" is obscene when he is in so much pain like that. Best wishes for a complete recovery soon.