"Sunny" Times (update, 8/9, new pics)

That is just great to hear! Spunky girl lol. Hope those feet are looking good today!

Foot wraps are changed!

Sunny seems much happier on her right hind today. I had no issues working on the left foot and she is walking out more versus being short strided. I didn't find an abscess hole in her foot today so I applied a new Epsom salt soak pad (same as what she has had on the bottom of her foot for the past few days) and rewrapped her right hind. If this doesn't draw an abscess, I will continue to dry wrap until she decides she is comfortable enough to not be wrapped.

Left hind, looks about the same. But happy so see she is overall doing so well, which to me, indicates her foot must be alright. I would think if infection was developing/worsening, she wouldn't feel very good. Retreated both feet for any residual thrush and used betadine to clean the left hind.

Both feet have new foot wraps, making Sunny set for the next few days.   :)    Here are pictures of the process. I linked an image of her left hind frog. It is a bit ugly so link to protect those who don't want to see the icky, but I wanted to share the bizarreness for those who are curious.    :)

Left hind foot cottage cheese frog (picture)

                   

I am hopeful Sunny's feet will continue to improve. Hopefully someday soon, she can start getting a little bit of exercise! (She has been "stall rested" for over 2 months now!)

Awe happy she is moving in the right direction! She sure is a cute little girlie. 

Look at the patience on that girl's face...she's such a sweetie! That is quite the process oh my...the pictures make it so much easier to understand when you aren't familiar with it. And having two feet to do something with...yikes. You're right, that frog pic is not for the faint of heart lol...

I agree that she seems to be feeling better than she would if the infection was worsening, and I think the antibiotic is working...and not a bad thing if it had to be extended to ten days. Heck, that happens with people all the time. Some things just take longer to heal. Boy those upcoming walks are going to be awesome though. 

With all these pictures documenting Sunny's journey I think she's going to need a photo album or scrapbook of her own! You've already named it anyway! Sunny Times!

That great looking pup does not look like the same pup we saw before? Love your little helper and her boots, so cute!

Hi,

I’m relieved Sunny is doing ok. Your daughter is so cute and helpful to you. 
How old is she now and is she talking in full sentences? I’m sure Sunny is loving all this attention and pampering, but when she is put to work, she is going to look at you, like she is saying, “ but Mom, I was hurt my knee and my feet, give me 6 months, Hahaha.

@Bonnie, Paint and Cherry,

Thank you ladies for the responses! Foot wrapping is quite the process, good thing she has a good head on her shoulders and is savvy enough to let me help her.

Not much improvement with her feet today. Not worse, not looking better. Still no abscess in the right hind but she played this game with me in February when she mysteriously came up lame on the same foot, ironically. It has been raining sooo much here today that I had to change her foot wraps in her stall. To keep them clean, I had her stand on an empty pellet bedding bag. Good thing she is such a smart girl. Can't imagine very many horses enjoy being asked to stand on a scary, horse devouring bag.  lol

Hopefully soon we will start seeing some improvement with her feet!

@Paint, we have 3 dogs. Nebula, the pittie, Badger, our healer mix and Rambo, our malamute mix. All are rescues.   :)  

@Cherry, Indigo is about 17 months now. She loves doing chores and helping with the animals! She is gaining quite the vocabulary but no sentences yet. I don't think most kids start sentences until 2 or older? Or so I am told. Her doctor says she should have about 10 word vocab minimum at 18 month appointment and may start using words commonly used together, like "thank you". Around 2, kids start using words not normally used together, like "no, dada". So, not yet to sentences but getting there!   :)

Sunny's knee is healing well, and I hope this mess with her feet revolves. I don't plan on starting her until she is probably close to 5 or older. She is such a good little horse, I don't really think she will have a problem learning a job, so long as I approach it right.    :D    

I tried to read up mostly about her. She’s super adorable and I’m glad she’s been doing well. But, I’m not sure if the US is the same as Canada, but it’s so much cheaper getting abcesses drained from a farrier. Just wanted to point out. I’m definitely glad she’s doing better though. She’s such a cute lady. I hope she continues to grow and thrive! And I hope you keep updating us on cute photos!

