While I'm waiting for the vet to open, ease my fea

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Marty

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Timmy's gone lame on the right front. He began acting a little gimpy on it two days ago and by yestarday, he went full blown limping badly lame, hopping around on it. So this is the start of day 3 that he is lame and he is 1 week and 2 days old now.

My first suspicious of course were the worst, joint ill, but that already got ruled out since he had the blood tests and cell tests etc.

But somewhere along the line, he's hurt himself somehow and I don't have a clue how. Holly is very careful around him, but it is possible I suppose that she did step on him. I just don't know what happened.

He's not "sick".....vitals etc good. He is still extremely frisky and wants to run and play. He can canter and jump for a few minutes, and put weight on it, which leads me to believe that nothing is broken.

I cannot see any swelling or feel any heat.

I was beginning to think that it's the new gravels that we have put down in the walk paths and it hurt his tender soles. But I don't see any brusing and then why would it only be sore on 1 leg? He has to walk some 150 feet from his stall to his turn out area. He does not have to walk in the gravels but he did jump in them the other day being the boy he is. So Jerry and I have been putting iodine on the bottoms of his feet, but still no change in doing that. I did try soaking his hoof on that side too which lasted all of 3 seconds. That doesn't work. Besides, I can't tell at all if this is hoof, leg, knee, shoulder......can't pinpoint the problem.

While I am waiting for the vet to open I am just wondering if I should keep him in the stall for now and not have him have to be walking on it to turn him out. This is one of those situations where I don't know if putting him out on the soft warm grass and having him move around excessively outside would be better than having him stay in his stall forcing him to be more "quiet"

I have some banamine (shot) here and I'm thinking that maybe I can give him some of that. I just don't know.
 
I could, very well, be the gravel Marty. But, don't rule out Joint Ill. The only foal I've ever had who got Joint Ill (at 2 weeks old) also tested fine right after she was born.
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We put her on meds & she was fine within a couple weeks.
 
That's what I don't understand Dona. I just got the results back on Monday and on Tuesday, he came up with a tiny limp, now full blown. OH gosh.....I can't stand seeing him not zapping around........this is killing me.
 
Marty....I would keep him quiet in his stall until your vet can look at him. If it's joint ill (probably not) but if it is.....he shouldn't be running around...could further inflame the joints.
 
Marty, sorry to hear your Timmy is lame. My four month old colt went through something very similar sounding at about the same age. It was in his right front leg and went from a bit of a limp to just dragging the leg around, but he seemed fine other than that. The vet determined it was some kind of an infection that he picked up (despite the navel being dipped and all the other right stuff being done). He was put on a course of antibiotics and was right as rain after about four days.

It's so scary when the babies get sick or hurt, but try not to worry too much. The vet will fix him up in no time. I would suggest you not give Timmy any banamine or anything else at this point. You don't want to mask anything that might be going when the vet sees him. I would also leave him in the stall for now.

Keep us posted on how he progresses.
 
I just got the worst news: my vet's husband was just killed in a head on wreck so the office is closed. Her partner, who is the vet that actually came and saw Timmy and did his exam is on call, but is extremely backed up, so she will not be able to call me back for a while.
 
If it were me, I wouldn't give such a young foal Banamine, unless on direct orders from your vet. Odds are good, he's just wrenched something a bit-if you want to limit his movement until you can reach the vet, then yes, shut them(him and his dam)in their stall-but, it's only a few hours-don't think things are likely to get seriously 'worse' in that period of time. I'm sure he'll be OK; try not to worry too much!!
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I would certainly call the vet and have him looked at. This could be one of several things.

It could be a growth spurt, or his over protective mom could have stepped on him. Best to know for sure tho., as it could be any number of things. Usually it is nothing tho., just something that happens with lots of foals and goes away after a period of time. No temp. correct? A foal would have to very swollen for "us" to notice it tho., as they are so small it only takes a small amount of swelling to hurt.

