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Post by Tim on Feb 9, 2022 10:11:17 GMT 10
Hi Tom
Thank you in advance for considering this post.
I have a 23 month old, 30 kilo dog. He is quite talented, with very good early speed and won his maiden on debut.
In his novice he was slightly lame in his offside leg. A post-race vet examination revealed a sore offside hock.
I had x-rays undertaken and there was no fracture, the diagnosis was a hock strain.
He was given 1 week pure rest, followed by 3 weeks of leash walking, I then gave him some free galloping of which he responded well too.
After this, I gave him a short trial over 270m around the circle of which he ran very good time. No lameness and walking normally after the run.
However, when pressure is applied to the same area (front/front right of the offside hock - about the size of a thumbnail) he responds with pain.
I had him checked again by muscleman, he was injected with bone hormone in the area and I was advised another 10 days off before a re-check. He said "there is no swelling, but I think there is bone bruising and blood in the joint".
I have also iced the area and given him oral NSAIDs.
My question is what is going on here, and is there anything else I can do? Is this something that is going to be ongoing?
Thank you Tom.
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Post by Tom Meulman on Feb 9, 2022 19:33:53 GMT 10
Hi Tim,
Mate it’s a query such as this that makes me sincerely wish that I could examine the dog myself to determine exactly what is happening injury wise.
As it stands, all I’m doing is giving stab in the dark, and with a young dog showing promise an injury such as hock strain, and yes hock strain is an injury that requires treatment not just rest, it can easily escalate into a broken right hock as that is one area that cops a huge amount of strain negotiating the first turn, in particular with a dog that has great early pace.
When we talk about hock strain what it really means is that the ligaments that hold the joint stable have been overstretched and as a result the two front edges of the hock joint bone surfaces have been pushed together too hard in the process of the hock joint flexing too far in an area where it’s not supposed to happen.
Which if allowed to go untreated, several repetitions of this occurring can easily result in a bone chip or worst case scenario a slab fracture, better described as a broken hock.
So the first thing required is to strengthen the ligaments that hold the joint stable, and at this stage because the injury is not fresh, it’s best done with a light blister to the rear and both sides of the hock joint, and to about 35mm or 1-1/2 inches past the joint above and below.
While it’s not a known blistering agent as such, probably the easiest to get hold of item that should do the job would be Bone Radiol, and when applied morning and night with a soft tooth brush three days on, three days off, and again three days on, with a further three days rest, should strengthen the ligaments sufficiently.
You have mentioned that the sore area had been injected with what was described as a “bone hormone” however keep mind that this is a very misleading name simply because a hormone that would assist in strengthening the bone structure would be injected intramuscular and be of such structure that it would most like result in a positive swab for a couple of months. So in my opinion the item injected as “bone hormone” would most likely be a low level sclerosing agent that would create some local inflammation in the bone surface which would trigger some degree of bone thickening.
Difficult to say if this would be beneficial or not.
The only other thing I would advise is that for the first three runs back into a turn the hock should be firmly strapped with adhesive tape not a bandage type strapping, and to aid in the removal of the tape without removing hair there is nothing wrong with rubbing a minimal bit of talcum powder into the area first.
I realise that I have set your training schedule back a fair bit of time with my recommended treatment, but I have seen too many promising youngsters sidelined by a hock injury that shortened their racing careers.
Cheers,
Tom
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Post by Tim on Feb 9, 2022 23:53:12 GMT 10
Thank you Tom
Would there be a blistering agent more effective you could suggest rather than bone radiol?
Thanks,
Tim
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Post by Tom Meulman on Feb 10, 2022 6:19:32 GMT 10
Hi Tim,
Some of the blistering agents on the market specifically for horses can be a bit too harsh for use on greyhounds and can damage the skin severely if used too aggressively.
The one blistering agent that was used successfully was Blestre, and it may not be available anymore. Even then it was best used mixed 50/50 with Boneradiol, and only painted on instead of rubbed in with a toothbrush.
The other one used was 10% iodine, again mixed 50/50 with Boneradiol, but as with Blestre which is iodine based it leaves an almost permanent dark brown stain on the hair that can look pretty ordinary on a lighter coloured greyhound.
There are several posts on here about blistering and it may pay to do a search on the site for more information on this subject.
Cheers,
Tom
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Post by Tim on Feb 10, 2022 7:58:53 GMT 10
Thanks Tom
One last question - would there be any benefit bringing him back solely to race up the straight (Capalaba) following rest and tendon strengthening, before attempting the circle again (in say 4-6 weeks)? Or does the area need to undergo some level of remodelling and put under some level of strain for it to adapt to the circle?
Tim
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Post by Tom Meulman on Feb 10, 2022 16:27:37 GMT 10
Hi Tim,
All things being equal competition up the straight should be safer than starting back on a track with bends.
However my concern would be that after three or more runs up the straight there is every chance that the dog would run in just a bit too hard into the first turn on his next couple of runs coming off the straight runs.
My preference would be to hand slip him into the first turn on his first trial back on the circle, and even then the next run a hand slip from halfway up the straight to the first turn.
This should have the effect of testing the hock while limiting the strain and as you say provide the opportunity for safe remodelling of the stressed area.
It also provides the opportunity to do additional treatments should it be necessary after each run.
Cheers,
Tom
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