Lameness in horse- difficult decision

[BB123]

My mare has been lame since March, I have had the vet out several times each time they continue to say she is not sound, last few weeks I have felt hopeful as thought she was sound but have gone down today she is still lame, I do not know what to do, she is 19. She had a previous major injury on the same leg which I wasn't aware of when buying her, it's a different injury but the same leg. Would you keep resting her? My friends said to consider pts, I wouldn't want to loan her out as I know if someone tacked her up she would jump despite being lame. Such a difficult decision.

[judyh]

Don't even consider putting her on loan. It's your responsibility to do the best for the mare. If that means she will be PTS then the decision has to be yours.

[Philippa]

I agree with judyh. I had to make the same heartbreaking decision with a 10yr old earlier this year. If she's not in pain and you can retire her comfortably then so be it but if you have not the time, funds or resources then sometimes you have to be realistic too. I am on a livery yard and could not justify paying for something that may never come sound again. That along with the fact her illness was coming back regardless of ongoing treatment and she couldn't be turned out it was the kindest option. It really did break my heart and I'm sat in tears writing this 8 months on but I know I did the best thing for her.
Winter is about to set in. Don't make an old friend suffer xx

[lucynlizzysmum]

Philippa you have put down the words that I wanted to - but wasn't sure how to say.

[weezewoo]

I'm in the same place, I have a 5 year old who was lame from January, they finally found the problem in august after numerous tests and unfortunately he will never be ridden again, we've had the same hard decision to make, we were considering having him pts as we can't afford to retire him as we don't have our own land, the thought was devastating especially as he was my daughters. I wouldn't let him go to a stranger as a companion because too many people still try to ride them and I couldn't put him through that, it is a very hard decision and you have to think what's best for the horse even when it breaks your heart, I can completely sympathise. We have been lucky and haven't had to have him pts as a friend on the same yard is having him in her field as a companion for her horse,and we will still care for him. I hope it all works out for you.

[waspblue]

I too had my beautiful boy pts earlier this year, however, sadly he was recommended for surgery at Newmarket, which went extremely well, only for him to come home a week later and within 15 mins of being home, colicked and ended up in Leahurst having surgery. The colic was a very rare side effect of the surgery and despite 9 weeks of intensive treatment at Leahurst, he had every complication going, colicked again, they pulled him through, only for him to colic again ten days later, resulting in a choice of either one last shot at surgery or immediate pts. I had to give him every possible chance, but it was not to be and he was found to have multiple adhesions and we had to let him go. Even now months on, I am still devastated by his loss. He was only twelve.
I really do sympathise with you as it is an extremely hard decision to make, but having gone through what I have and the aftermath of living with the decisions I had to make at the time, I would say that I would never again send one of my precious friends for surgery for lameness - even though I know it works for some - as I will always feel guilty that had I not gone ahead with the surgery, he would still be with me now and would not have had to go through all the colic trauma as a result of my decisions. I did do it with his very best interests at heart, as I wanted him to be sound and most importantly not in any pain. His loss will always haunt me, he was so special and beautiful, inside and out and I miss him every day and always will.
I guess what I am saying is that I agree wholeheartedly with Philippa, who was such a support to me when I lost Taffy and she also lost Doris. You have to weigh up all your individual options and circumstances and also the horses welfare and best interests and make your decision based on those. My tip is to write it all down on paper and look at it in hard copy, it somehow helps to make things a little clearer if that makes sense. Hope everything works out for you.

[Philippa]

Nov 21, 2015 0:37:32 GMT waspblue said:

I too had my beautiful boy pts earlier this year, however, sadly he was recommended for surgery at Newmarket, which went extremely well, only for him to come home a week later and within 15 mins of being home, colicked and ended up in Leahurst having surgery. The colic was a very rare side effect of the surgery and despite 9 weeks of intensive treatment at Leahurst, he had every complication going, colicked again, they pulled him through, only for him to colic again ten days later, resulting in a choice of either one last shot at surgery or immediate pts. I had to give him every possible chance, but it was not to be and he was found to have multiple adhesions and we had to let him go. Even now months on, I am still devastated by his loss. He was only twelve.
I really do sympathise with you as it is an extremely hard decision to make, but having gone through what I have and the aftermath of living with the decisions I had to make at the time, I would say that I would never again send one of my precious friends for surgery for lameness - even though I know it works for some - as I will always feel guilty that had I not gone ahead with the surgery, he would still be with me now and would not have had to go through all the colic trauma as a result of my decisions. I did do it with his very best interests at heart, as I wanted him to be sound and most importantly not in any pain. His loss will always haunt me, he was so special and beautiful, inside and out and I miss him every day and always will.
I guess what I am saying is that I agree wholeheartedly with Philippa, who was such a support to me when I lost Taffy and she also lost Doris. You have to weigh up all your individual options and circumstances and also the horses welfare and best interests and make your decision based on those. My tip is to write it all down on paper and look at it in hard copy, it somehow helps to make things a little clearer if that makes sense. Hope everything works out for you.

You were a huge support to me too. We both shed many tears in the dark early hours.

