(Horse) General anaesthetic experiences? Or when to say enough?

[UncleBunclesHouse]

My beloved dressage horse has had a very unlucky run over the past year and a half with one thing after another. We just got up and running again in the summer and he was absolutely on fire, then last week he felt slightly unlevel in the arena. Long story short after being at hospital today they think he has tendon injury but nothing conclusive on scans so they want to go in with a camera. This will mean a GA :(

The centre has a very good success and safety rate, however I am A. Likely to be giving him several months off soon as I’m pregnant and B. Having to consider his other issues which are currently being managed fine - but appreciate this won’t last forever and we are probably on a time limit in terms of how much longer we can be competitive at our level (AM). He is 14, otherwise fit and well, looks amazing and loves his work.

I basically need to decide whether to go ahead with the surgery and the risks of GA to both see what exactly is going on and do anything in there needed, or call it a day and resign to gentle hacking only in future. I could just give him the winter resting and bring him back spring/early summer after the birth and see if time has healed things, but vet doesn’t seem too optimistic about this option and quite honestly I don’t think I can deal with much more stress and disappointment with false starts getting back competing again.

Sorry this is long, I’m so stuck and tying myself in knots (and tears). He is very special to me and really gives 110% always.

I know I need to make this decision myself, but what would you do and why?

[Sarahlou63]

I'd be talking to your vet about why having the winter off to rest and recover is a non starter (other than the loss of his/her income - GA's are expensive). Tendon injuries need time; what treatment would follow the horsepital stay that rest wouldn't achieve?

[RoseCaterpillar]

Could they not scan or MRI to check the injury before needing a GA?

I've had two horses have a GA. One had torn a tendon, given a less than 50% chance of recovery but we went ahead as he was very special. He made a miraculous full recovery after several months of follow up box rest and building up. He needed the operation to clean up the tendon tear to allow it to heal cleanly.
Second horse has recently had a GA after being kicked on the hock and piercing the tendon sheath which was leaking fluid. The surgery was needed to deep clean the wound, I was very worried about him coming round from the anaesthetic as he can be a bit of a goon to put it politely, but without the operation to clean then infection would have likely meant he wouldn't survive anyway. Luckily he has been a total dream the whole way through and we are currently on week 4 of box rest and 5 mins in-hand walking.

I am also currently pregnant and have been seriously ill with HG so have heavily relied on other people doing my horses for me, as most days I don't make it to the stables. It's so hard to know what to do for the best, if it was me, I would go for the operation and then allow him lots of time off for a slow recovery while you are pregnant, to give him the best chance of recovery. No point in the rest if the wound doesn't heal well. I suppose it all comes down to the horses temperament, insurance and finances. I would also consider how special he is in an objective way, I have gone for operations on my two because they were both high level competition horses and both only 8 when injured. I have others who I wouldn't consider operating on.

Good luck, I hope the outcome is positive I know how special they are.

[UncleBunclesHouse]

@Sarahlou63 this assessment was based on them being able to see a lot of disruption in the tendon sheath but no obvious tears, holes etc - they think it needs cleaning up to heal properly or the healing won’t be optimal and they suspect a lot of scar tissue etc. It’s been there a while as we tried medicating as a conservative approach which worked for a couple of months but it’s flared up again, so points to something going on that we can’t see. They said where it is they don’t think MRI will be particularly helpful. I think that is just as expensive as the tenoscopy so I wouldn’t think it’s purely financially driven

[UncleBunclesHouse]

@RoseCaterpillar thanks really helpful to hear this experience. He is also special in that was as well as as a pet, he’s very talented. But obviously older than your were.

They said where it is they don’t think MRI will be particularly helpful. I think that is just as expensive as the tenoscopy so I wouldn’t think it’s purely financially driven. Although it’s something to keep in mind. I am mostly worried about the GA rather than the procedure, I don’t think I’d forgive myself if I lost him 😔

[UncleBunclesHouse]

@Sarahlou63 they also talked about if they could for example see a lesion they could do stem cell, PRP etc, but there is very little value doing this if there isn’t a lesion or something specific to target

[RoseCaterpillar]

Personally, if the vets are thinking along the lines of it needs cleaning up to heal well and that there may be scar tissue now, I would go for the operation. Although it is risky, the main risk is when they are coming round and could panic getting back up. I think the actual being under anaesthetic itself is fairly well regulated. I try to balance it that everything we do is a risk with them and everyday when I turn out they have the potential to do something stupid and injure themselves but the benefits outweigh the potential risk. If the benefit is that he heals well, then the risk is worth it to me. The alternative could be such a long slow recovery and a horse that never correctly heals and will always be prone to breaking due to it healing messily. Talented horses are usually extreme in a "do or die" way in my experience, they don't do pottering and an easy life.

[Honeyroar]

I wouldn’t be remotely worried about the anaesthetic, my 20 yr old went under anaesthetic a few yeasts ago without problems and a 17 yr old at my yard did this summer, again no problems ( both are very sensible types, I don’t know if that helps!). As previously mentioned, it’s the getting up that is the most dangerous moment.

But personally I’d be leaving the horse over the winter unless the horse was really top level and I was sure having a baby wouldn’t affect how much I rode and wanted to compete (as in you’ve had children before and still competed). You don’t know what’s ahead and you’d be dealing with box rest while pregnant too. (my horse had her foot cleaned up, so nothing major, but it was still a fair box rest).

[UncleBunclesHouse]

@Honeyroar yes this is second pregnancy so I know what I’m in for (as far as you can!)

That’s great to hear of those positive experiences with older equines 😊

The vets day he can go out in a small paddock after the initial short time in bandages for infection prevention. - I have smaller paddocks available plus an all weather turn out pen. He much prefers to live out so will be using these as much as possible until he can be turfed out in the bigger fields for winter

[UncleBunclesHouse]

@RoseCaterpillar you have been incredibly helpful thanks so much 😊

[elastamum]

My warmblood x ID girl had similar surgery at 11. She had been lame twice and rested, but still wasn't right. She recovered well and came back into work after 6 months off over winter. She is now 21 and still sound. Cost a lot as she wasn't insured, but worth every penny. Good luck with your boy.