So, I have been reading and reading about suspensory ligament injuries since she was diagnosed yesterday. I figured that for future reference, I would type out my current plans here.
The vet did not prescribe stall/paddock rest for Ruby (the general protocol), but I am a 'play it safe' kinda gal. Here in FL, we've just gotten our first real cold snap (in the 30s last night) so the horses are all very full of themselves. For now, and probably for the next few months at least, Ruby will be turned out daily into the round pen. It's better for her, mentally, than her stall while still restricting her movement and separating her from her crazy buddies. Sorry, Rubes. There is grass in there for her to graze on but I will have to start providing some hay during the day for her in the near future. I'm thinking a month or two, minimum, for this. Maybe longer, we will see.
For support boots, I went out and purchased some Professionals Choice Medicine Boot Elites. Basically, I wanted something now and there weren't a lot of options in this area for something different. But I plan to put in an order for some Equiflexsleeves later this week. When in the round pen, Ruby will have her boots on. I haven't decided for sure but I'm thinking sleeves on overnight and medicine boots on during turnout after my order arrives. Thoughts would be appreciated!
Ordered Vet Flex this afternoon. If anyone is interested, I'll post a picture of the ingredients list when it arrives.
Liniment once a day, before the boots go on; boots will not be put on until the liniment dries.
Ultrasounds: once in March, then again in May? That's what I'm thinking for now anyway. We'll see what the future holds.
Then there is the issue of gaining weight. It's getting cold and Ruby's confined to what will soon be just a sand lot. I'm going to need to provide hay during the day. But what quantities to keep weight on her and keep her warm without having her gain too much weight? Her usual hay, a very nice orchard/alfalfa mix, might be too much so I will probably buy some coastal hay (lower nutrient grass) and provide that during the day. From what I hear, coastal is not very tasty. Time will tell if Princess Ruby will even eat it.
I'd honestly be inclined to ultrasound sooner: at the end of this month if you can. That way the swelling has had time to go down and you'll be able to have a baseline to compare to so you know how well she's healing in future ultrasounds. You'll also really know how bad the strain is: your rehab time could end up being shorter or longer based on what is seen on ultrasound. Good, experienced vets can make good guesses with palpation but there is nothing like ultrasound to actually see the damage.
ReplyDeleteWith Lily I was told to do cold hosing for up to 20 minutes once or twice a day for the first week after her injury was diagnosed to help reduce the swelling. I used Ice Horse boots because I had them but cold hosing is free. :) The Equiflexsleeves sound wonderful for alternating with the SMBs. And later on, maybe next month, you could try Back on Track boots of some sort: they have their own version of SMBs, Quick Wraps, and polo wraps. Tendons and ligaments don't have a large blood supply (which is why they take so long to heal), but this should help get that little bit of blood pumping as much as possible.
You want to feed 2% of Ruby's body weight in hay for weight maintenance. So if she is 1000 lbs, you would feed 20 lbs of hay a day, spread out through her meals. You can get a fish scale to weigh the hay. For feeding confined horses, I recommend small hole haynets like this one: http://www.horse.com/item/slow-feed-hay-net/E006600/. Not only do they make weighing easier, they also make it harder for the horse to scarf their hay quickly, which is closer to natural grazing: Ruby can munch on that haynet for hours. It will also help prevent ulcers as she always has something in her stomach. You're right: I would skip anything with alfalfa in it but she should be fine with orchard or timothy grass hays. Beware of coastal: it is less nutrient-dense but it is not necessarily lower in sugar. It is also very thin and soft, which I was always told made it more likely to cause impaction colics in horses. (And it did smell awful; Lily wouldn't touch it.) My vets in FL always told me to avoid it. If you can get your hands on some nice 2nd cut timothy or orchard, you should be set in terms of hay. :) 2nd cut is lower in sugar than first cut.
Another great idea for keeping them busy when confined, if Ruby is highly food-motivated and playful, is something like a Nose-It treat dispenser: https://www.smartpakequine.com/noseit-ball--11910pb?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=googlepla&utm_content=TES&utm_campaign=2109746328&cm_mmc=Google-_-googlepla-_-TES-_-2109746328&source=pla&kpid=2109746328&gclid=CjwKEAiAv7ajBRCIldS7rp7wzFkSJAAA1n4DRPm6wIm_l10Ipn7yj3MUgJCyRHAaNmIjPtCJoORi0xoCdwvw_wcB
Fill it with hay cubes and let her roll it around the round pen to eat the cubes. I haven't tried Nose-Its but I've heard great things about them. If you have a Triple Crown feeds supplier near you, you can purchase Timothy Balance hay cubes which are smaller (and very low sugar!), which are supposed to work well with this dispenser.
Hope this helps!
Thank you for your input Saiph! I cannot find straight orchard anywhere; there is one local supplier of straight timothy but they want $40 per 3-string bale (ouch!). I've heard the same about colic and coastal so I asked Jennie if Ruby had ever been on coastal; apparently that's all she was fed growing up. I'll have to see if the folks with the timothy keep a steady supply through the winter but I may have to butter up the hubby.
ReplyDeleteAs for the ultrasound, I will definitely call and price it - it sucks but this month money is (extremely) tight.
Whoa your hay supplier is more expensive than ours was in South FL...$33 for 3-string timothy. Still not cheap.
DeleteIt's great if she ate coastal before! If you go that route then just make sure she's drinking well with the temperature changes. Even in South FL we'd see colics when there were 20+ degree downward temperature swings due to the horses not drinking enough.
Any other types of hay in your area? In some parts of Northern/Central FL you can get Bermuda, which can be a pretty good quality as well and not as expensive as timothy.
I hear ya on finances. This time of the year is especially tough. :/