Bone scan for Kasane
It’s been almost six weeks and Kasane is still lame. My regular vet referred Kasane to the local vet school for additional diagnostics, including a possible bone scan.
The vet exam today showed that Kasane is lame on her front right (moderate, 3/5) and her back right (mild, 1/5). The lameness was more pronounced on the lunge line.
The vet school had a neat diagnostic tool for detecting lameness that uses motion detectors. During the lameness exam, three motion detectors were attached to Kasane at the poll (head), front right fetlock, and at the top of her croup. The motion sensors streamed data back to a tablet. The tablet then reported where she was lame and the severity of the lameness: moderate front right and mild back right. These findings are consistent with previous vet exams.
Because it’s been six weeks and we haven’t seen any improvement in Kasane’s lameness, I opted to go ahead with the bone scan. She will be kept at the hospital for three days, including tonight. Tomorrow, she will be given a radioactive substance that will highlight areas where there is bone remodeling. The bone scan will not show what is going on, rather it will provide a map of issues to investigate.
I hate to leave her at the hospital for so long, but we need to figure out what is going on so we can help her feel better. The bone scan results should be available on Friday morning.