Wether rolling back on his heel

[mzgarden]

We have a companion wether that is with our does.  About 4 weeks ago, he came up lame in his right rear leg.  He was holding it up and not putting weight on it.  I rotated and bent all the joints but could find nothing.  After a few days, had the vet out to look at him.  He went through the same thing and could not find any specific injury or issue.  He saw from hoof to hip, he couldn't find a reason to limp.  We gave him a couple days 'light duty' and a couple days of banamine.  He seemed to be recovering and was putting weight on it again.  We trimmed hooves 2 weeks ago and noticed his foot was curving on the bottom/pad and he was rolling his foot.  We trimmed the pad down and made sure the hoof walls were parallel to the hair line on his foot.  Today, I looked and he's rolling his foot badly enough he's back on his pastern.  We trimmed his hoof again, but we're not seeing much problem there, other than he's walking on his heel instead of his toe.  (see pic).

I'm not sure what to do at this point.  I can hold his foot flat but he rolls way back on his heel when I let to.  He doesn't appear to be in pain. I'm not sure I want to pay for the vet to come again, if there's something I can do to get him back up on his foot flat.

Any ideas?

[here to stay]

In horses there are some tendons that cause the toe to lift off the ground if damaged. I think it's the deep flexor tendon.

[Use Less]

A deep bruise?

[mzgarden]

@redfish, Thanks, I'll take a look at the link and think about different hoof trim to see if we can 'force' his foot up on the toe. As for the bashing, I doubt it. We're with our goats several times a day and have rarely seen any rough play. He's in with only two does that he's been with since kidding. He's a gentle and sweet soul and argues with no one. Everybody is fed separately and there are multiple hay feeders so no one is jostling.

here to stay, I'll read up on the tendons and see if that might cause this and what can be done.

Use Less, it could be a deep bruise but I guess I'm not sure how to confirm or treat. I'll have to read up on how that presents and whether there is a treatment or it's just time.

Thanks all for the ideas and the suggestions. He kidded here and he was such a sweet boy, even though he was dam raised, that DH fell in love with him and we kept him. He's gentle, calm and a very pleasant goat to have around.

[aoconnor]

I agree with here to stay, deep flexor tendon injury can cause this issue. I have a pony mare that has this issue, I wrap her ankle and hoof with standing wraps, small pony size ones. It keeps her feet flat and supports the joint. You can also tape a piece of 1x1 wood to the heel (and tape around the hoof) to lift the heel up and stop the roll, or you can use a flat piece of thin plywood...tape it from the front of the toe, making the back of it longer than the hoof, so they are flat footed but the extension behind the heel holds them upright and stops the roll back issue. Hope you understand what I am trying to say!

[mzgarden]

aoconnor, Um, I've never heard of a standing wrap but I found this video
link
and here's what I think you're suggesting but please correct me.

Tape a small piece of plywood to the back of his heel, extending just far enough that when the wood touches the ground, his foot is now in the appropriate position. Tape the wood from front of hoof on one side, around the back and end up near the front of the hoof on the other side (but not all the way around). This likely needs to be re-taped each day?

As an alternate, the standing wrap appears to be a two part wrap - one thick cotton pad that goes against the foot/hoof and then the wrap that goes around the outside of the cotton wrap. The idea here is that the double wrap adds structure to the heel/ankle area and prevents it from rolling backward and the cotton wrap prevents the standing wrap from being put on too tight and causing circulation issues? This needs to come off and be reapplied once every day so the leg can be checked?

[aoconnor]

Yes, you have it correct about the wood.

The standing wrap is a rolled wrap for horses and ponies. I use pony size. It is used when shipping to keep legs from stocking up, but I found them to be useful on my pony mare who has the tendon issue. I just wrap it around the leg and then down over the hoof, repeat. It hold the hoof, ankle, leg in correct position.

The wood works best and is easiest:-)

[here to stay]

Pokey. I did not like the way that vet did his wrap. He left a lot of wrinkles in the cotton before he started with the bandage wrap.

Outside of my carping about the video, has anyone wrapped a goat leg? I think it would be harder than a horse leg as goats are so chewy mouthy.   And can lie down for long times chewing at their back leg.

I have taped up a goat foot with Elastoplast after a surgery and that worked well so taping a piece of wood on seems easy enough. But I do wonder about a standing wrap.

[mzgarden]

aoconnor, me again. We're not having any success taping wood to his heel and getting it to stay. I hunted google and you-tube but can't find any examples of wrapping a goat heel. I understand we can't wrap all the way around the front of his toes.

Is there a trick to this? Each time he steps down, the wood puts pressure on the tape and the whole thing collapses and the tape pulls off. Feeling like a dork because I can't figure this out :-)

[aoconnor]

mzgarden, well dang. A horse has a solid hoof, the goat a split. I guess I might use vet wrap, covered with vet tape, and wrapped around the lower heel, then the ankle, then lower heel....you get the picture.

Also, if this has now been going on a while, it might be a vet trip time:-(.

[here to stay]

Apr 13, 2017 2:17:05 GMT mzgarden said:

aoconnor , me again. We're not having any success taping wood to his heel and getting it to stay. I hunted google and you-tube but can't find any examples of wrapping a goat heel. I understand we can't wrap all the way around the front of his toes.

Is there a trick to this? Each time he steps down, the wood puts pressure on the tape and the whole thing collapses and the tape pulls off. Feeling like a dork because I can't figure this out :-)

When I wrapped my goats foot after her surgery, I did wrap the whole foot.  I used Elastoplast, as did the vet originally because that stuff is tough.  

I started the wrap inside the clover part, ran the tape over the front of the toe and back towards the heel.  Then ran it over the back of the heel, over the outside of the other toe (just what are the 'toes' on a cloven hoof called?), over both toes then around and around, ending wherever I felt comfortable.  This was to hold a piece of gauze over the place between the toes where the vet removed a little tumor.  I did not of course incorporate a piece of wood but I do think elastoplast could hold it.  It is very strong and very sticky.  

There is a point at which the tendon has repaired itself as best as it could and will not respond to further correction without surgery.  If the wether is not lame anymore, do you think he has repaired it as well as he can already?  

[mzgarden]

aoconnor, thanks. He saw the vet originally when he was holding the foot up. Vet said it was a sprain and to let him alone. Now he puts weight on it, but it rolls like in the picture. I may get a different vet to take a look at him, but it's been a while we've been working with our boy.

here to stay, thanks. Not sure if we're going to be able to improve his stance but I think I'd like to give it a try. Some days he rolls way back and some days the rolling is less. More or less, I'm trying to make sure we take steps to try to ensure he doesn't degrade and experience pain. If we can't make it work, we'll just watch him and see what needs to be done.

Appreciate the feedback and suggestions!