@Siren,

Thanks for the response and the suggestion! I agree, it probably is cheaper to pay the farrier but my vet was already here doing an exam. And my farrier lives far away. I am lucky I can get him to come out to our place.   :)    

Sunny (and the other 2) has a farrier appointment coming up on the 10th. We shall see how it goes. Her foot with the cut seems to be healing, which is great. Keeping it wrapped until the farrier looks at she. She is a champ at getting her foot wrap changed! She has yet to pop an abscess, which is interesting. When she did this in February/March, it took a good while before the abscess popped, out the coronary band no less.   >.<
She is reasonably sound so I have started doing a little ground work with her. Such a smart little thing!
Gave Sunny a fresh bridle path today, didn't even have to halter her. Such a good girl! Will let you all know how her farrier appointment goes and I will post some more pics soon! Maybe even a vid clip?

Ahh I understand. My vet was always closer than the farrier(I actually stopped getting a farrier, I clipped my horse’s hooves myself lol) but I’m glad she’s doing well! I’d love to see videos of her! And your other 2 babs of course!

Anymore updates on Sunny? I hope that she is doing well. 

@Magnolia, you are kind, thank you!

The latest Sunny news...

Sunny's most recent recheck of her knee went well. Her carpus is healing well. A few more weeks of limited turn out; at the 4 month mark, I can start working her up to a little bit larger turn out if Sunny behaves herself. Recheck knee in 2 and a half months.



However, there is ANOTHER issue. Well, an ongoing issue. In my last update, Sunny was lame in her right hind. We thought, and treated it like, it was an abscess. I never found evidence of a popped abscess anywhere in the right hind. Lameness downgraded to maybe a 1 on a 1-5 scale. About a week before Sunny's most recent recheck, she became very lame in the right hind, 3 or a 4 on a 1-5 scale. I treated her with 1g of bute for 2 days. Lameness only improved slightly. Another day and it was down to a 1 or 2 out of a 5.

The way she moved looked as though the pain may be in her heal. Which indicated a possible coffin bone issue, to me. Which would be a NIGHTMARE! Looking at her foot, the foot angle is fairly steep, steeper than her near hind. Which then makes me think maybe she is club footed? But the foot doesn't look like any club foot I have ever seen (which isn't a ton but I have seen a few and all have been front foot clubs). Baffled, I had the vet look at Sunny's foot. Hoof testers indicated discomfort in Sunny's heal. My vet suggested xrays, which I assumed would be the first step in trying to decipher Sunny's mystery lameness. The vet began echoing everything I had been thinking of. Heel suggests a coffin bone issue. The xrays showed nothing alarming and did not give any indication as to what was going on with Sunny. So the vet took another look and noted the steeper hoof angle and threw out the words "club foot" but disregarded it as the foot didn't look like a traditional club foot. (All those years I spent working for an amazing horse vet have taught me well!)

My vet performed a round of flexion tests to see how Sunny responded, looking for the source of the lameness, curious to see if maybe it was above the foot. Sunny was very good for her flexion tests and actually was moving better after the flexion tests (which basically rules out a fetlock joint issue). So, after all these xrays and tests, we learned NOTHING about Sunny's lameness.

