Lameness check, part 3
Kasane is still lame, even after the chiropractic adjustment. She is moving much better on her hindquarters, but she still is off on her front right (indicated by a head-bob when she trots). During the initial lameness exam, the vet found an issue with the front right as well as the hind end. There was a swelling on the inside of her back right hock.
This swelling appears to have gone down on its own.
My regular vet came back out today to do a follow-up lameness exam with two nerve blocks. Nerve blocks are used to help diagnose the location that might be causing the lameness. If you block out the area that is hurting, then the lameness goes away. Today, Kasane had two nerve blocks done to check from her mid-cannon bone down and then from the bottom of the knee down. We don’t know if her lameness is caused by a tendon issue (like a suspensory tendon) or something else going on. The previous vet exam last week did a nerve block on her heel and fetlock joint. Both of those nerve blocks didn’t have any affect.
Unfortunately, neither nerve block had any impact on her lameness. She was the same before and after the nerve blocks. My vet is going to refer Kasane to the local vet school. It’s a very good school.
I’m not sure how I feel about taking her to the vet school. She doesn’t have anything life-threatening. I know she will be in good hands and we’ll hopefully have a treatment plan after their evaluation. It’s just the idea of returning to the vet hospital that fills me with dread.
The last time I was there was with Isis six years ago when she had her acute onset of EPM. The feeling of jitters comes from those memories, not from anything related to Kasane. Thankfully, Kasane has never had Isis’ barrage of issues and illnesses.
The other thing that kind of weirded me out was the job title. We’re going to see an orthopedic surgeon. Surgeon. Yikes. I had never considered that whatever is going on with her could require surgery. Must stop thinking about this before my writer-brain goes down a rabbit hole.
Kasane will be fine. We’ll figure out what is going on. The vet school will be a good thing because we will have more tools to be able to help Kasane, and that’s what matters. Making her better.