Cody's Knee X-rays

So the vet student that used to board with us got me copies of Cody's knee x-rays from her two visits to MSU.  These are all before surgery.  Can't wait to see x-rays in March after it's healed and fully fused!

How's she doing?  So, so.  She has good days and bad days.  It is a three month healing process, as that is on average how long it takes for a broken bone to heal, and basically her surgery destroyed the cartilage between the top and bottom bones of the injured joint so the two bones will now fuse themselves together into one.  Better explanation can be found here.

It's been a month now, but Dr. Caron warned me that I won't see much improvement in lameness for 2 to 2 1/2 months, and she won't be sound until 3 to 3 1/2 months.  So it's hard to say how she's doing, because she's definitely lame. 

She was doing pretty good there for a while, I almost had her off bute, but then we got a nice one day thaw, just enough to rut the pastures up something awful, then it froze solid again and the horses can barely walk on it.  And she's been awful sore again since that freeze.  I'm sure the uneven ground isn't helping much, and some of it might be sore/bruised feet, since she is a thin soled tender foot.  But if I leave her in a stall for more than 12 hours, she's even more sore than she is on the uneven ground outside. 

So I guess this is the bad part about doing surgery in the winter, but on the up side, it keeps her from moving around too much and doing anything too stupid.  So, it's still a waiting game........

(pics aren't the sharpest since they are scaled way down)

Cody's right knee from the December visit the day before surgery, looking very nice and neat and clean and arthritis free, looking how a normal knee is supposed to look:

Cody's left knee after getting kicked in the knee back in Feb 2010.  The first one is basically the same view angle as the one above of the right knee.  The top ones are from December the day before surgery.  The bottom two are from the June visit when we finally found the problem.  You can see the arthritis and the collapsing lower joint.  That lower joint that is such a mess is the one that is fusing itself now after surgery, and you can see from the flexion x-ray that bottom joint doesn't move much at all, it's the other two joints that have all the motion.



Room with a view?

A little post I had written on my lunch hour at work back in November.  I had intended to post it after I got home from the barn that night, but that was the night I discovered Wayne's knee was giving out, and I knew I had to put him down.  So I was far too upset to even think about posting.  I found it while cleaning out my email today, so thought that I would share.  I still miss that little bugger........

Room with a view?

Unfortunately, no, Wayne's stall doesn't have a window to the outside world. The only stalls with windows are the ones across the aisle from him, and the windows are a little too high up for him to see out anyway.


Airs above the ground?

Not that that would stop him from looking out it, if his behavior in the past is any indication! The window in his stall when we boarded at Scheid's was too high for him to look out, but that didn't matter. If the window's too high, just stand up to look out it! I can't count the number of times he'd hear something outside, and go check his window, which gave him a nice view of the pasture. It was a pretty comical sight to see Wayne standing on his hind legs, front legs tucked and resting against the wall for balance, while he peered out the window to keep tabs on things. Of course, I never had a camera handy when I needed it.

But I guess when you're short, you find ways to make up for it. A little too smart for his own good at times. When he was stuck inside because somebody was turned out in the pasture at Scheid's that he couldn't be out with, it wasn't uncommon for him to stand straight up and pop his head up over the top of the wall to try to see what was going on in the pasture from time to time. Or, since they had open front stalls, he'd stand up on his hind legs, rest his tucked front legs against the top of the stall front, and hang his head out into the aisle to try to get a better look outside. Use the window to check one side of the pasture, hang out into the aisle to check the other side of the pasture. That one used to freak people out, because they always thought he was trying to jump out of his stall! Freaked me out the first few times too, till I figured out he was just having a look outside, then going back about his business.


Two step anyone?



I should have made him a trick pony. He can do a pretty nice Levade, just not on cue. Not only is he good at standing up, but he used to be good at kneeling down too. I haven't seen him do it much in the past 3 or 4 years, I think because of his bad knee, but in the past it wasn't uncommon to see him kneeling all the way down on his knees and reaching his head as far under the fence as possible to eat, because the grass is always greener on the other side! When his previous owner still had him and kept him in a tie stall, Wayne discovered the hole in the front of his stall under his manger by the floor, and we often caught him kneeling down and reaching through that hole to help himself to the hay on the other side. There was never any chaff laying on the floor in front of his stall. It was always licked clean in a nice little semi circle around that hole!

So probably a good thing he doesn't have a window in his stall right now! Just the hay door in the bars so he can hang his head out in the aisle to see what's going on.

I didn't do anything.....

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

Goodbye 2010. I'm glad to see you go. Other than getting married, you were a most unkind year, especially to my furkids. I spent more time out of the saddle than in the saddle due to lameness and/or injuries to 3 out of 3 furkids, and you took my sweet Wayne away from me.

Hello 2011. I hope you are a better year. A year without major drama and roller coaster rides would be nice.  To spend more time in the saddle on both Cody and Lady would be a plus.

Cutiest Christmas Present

Cutiest Christmas present ever.  This little guy was on my totes in the tack room at the barn when I went down to see the girls Christmas day.  I grinned like an idiot and cried all at the same time.  Thank you Sarah!  A plushie Wayne couldn't be more fitting! 

He even has feathers on his feet!!

May 2010