advice on kissing spine please

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beetlejuice

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My 6 yr old part bred arab has just been diagnosed with kissing spine. Previous to me owning him (from jan11) he had been turned away due to the owner having a child. He was doing great but as the work became more demanding I started to get more and more resistance which ended up in him going over on me.

I have had him vetted, physio been and saddler-but they all said he was fine. So i thought I would take him straight to the vet to check him over. The vet said he was sore in his back and mildly bilaterally lame due to mild arthritic changes in the hocks. They did a full examination and medicated him with steroids. When picking up I questionned them about his back but I was told he was just sore because of the lameness- I was not convinced.

Anyway, his back before more sore even with physio visits, so I took his back to the vets and the confirmed KS with xrays and scan (something I think they should have done first time round!!).

There were 2-3 sections of his back that were really sore- even to touch (due to closeness of the vertebrae). so they medicated it with steroids but I cant see it making that much of a difference when the bones are so close. they said to give it 7-14 days and try and ride him again.

I asked what the next step would be, and they did advise against surgery. Im absolutely gutted as it seems if this doesnt work then thats it. I know that surgery is a very obtrusive procedure for this ailment and im not sure if it will work for more than one place anyway?

Anyone any thoughts or advice?
 
Im not sure why they would advise against surgery? If you go back on my old posts you will see my boys history.

We had a complete nightmare initially and when he was diagnosed they gave him a cortisone injection in the impinging area, I was advised to lunge in a pessoa for 5 weeks then ride him again, I did this as instructed and he was worse than ever, I think I managed to stay on for about 3 minutes before he bronched and I leapt off!

He had the op in January this year and exactly 4 months later he had the all clear to be ridden again, we even had our first lesson yesterday :)

IMHO I think the only permanent fix to kissing spine is to remove the conflicting dsp. There are so many people on here who had been through the same thing and really helped me when my boy was diagnosed..

Im happy to talk to you if you would like some advice from someone who has been there already, I know how upsetting and worrying it all must be for you at the moment.

xx
 
Hi my lad has be diagnoised with exactly the same and they have advised against surgery due to the DJD/bone spavin in the right hock, it is only mild changes at the moment. If it was straight forward kissing spine then ok but mine had a bone scan and he has arthritis in the base of his neck (right side), arthritis in his right pedal bone, and his hock. Again given all these things going on they have stressed it simply wouldn't be fair to put him through the surgery and have started Tildren treatmeant along with steriod injections into the hock.

There are a lot of forums ref KS and DJD/ bone spavin but none of them together. I'm aware the surgery for KS is very good prognosis however I'm getting increasingly concerned ref the DJD in his hock due to surgery not being an option either and I simply wouldn't put him through the pain of having holes drilled into it to make fuse given he is 13 and has done his competeing at high level days.

I'm putting him on Devils claw and cortaflex also and pyhsio is coming out in two weeks followed by a 2nd tildren injection but if I'm truthful at the min I'm rather down beat about it and am struggling to find the strength.

Karen x
 
Thanks for your advice.
My opinion is the same surely the only possible solution is surgery. My worry is the risks it carries- also does it make the spine more unstable post operation? My horse is rubbish at box rest so if he needs 12 weeks its going to be a nightmare!! very confused and stuck what to do. As i said they want me to ride him soon but i dont think I can bring myself to do it firstly cos he will still be in pain and secondly I dont want to get squished again!!! I wonder why the vet advised against it? maybe he knows something I dont?

Karen- my mare had djd in her coffin joints steroids did not work at all!!! But we tried a fairly new treatment called IRAP and we have 2 years of pain free non medicated years with her, we eventually had to put her to sleep due to lami. But i would recommend IRAP to anyone as it is very low risk, uses no chemicals and is relatively inexpensive for the results it produces.
 
My boy only had 6wks box rest. I didn't think he would cope but he did. I agree that the only complete fix is to operate, however I wouldn't have done so had there been any other issues eg, arthritus/navicular etc etc.

I really went through the mill making my decision but 5 years on have no regrets.

My best advice to you would be to ensure you have a good quality specialist equine vet advising you as there seem to be so many misconceptions about this condition. I would recommend you look on the web for Svend Kold and the Willersley Equine Clinic for advice as I believe this surgeon to be second to none if you decide to go down that route. He will give you straightforward honest advice about whether it is doable, my horse was superbly cared for there.

Good luck, it is a tough decision but you will do the best thing for your horse.
 
As I understand it they won't operate because the mild arthritic changes in his hock could lead to a further decline and bone spavin which they are supposed to be kept moving and a long spell on box rest isn't going to do him any further good. Hence in my case the surgery really isn't an option because he needs to be kept moving and on turnout as much as possible.

I have heard about the IRAPs and have asked but they have assured me Tildren is his best shot!

In my mind though I just don't know how I'm going to ever ride him again knowing he has all these things and I could be hurting him. This is something I don't think I can overcome.

Using Bute has also been recommended but again I feel I will be masking the issues.

Karen x
 
[QUOTE

There were 2-3 sections of his back that were really sore- even to touch (due to closeness of the vertebrae). so they medicated it with steroids but I cant see it making that much of a difference when the bones are so close. they said to give it 7-14 days and try and ride him again.

I asked what the next step would be, and they did advise against surgery. Im absolutely gutted as it seems if this doesnt work then thats it. I know that surgery is a very obtrusive procedure for this ailment and im not sure if it will work for more than one place anyway?

Anyone any thoughts or advice?[/QUOTE]

i'm in my final 2 weeks of box rest with mine she has KS ,psd right hind and left side sacroiliac

first diagnosed march 31st at leahurst --c11,c12,c13 dorsal spines
told to do
8 weeks box rest with in hand walking twice a day builing fro 5 mins to 20 mins over the weeks with physio

went back for check up
improvement but 4 more weeks box rest with in hand walking and light pessoa work for first 2 weeks
3-4 weeks building up more and can ride 5th week walk only

check up again on 6th week --may still need the op if no major improvement
even though she has had the injection in the KS area
 
In answer to your question, the op can be successful for more than one process, I know people who have had 5+ removed, now doing dressage. My horse showed little trauma with the op, had a smooth recovery, no swelling and was well healed within 2 weeks. At the time it seemed a rocky road with the box rest as my boy was difficult to walk in hand and we rehabbed through the snow but now we are hacking out and there is no sign he ever had an op it seems easier looking back. I dont see it as anymore obtrusive than repeated visits for spinal injections and the pain and worry. I think the scaremongers tend to be the people who know nothing about it TBH!
 
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