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Just one more question please......sorry sorry sorry I'm just so upset.....can I bed him on shavings now?

I have been bedding them on hay, but darn it, Holly has been eating like a half a bail a day that I put down in there for bedding! He might eat the shavings though, or she will, I don't know........this is hard. Sorry sorry sorry I'm being so much trouble here. Where'd I put my blood pressure meds? Gotta find them.
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Sure Marty....you can bed them on shavings now. I usually replace the straw with shavings just a few days after foaling, since I HATE cleaning stalls with straw! Just make sure the shavings aren't real dusty.
 
Marty, I am sure he would appreciate a new cushion bed right now.

I would not give banamine, wait on vet please for that.

Please let us know what the vet says and how little Timmy is doing.

I take it you already checked for something stuck in his foot?

If you need anything, pm or email, I am at work today.
 
Marty, put him in a stall with nice clean bed of shavings (enough that will leave a cushion). He might have over played and pulled something. What he doesn't need now is overexictment and playing around.
 
Oh poor Timmy and how awful for your vet.

I would bed him really really thick and soft. You can give him a baby aspirin if he seems painful. Try to be calm until the on call vet can get to you. I totally empathize being another one who is way out there and limited on vets.

Let them have all the soft hay they want and just keep an eye on him. If he worsens hook up the trailer and head out for the vet...any vet. Even a small animal vet is better than none. Keep us updated and BE CALM. May be just a bruise from the stone. I use sawdust for paths, nice and soft.
 
[SIZE=8pt]Marty the birth blood work doesnt tell you that you wont get joint ill. It just means the antibodies for stuff is there. He could still have it. Also his little ligaments were Very lax when he was born....thats why I kept asking how his legs were.... he could have strained them with his playing. He could also have a stone bruise from the gravel. You need to make sure a vet sees him even if you have to wait for one.[/SIZE]

So sorry to hear about your vets husband! What a shock!

Lyn
 
Marty I would keep him in the stall for awhile running around can do more harm than good right now. I would say he has a bad bruse. I would just give him lots of rest. Don't worry so much.
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But have the vet check him out anyway.
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Marty, that is TERRIBLE news, all the way around. I would be a mess, I'm sure you are too. So hard to stay calm, but have to! OMG!!! And your poor VET!
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Please post an update soon, I have been trying all day to get into the board to see what's happening with poor little Tim.
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I would keep him up and on shavings. I am sorry for your vet and I hope that Timmy gets better soon.
 
UPDATE: Due to the kaos at the clinic, which is closed, they couldn't spare their associtate to come 100 miles over the mountains to me, she's very backed up with emergencys. They also have tornado warnings out there too. She is going to open the clinic for me soon as she can, but it may not be until morning. She absolutely does not want me to medicate him with anything until she examines him. Timmy does seem better already a little bit though, since he's been on bedrest in the stall all day and he is still very frisky and has no sign of swelling. Thinking he did just sprain himself, but still needs to be looked at. I'm going off line probably now for some of the weekend before my computer or me gets hit by this lightening. Will update when I can.

UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: Jerry got home and we were waiting for the weather to clear up to hitch up the trailer to haul in the morning. Jerry goes into check on Timmy and anounces to me that he is a whole lot better, so I went and looked and he is improving. It wasn't my imagination. Jerry is pretty much convinced that Holly has stepped on him. We saw her do it tonite more than once, and he has seen her do it too. As she grazes, he nurses and she moves around stepping on him that way. Maybe just a good day of stall rest helped whatever is wrong. I hope he continues to improve during the night so we won't have to haul him. Jerry is very worried that a trip on roller coaster roads like this for an hour's ride can stir up additional trouble for him, and put him back into major limping again and we really would like to avoid it if at all possible. We are watching him on the camera, and with any luck at all, he will still be even more recoved tomorrow. We will have to just wait it out and see and with any luck at all, he will be ok. If not, we'll go.

I do believe that Timmy has Angels in his stall and I've asked them to help us out yet again.
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