dancing horses

dancing horses

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

House of Cards

Many years ago I worked as a Speech-Language Pathologist in our local hospital. Part of my job included working with inpatients. One thing I noticed was that often an elderly person would come in with a pretty simple diagnosis (like urinary tract infection) but would quickly decline and other things would happen. A doctor explained to me that as we age we are a like a 'house of cards'. When one part goes the rest can quickly fall. I saw it happen again and again.

What has this to do with a horse blog you ask?

Well that is starting to describe Irish.

I've written about him before but essentially Irish has numerous health issues: 
  •  He has also been prone to colic (fortunately not in the past two years #notcursingmyself). I think that his current diet has really helped with that. 
  • His feet are terrible and he can abscess at the drop of a hat. He's in special aluminum wedge shoes to support his heels
  •  approximately 3 years ago started head shaking which I manage with magnesium oxide and UV fly mask. 
  • And most critically he was diagnosed a few years ago with a 'neuro issue' - most likely arthritis (I've written about it before) and he's on a daily dose of previcox. 
As a result of his neuro problems he started being incontinent of urine  (I cannot remember if it's been one or two years- I think one). It went from every now and then to essentially he dribbles all the time. I've had him tested and it's not due to any infection. I wouldn't really care except that it gets on his hind legs. I try to wash them regularly and keep them clean but I'm fighting a losing battle. And I can't wash them in the winter.  His skin on his fetlocks and cannon bones is essentially being eaten away by the urine.

I've tried diaper cream and it helps for a bit but not enough.  His fetlocks look like I've dipped them in acid and he's even getting some proud flesh from it. He also is becoming less 'himself' and more withdrawn and a bit unhappy. I used to say that it was a crap shoot as to what would take Irish out: his gut, his hind end or his feet. Now it's looking like it might be urine and I never imagined that.  I am feeling that if Irish developed an infection because of this it might be the end for him. 

I tried bell boots but they didn't help. I have spent hours scouring the internet for a solution: something he can wear on his hind legs. It would have to cover from his hocks to his hooves, be breathable but not hold the urine next to the skin. 

Then a friend posted on FB about some boots she was ordering to stop her horse from getting mud fever:

I looked into them and it seemed that they might actually be the solution I was seeking. I found a place in Canada to order them from (My friend was ordering from Great Britain at a killer price but by the time I did the conversion and delivery I realized that I wasn't going to be saving that much).  I decided to order them and if course I threw in a few other items to get free delivery.

I have to say I was super impressed with Sprucewood Tack- they answered my questions and delivery was FAST. I ordered on Thursday afternoon and they arrived the next Tuesday. I was impressed with the boots they were soft, flexible and seemed to be really well made:


 I gave Irish's legs a thorough wash and then wrapped his legs to dry them and keep the urine off. Once his legs were dry I put them on. They seemed to fit well and were easy to adjust. Irish was less convinced and did the horse 'silly' walk when he headed back to his stall. 

This morning they were still in place and looked good. I really hope that he can keep them on for a long time. The instructions say up to twelve hours. I am going to be leaving them on longer then that but think I will give him a short break every day.

If these don't work I am out of options.

And that's not a place I want to visit.



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43 comments:

  1. Fingers crossed this works for the old man! I wonder if the medical industry has some kind of skin barrier product that might work on him. Does anyone in your family have a doctor's appointment coming up where you could ask such a thing?

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    1. I wondered about that too (the 'second skin' they use to hold IVs) but was worried about allowing the skin to 'breathe'.

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  2. Hopefully they work well for Irish! It's so hard to deal with the problems as they age 😔

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    1. It is hard! I'm glad he's home with me because this would REALLY difficult in a boarding situation.

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  3. A horse at my barn struggled with incontinence and eventually his hind feet just started to rot from it. :( Didn't help that the owner literally did nothing (except continue to show the poor horse for as long as she could). Hopefully the boots help or someone else will have a good suggestion. Crazy how horses come up with issues that you never thought of and can become big things!

    Can you tell me more about the boots? I'm always trying to come up with something for Stampede to keep his hind leg crusts (who knows what they really are, testing shows infection but antibiotics do nothing) covered and clean or for holding treatment in place.

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    1. oh wow! I hadn't realized that I forgot to post what they were! They are "Premier Equine Turnout Xtra Pro Mud Fever Legwear": http://www.sprucewoodtack.com/horse-clothing/horse-boots-bandages/leg-protection-boots/premier-equine-turnout-xtra-pro-mud-fever-legwear.html

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    2. Thanks! I actually have that brand of quick standing wraps and they are great. Looks like they only have medium on the site, will have to look around and see if bigger sizing is available.

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  4. Unbelievable how incredibly fragile that we living beings are, even the largest, most stoic of mammals.
    I hope this works. I have seen long leggings (probably made of the same breathable plastic saddle covers are) with elastic at top and bottom - don't know what they were designed for, but they were my first thought as I read Irish' story.

