Swelling of the knee, with no lameness or tenderness?

Hello, I have an AQHA buckskin filly that is having a swelling problem. I took her to the vet and he gave her a 20$ shot and said it would go down, well it hasn't. It feels like liquid is in there and she has no tenderness in the knee at all, and all her gaits are normal, no limping/favoring, etc. I'll get a couple pics up here tomorrow and see what ya'll think.

One thing that it may be is a windpuff. I read about it in a very small article somewhere (I think in an APHA magazine) and am wondering if it is that. Any suggestions?

Oh, Also, I was putting liniment on it, and it went down completely with stall rest, but I turned her out in the round pen, and it got to be the same way again with a 20 min turnout. I haven't put it back on since it happened again after that until last night and this morning, so will see if there is any improvement in it.

I would really appreciate anyone with comments about what this thing is.

How old is she ? What is her diet? How BIG is she??

I havent heard of wind puffs on the knees. My older gelding has them on his pasterns. Im wondering if she doesnt have something wrong with her knee. I think you should get another vets opinion. Its strange that it flares up with turnout. Normally swelling happens when a horse is on stall rest. That is why I think you should get a second opinion. It could be a bone fragment floating around and causing it to swell. I know im no hore but I had that in my knee and I never felt it. No pain or anything.

PeggySue, She is 15 months old now, and is pretty big. She is about 14 - 14.2hh (definitely over 14, but haven't measured her yet) and has pretty good muscle mass. Here is a pic of her that was taken last month.



What are you thinking?

D_D, I don't know. I put her in the pasture alone about 5 weeks ago for two days so she could stretch and enjoy some scant grazing, when I pulled her out, her knee was like that. I think you are right about the other opinion. I'm going to call a different vet on Monday and make an appointment. This is my baby girl here, so I've GOT to get her better!

Oh, I just noticed, but her knee is swollen in this pic. It is her left for knee. You can kinda see, but its not a great pic for that.

Oops, PeggySue, I forgot to say what her diet is. Starting in April she was getting 2 flakes twice a day of Alfalfa, and 2 coffee cans of 14% pelleted feed. Then in the first part of June, I had to take a price cut and started her on Coastal instead of Alfalfa, but still had the feed. Now, she is just getting 1 coffee can of 14% pellets once a day with 3 flakes coastal 2x's daily. Was that an ok diet?

She is such a pretty horse, I hope everything goes alright. Make sure you keep an eye the ajoining hoof. If not treated all leg injuries go to their feet. Especially knee swellings. I would definitely make sure you get another opinion. She looks like too goo of a horse for this to happen. I hope everyting goes alright. Have you tried hosing it off with nice cold water or using an ice pack? That might bring the swelling down. Until you can figure out whats going on, I would keep her quiet and not let her run around.
Hope you can figure out what is going on.
Keep us posted!

Thank you D_D!!! I love her to death and it kills me to see her with a puffy knee, even if she acts like there is nothing to it. I'll definitely keep ya'll posted and also get some pics of what the knee is looking like now. Country vets really aren't great when it comes to things like this, he just felt it and said a horse probably kicked it, and didn't change his opinion when I told him she was alone, so were going to someone who knows what he's talking about. I'll have an outcome for ya'll soon!

Edit: I didn't know anything would happen to her feet as well! What would something like that do to her feet, and would it be permanent? That's pretty scary since I'm planning on doing reining/cutting with her.

The fluid and swelling could travel down her leg (you may not physically see it) and cause and absess or even founder or laminitis. Just watch to make sure her feet arent changing and tht their is no abcess. And if she strted limping. That could mean either her knee is bugging her or her hoof is bugging her.

You need to have your vet (or a good lameness vet) re-evaluate your horse. Often vets go with the "easy fix" first because if that will work there is no need to spend more of the owner's money or time on diagnostics and treatments. But if the "easy fix" doesn't work then they go on and take a closer look.

The fact that it goes down with stall rest may indicated tendon or ligament involvement.