So.... Kelli and I had planned to go see Keelin on Thursday from awhile back. Unfortunately, Kelli got covid and was just barely feeling well enough to get out of bed, so... we talked through it and decided it was silly for her to try to come. Which meant that I could bring Funny, since I had the empty trailer spot. And good thing because when I got home from work Wed night and was watering the flowers, Funny trotted in the field and she looked lame. Ugh... I only saw about 8 steps and it was far away but she looked pretty freakin' lame left hind.
So.. Thursday late morning I grabbed both ponies and pressure washed them both. Dan was a pumpkin! Funny was only slightly pumpkiny but I figured it would also keep them cool. They both loaded right up and we headed out.
We arrived and I put them both in stalls. Keelin wanted to start with Funny so we took her out. It was stormy and the wind was whipping so we gave Funny a tiny bit of ace as she was amped up and Keelin had been kicked two weeks ago and was a little gun shy. But Funny was a very good girl. She was lame on both hind limb flexions but worse on the left. We tried to flex just her fetlocks but she was so fussy that it wasn't a good test because she kept bending her leg at the stifle and hock. So... we talked. Basically Keelin felt that it was very likely that she needed stifle injections given the fact that she had OCD surgery and was likely going to require some maintenance. She also felt like the fetlock chip in the right hind was not likely to be causing an issue and since she was more lame on the left... it was unlikely due to the chip. BUT... she was fussy about the fetlock flexion so... it was a possibility that she needed them injected too. We decided ultimately to inject her stifles as those seemed more likely. We used steroids because we figured that would be more diagnostic quicker.... If she was sound within 10 days.. yay, problem solved. And later, we could use athramid or another biologic. But if she wasn't sound in 10 days... I should inject her fetlocks and see. But if we used arthramid now... we may have wasted the money if it wasn't ever her stifles and/or by the time they really kicked in, she may be better from rest or whatever. So... seemed like a good plan to me.
Funny is a funny drunk. She seemed pretty awake and then suddenly the drugs hit and she was pretty drunk. But then not so much when the twitch went on. But she was a brave girl and didn't flinch. Her right stifle was pretty hemorrhagic. I didn't hear what the left one looked like. Or it wasn't problematic.
So... she gets a night in the stall. (ugh.. poor Dan... he's gonna have to keep her company) and then the weekend off. I can try riding her on Tuesday and see how she is. Keelin said to be kind to her in the beginning but within 10 days, she should feel better if we were right. So, we'll see. She was a good girl in her stall overnight and let me hose her off the next morning and out she went.
Fingers crossed. I'm a little bummed that I had to inject my 4 year old who's barely done anything yet, but... on the flip side... she did have surgery. And I'm grateful I didn't have to take her for another surgery. At least not yet anyways. And... hopefully this will be the worst of it. Kelli made me feel better by suggesting that... we know she had surgery, we know she'll need maintenance but... since she's green and not working that hard... her stifles probably are weaker than they will be later. So perhaps, by injecting her now.... and then again when she needs it this year or next... she'll be comfy enough to work well and as she gets fitter, the need to keep injecting will lessen. Let's hope!
Good baby girl!
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