I hope the OP finds someone who can be such an understanding rock. And yes I'm in tears again now!!!!

[BB123]

Thank you all for posting, I am at an utter loss shes a very special girl, and am finding the decision very difficult 9 months have passed, I really do not know what to do

[fanfarefan]

i really sympathise with you , and it is a very hard place to be ,,,, Phillipa and i have had many conversations via HG pm's , regarding our lame 4 legged friends , and have comforted each other at hard times !!!! however you dont say what the current lameness is due to ,,,, have you had xrays ,,, and what treatment is she on ,,, sorry for all the questions but maybe someone on here may have an outside the box answer , or help ,,, you never know ,,, good luck anyway sx

[lucynlizzysmum]

Nov 21, 2015 16:44:33 GMT BB123 said:

Thank you all for posting, I am at an utter loss shes a very special girl, and am finding the decision very difficult 9 months have passed, I really do not know what to do

It is a very difficult decision to take - I've been there too. Don't be rushed into it - look at her quality of life and look at your own too xx

[smallpony]

It is so difficult to decide what to do for the best. My pony has had intermittent lameness for nearly a year now and the vets aren't sure if she'll be fixable (currently awaiting go ahead from insurers for further testing). She's only young which makes it harder to decide what to do but when you're paying livery you have to be practical about the costs involved etc too.

[sarahp]

Always a difficult decision, but for me the welfare of the horse is paramount. I was rung while on holiday this year for permission for the vet to put my most precious little mare to sleep due to violent colic - the only possible alternative would have been to have her taken to the horspital for investigation and surgery, but I wasn't prepared to put her through all that, she needed to be put out of her pain there and then in my view, that was the kindest thing I could have done for her. They had been working on her at home all evening to no avail, and I suspect there was something underlying causing it but we'll never know. Some will think I did it too readily, but you can't explain to a horse why it is suffering as you can to a human, it only knows that it is.

Waspblue - it's always a game of probabilities and I'm sure that colic must be a VERY rare side effect of lameness surgery, a risk most of us would take. Surgery of any sort on horses is so much safer than it used to be, but nothing is ever 100% safe.

[thatboythatgirl]

My 17 soon to be 18 year old tore his check ligament 5 weeks ago and I have been told a min 6 month recovery but possibly longer. I will give him the chance to come sound and doesn't matter if he has to be retired off early but I will not keep him drugged up or uncomfortable; he's been to good a friend for the past 14 nearly 15years to do that to. Our vet said he hates nothing more than when he sees a good loyal horse being made to live on for the sake of the owner rather than what is best for the horse

[catkin]

I have only ever regretted delaying a decision to PTS rather than actually making the decision. I hope you find a good solution for you and the pony soon.

[sarahp]

I suppose it's a question of what you mean by drugged up thatboythatgirl - if we're talking about a maintenance dose of bute or equivalent to keep a horse comfortable is that so very bad? Speaking as a drugged up human!

[thatboythatgirl]

It depends on a what a maintenance dose is, I don't personally like feeding bute (in my horses case danillon) non stop because It can't be good for there liver/kideys. we have gone from 4 a day to 2 a day atm which isn't alot on a 600kg horse but I still feel its got to be detrimental to the horse health long term internally, but then I suppose that the case with any medicine

[Philippa]

Nov 24, 2015 13:12:05 GMT thatboythatgirl said:

It depends on a what a maintenance dose is, I don't personally like feeding bute (in my horses case danillon) non stop because It can't be good for there liver/kideys. we have gone from 4 a day to 2 a day atm which isn't alot on a 600kg horse but I still feel its got to be detrimental to the horse health long term internally, but then I suppose that the case with any medicine

Must say I'm in agreement.

[judyh]

I had a mare who was kept in work - hacking out and enjoying life for 10 years on bute. A now leading horse vet botched an operation in his first year as a vet and had to re operate 10 days later.
It never affected her she was a yearling when it happened and without bute would have had to be PTS .
It was in the days when bute was a reasonable price , not marked up sky high by vets.
.

[Philippa]

Nov 24, 2015 16:23:16 GMT judyh said:

I had a mare who was kept in work - hacking out and enjoying life for 10 years on bute. A now leading horse vet botched an operation in his first year as a vet and had to re operate 10 days later.
It never affected her she was a yearling when it happened and without bute would have had to be PTS .
It was in the days when bute was a reasonable price , not marked up sky high by vets.
.

On the last note, my mare was on prascend and prescribed at £2 per tablet by the vets. i found it online at £1 a tablet with a prescription, vet charged £5 for prescrition then price matched anyway. Always worth asking about prices.

[sarahp]

I don't think any medication is ideal long term, I don't like it either, but if it's the choice between being in constant pain or risking the side effects, I personally choose to be able to function pretty normally and take my chance. The horse doesn't have the choice, the owner does on its behalf, but I wouldn't like any of mine to be in constant pain, even if removing it could shorten their life - they don't know that.

[catkin]

I think its all about quality of life. IF (and this is a big F) long term drug use shortens a life, in my opinion, better that than a longer more painful life.