Some days, I pull her out and move her around and she looks pretty poor. Other times, she will look nearly sound (like today). There was a dark spot on the xrays which could possibly be an abscess buried deep in her foot, but my vet didn't think it was interesting enough to act on. It could also be dirt that didn't get cleaned out of her foot before the xray. Who knows. All I know is Sunny is becoming more and more of a problem child the longer I have her.   :(

Sunny is a very sweet girl but my husband and I are coming to a point where we have to make a decision. Sunny is going to be a high maintenance horse with her knee alone. Add intermittent and ongoing lameness issues makes her a walking vet bill after vet bill. Sunny is a young horse, very young to be pasture ornament status. We are clinging to the hope that she can still be a kids mount but we are also discussing that we didn't get Sunny to be a kid's horse. Sunny was supposed to be my riding horse. We have 2 other nice horses who are plenty quiet to pack our daughter around. In all honesty, we do not need a horse that is solely our daughter's horse (at least not right now, I am not against the idea of our daughter having her own horse, but she is less than 2 years old, it will be a good while before she has her own horse and she may not want a horse, only the future will tell).

So, with a heavy heart, we are starting to consider other options for Sunny. We have reached out to her breeder and got no response, so I assume she isn't interested in taking her back (for free, of course). Our next option is to ask our vet if she would like to take Sunny or if someone at her clinic would be willing to take her on. If that doesn't work, I only know of 1 other person I trust to ask.

Sunny is a special needs horse who may or may not be rideable (her knee seems like it should be fine for light riding but other lameness issues may make riding a no-go for her?). She will require extra care versus your typical horse, not to mention the added expenses of maintenance of her carpus. Ideally, she should be on a daily joint supplement (which any decent one will be over $100, how long it lasts varies), and she will require joint injections. (Also, in a perfect world, thi horse should have minor surgery on her carpus to remove excess bony growth from wear her carpus has healed, however we ourselves can not afford to do that.) How often Sunny needs joint injections is dependent on her. On top of all the normal horse expenses. All this makes for a very pricey pasture ornament. And, to make it worse, she is a baby. We aren't talking about a horse who is 15. We are talking about a yearling. This horse will cost thousands of additional dollars on top of her normal horse care. And sadly, we are realizing a 1 year old, possible pasture ornament, is not a horse we need or can keep.

We do not make any decisions about Sunny lightly. We are doing our best to try to decide what is best for Sunny and for us. If she can go to someone who has more financial means than us that can provide better care, then we want that for Sunny because we love her dearly. And you know what they say, sometimes when you love someone, you've got to let them go...

Glad her knee is healing. But wow thats a tough lot. Poor thing, its sad that it couldn't have just been a regular abscess. Definitely wishing you guys well as you make this decision, and peace to you guys in regards to what it is. Thank you so much for the update! 

Thank you for your kind words, Magnolia.   ♥
I have been dragging my feet with an update because I wanted to have really good news. And although it isn't necessarily bad news, it is troubling, what with Sunny's continued problems.   *sigh*   Such are the trials of having a a horse. I will try to get some more pictures up as well. She is a pretty little thing   :)

I'm so sorry to hear all of this! I'm sure you guys are making the decision with heavy hearts and I just wanted to say it isn't  your fault this is all happening. I hope she progresses more in the knee and the mystery abscess is healed. Other than that I hope you can make a decision without hurting yourself too much!

I was hoping since I'd seen you around and posting lately that all was good with our little Sunny, and that we'd be hearing about alot of progress soon. I just can't say how sorry I am that this isn't the case...and that I know how much this decision is weighing on you every day. I can imagine getting up every day and practically holding your breath to see how she is that day. I know you love her so much and it must be heartbreaking on those very lame days to think she hurts. It's definitely still the same roller coaster. 

You have done the most...I don't know the right word...Admirable? Responsible? Loving? Amazing? All of those and more in your care of Sunny this long year. But you can only do what you can do. We have to believe that there is someone out there who can give the same kind of care you have given. Someone who can bear the cost of the next many years better than most of us could. I know I would want to but I couldn't. I so hope that your vet might be willing or someone who works with them...it would be perfect, wouldn't it? I think to know Sunny is to love her! And if someone could unlock the answer to her mysterious lameness that would be wonderful.

I can't imagine there is any one of us who doesn't feel the burden of your decision.  I know that no matter what the outcome, you will do the best you can for her and your family. And that is all anyone can ask. 
If you need a sounding board I'm always available to listen.