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    1. I know what you mean but the elastic worried me

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  5. I hope the boots help! One of my rabbits goes through phases where he is a bit stiff and he also tends to pee on himself (and gets accompanying urine scald). The best solution I've found is rinsing the area with water (then blow drying/toweling dry) and applying baby powder. Not sure that baby powder would work in your situation (maybe even under the boots in case some liquid sneaks in?). Might be worth a try!

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  6. I remember a fellow blogger had issues with incontinence in her old horse... I believe the blogger was Behind The Bit... I'll see if I can find any info she posted when she went through it with her old horse.

    I can't find what she did to manage it, but I did find something she posted about it -> http://www.behindthebitblog.com/2014/06/harv-doing-better.html

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    1. I remember her experience too but not the solution.

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  7. So many human solutions wont work because horses legs are a wee bit more hairy tham most human areas we need incontinence care. Those boots look like a great thing to try, neoprene should hold up pretty well. Maybe desitin still underneath to help make sure no moisture builds up? I think getting old universally sucks.

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  8. I hope it works. I'm about ready to put full travel leg wraps on Mag to keep him from hurting his legs. He's got sores all over, and his hocks are often bloody from rolling on ..??? Mud? I'm so done with this puberty and constant injury. I see new wounds on him every week or more.

    I'm glad you're blogging about Irish, cuz I really like him, and I hope you can find a solution. Yah, Behind The Bit blog went through the same thing but I don't know what she did to solve it. Boarding, in her case, sucked, as you mentioned.

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    1. Wel, you can get them from the UK for a great price!

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  9. I'm so sorry. Poor boy. I hope the boots work.

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  10. I feel for you. It's hard to watch them go from healthy and thriving into a decline. I hope the boots work and improve his quality of life. :)

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    1. It is hard. I am glad that he's mine so I can make it easy for him.

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  11. I make a beeswax salve that might help with this. For your purpose, I would add a bit more wax and possibly some lanolin for added waterproofing. The idea is to coat the skin with a wax/lanolin barrier. I would shave off the hair so that the skin can dry fast and the wax would stick. Gold Bond powder might also be useful. I wrote out the recipe I use for the salve on an old blog post, it can be altered to fit your needs:

    https://thedancingdonkey.blogspot.com/2012/07/remedies.html

    I think we talked about this in the past, but my memory is crap these days....A really tightly balanced diet could really help. The fact that you see improvement with added Mg tells me there are likely other imbalances going on. Looking at his picture, with the lose of muscle along the topline, I would up his protein at the least.

    Young, healthy horses like Carmen can tolerate a lot of nutritional imbalances without showing any signs, but it really shows up in the older guys. The best thing is to get a hay test done and build the diet around that. I would be happy to help if you would like to try it. A hay test only costs about $30 and is very easy. Look at the Equi-Analytical website for directions and cost. They will send you a free sample kit with postage included.

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  12. Fingers crossed hard the boots work well for him

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  13. Hard decisions made much harder when they're still performing a large role in the herd and family, as he is. There's not a day goes by that I don't think about, and miss, my Red. Just keep on trying, like you are, and take it day by day. My heart goes out to you.

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  14. I hope those boots work for him. Getting old is not for the weak.

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  15. Poor Irish, I feel bad for him. I don't have a solution but if the boots don't work as well as you would like I think you might try something called Whinny Warmers. They can be water proofed and I believe they sell winter and summer ones. I have a friend who swears by them. The website is: whinny warmers.com. Check it out if you're interested. Good luck I hope Irish is feeling better with his new boots.

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    1. I think I may have come across those in my search. I wasn't sure if the urine would simply soak into them or not.

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  16. Management of Irish sounds similar to management of Jackson. Every winter I wonder if it is going to be the last. And now that he's been diagnosed with Cushings and a thyroid imbalance, in addition to navicular and thin soles... like you said, I don't know which is going to take him out. I hope those leg wraps work out -- they look nice and sturdy.

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    1. I have seen a lot of similarities too. I think that if Irish was to be diagnosed with navicular on top of everything else that I might just call it. It's hard ot know.

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  17. good luck with the management, that's a very tricky situation :(

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    1. It is really tricky. Even Ed agrees with me and he's usually the one who tries to cheer me up. :(

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  18. Oh how very cool! I am crossing my fingers that these work for him/you. It's neat to learn about a new product, too.

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  19. I wonder if shoo fly leggings might work to deflect the urine. Harley wears them mostly 24\7 and is very happy. They are breathable and not terribly expensive. I feel for you and Irish.

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    1. I thought about those too-- I wasn't sure if the urine would soak into them or not.

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  20. Oh man, I really hope that they help.

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  21. interesting. Sorry to hear. It is so hard to watch them start to go down hill. I know you are doing your best for him and know you will continue to. Keep us posted on how these or other experiments work!

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