I barely slept last night. I didn’t want to go to bed because I was too stressed thinking about Kasane’s mystery lameness and possible fracture. The implications of what a fracture means for an animal that lives by having four stable legs.
So, first the good news. The barn owner texted me this morning to let me know Kasane had moved around the field some. Yay! That means the odds of this being a fracture are reduced. More on this later.
The vet came back out today and brought another vet from the practice, Kasane’s regular chiropractor. Kasane reluctantly walked but she did walk carefully, dragging her front right leg a little. We got Kasane to the central, flat spot in her paddock and run an extension cord from the barn. They took probably 20+ X-rays of her front right leg and shoulder. The initial diagnosis from the X-rays was mixed. Less thought about a fracture, but not ruled out. The vets said they were going to take the X-rays back to their practice and consult with the other vets and possibly NC State University Vet School.
For now, we are mostly out of the woods. The fact that she has been moving around is a huge boon. She’s much better today than she was yesterday. If she had a pinched nerve, then this is the kind of thing to expect. There are probably other things going on, but the important thing is that the threat of having to put her down is not there anymore.
Phew.
She has some swelling above the point of her shoulder on her neck and then on the upper inside of her front right leg. I’m putting DMSO on it to help reduce the swelling. These swellings match up with where she’s having trouble moving.
For now, I’m going to keep Kasane in a smaller paddock where she has a stall she can go in if the weather gets bad. We’re going to try to have her out so she can move around and not get stiff. Hopefully, she won’t do anything stupid.
She’s on 1 gram of bute twice daily for five days for pain and inflammation and Ulcer Gard to help prevent any possible stomach irritation from the pain killers. My regular vet will be back out this to check Kasane and see how she’s doing. Right now, I’m just glad to have her making this much progress in one day.
