Carpel tunnel Syndrome in horses?

Question

I just sold an eight month old silver dapple miniature fillie to a customer for $8,200, and she said that her vet thinks it has carpeltunnel. I had the mare vet checked by two different doctors, x rayed and inspected and they did not find anything wrong with her and neither one of the doctors has ever herd of carpeltunnel in horses and say her x rays showed no problems. The mare took several firsts at various horse shows this past season and everyone told me she was gorgeous and superb. The buyer was not mad because her vet offered to buy the horse and "take it off of her hands" for 1,000 dollars. I think she was scammed, and her vet took advantage of her and picked up a nice pony for a great price, am I right?

Answer 1

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is when a nerve is compressed by the carpal bones. A horses Carpal bones are in the knee and carpal tunnel in horses usually results in intermittment lameness.

Here's what I found from one source:

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS)
Lameness in carpal tunnel (canal) syndrome is caused by inflammation and pressure within the carpal tunnel ( see figure). There is no room for swelling in the carpal tunnel, so when it does occur, there is an interruption of blood flow and normal nerve impulses to the area, causing pain and lameness in the affected limb. CTS can result from tendonitis, desmitis of the superior check ligament, or a fracture of the accessory carpal. CTS is very common among jumpers and trainers often complain of an intermittent lameness.

Swelling occurs on the front of the leg just above the knee at the base of the radius (a bone that forms a joint with the carpus), and includes inflammation of the tendons in the area. The horse experiences pain when the knee is flexed and the carpal tunnel can be palpated.

Treatment for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Conservative treatment methods call for systemic anti-inflammatories and physical therapy designed to decrease inflammation, including warm moist heat, cold therapy, therapeutic ultrasound, low light therapy, massage, and passive exercise with stretching. Surgical treatment may relieve the pressure (and thus the pain) within the carpal tunnel. Training can generally resume four to six weeks after surgery.


So if the horse didn't experience lameness and the standard tests from your vets didn't elicit any carpal pain, and the x-rays showed no fracture, it's quite curious how the new vet discovered this. If I were the buyer, I'd get copies of the ALL the veterinary records from you and from her vet and have them reviewed. If it was found to be a false diagnosis, I'd sue the vet in civil court and report him to the veterinary licensing board.

Answer 2

I handled hunter/jumpers on the "A" circuit for 14 years, and now am an equine massage therapist. I have never heard of a horse getting CTS, although I suppose anything is possible.

If your mini was only 8 months old I can't see how she could have developed a condition that is associated with repetitive motion.

My gut instinct is that the buyers vet saw "sucker" written on her face.

Answer 3

YOU CERTAINLY ARE RIGHT. This vet should be reported to the Veterinary board in his state. I have breed, raised & raced horse almost all my life & as many problems as race horses have (I think our horses over the years have had them all) this is one I have never heard of, nor believe is possible. Just because h's a vet doesn't mean he's a good person, believe me being on the race track I know there are many bad vets out there.

Answer 4

You should have told the vet that he rarely ever types his letters on the keyboard and that couldn't be possible. No seriously I didn't know that this existed in horses and I have been around horses all my life. I think she got scammed too.

Answer 5

horses can get cts and other promblems like humans do
right down to epelipsy although if a previous vet said she was fine. how far apart was the last appt.. if close together then yeah they got ripped off

Answer 6

sounds weird