Any one else got a horse with arthritis for comparison?

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welshied

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I am getting worried about my horse now as i don't think he has got long left
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He has had arthritis about 5 years, when we discovered it he went really lame and the vet thought he had fractured his fetlock but after xrays we discovered he has arthritis in his fetlock! He was always tripping when we got him and vet said this could have been a sign of him already having it?
He then got to the point where he couldn't go for 1/2 hour hack without going lame so we got vet out and she said he now has it in his other leg in his hock joint due to him putting most weight on this leg and on a scale of 1-10 lameness he was at 4.
Anyways we put him on 1/2 sachet of bute every day and he was still holding his leg up as if he didn't want to put any weight on it so we upped his dose to 1 sachet a day which has stopped him holding his leg up now and he can be ridden every so often we only take him out about once a month for a change of scenery. What are your opinions on putting on bute every day and how long would you have a horse that is on bute every day? He is not old hes only 13
I now fear that i am not doing right by him!?!
Sorry if i've bored you
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I had a horse on 1 Danillon a day - which ocassionaly went to 2 a day. Danillion is much better on the system - so my drug of choice if you get my meaning.

The important thing for your horse is to be pain free - and quality of life is much more important than quality.

However, you should speak to your vet about the long term outlook for your horse. And what dosage they would recommend to keep the horse field sound.
 
A friend had a pony with arthritus in its knees & was on a bute every day to make it more comfortable. Pony was on it for a couple of years & the vet said it was ok to use at that rate. It certainly gave the pony a new lease of life in its final years. I'd ask your vet.
 
We have a 33 year old, 17hh horse here on livery that has arthritis in both hocks, he has been on 2 bute a day for the last 15 years! (this is on the vets advice)

He was a grade show jumper then he was a masters horse.

Since then he has been hacked out 2 or 3 times a week, just a walk down the lanes for 20 or 30 mins to keep him interested, although this is now once or twice a week as he is slowing down a bit now.

He is fine on the bute, he is lovely and just keeps going - bless him!
 
My horse is 12 and has arthritis in his hocks and near fore. He was on 1 bute a day, but have cut him down to 1 every other day to see how he copes as we have moved to a new yard with much better turnout and he is a lot better. At the moment he is doing fine and is hacked out 6 days a week and seems totally sound. He is a big horse and vet has said that 1 sachet a day would be very minimal in his system. All they suggested was that I get him blood tested every couple of years to make sure everything ok. He had a blood test last year and was fine.
 
Sorry to hear about your horse. How big is he? I would ring the vet and see what he says, my vet is of the opinion that they can be on Bute for years if properly managed - i.e on as low a dose as possible with blood tests if necessary. He said he knows literally hundreds of horses that have been on long term Bute without any side-effects.

My 17yo 14hh pony has just started on Bute for his Bone Spavin. Ideally the vet would like to see him on half a sachet every other day to keep him pain free for happy hacking but more would be okay - guessing from what he said he would want him to have blood tests if on more than say, one sachet per day?

However, my pony is not that bad in a straight line, it's circles he has a problem with so no more schooling etc, so possibly not as severe as yours?
 
Bumble had Degerative joint disorder in both front fetlocks and down and was one two bute a day to keep him field sound at one point, he was a 13yr old 16.2 shire/welsh cob, upright confo + welsh cob slamming action= recipie for disaster! Anyway vet was happy with it and he went to a retirement home a few years ago to keep a broodie company. They've now managed to down the bute as his joints have calmed a little, although the damnage is still there obv and he is apparetly very happy and healthy. We got an update only a few days ago!
 
I have a 14 year old ID/TB whose arthritis was diagnosed almost four years ago. He has a major conformational problem which caused it, but basically he has arthritis in his knee. I started off by giving him 1 Danilon when necessary and he was only going for short, light hacks. Some days he was very lame and so the dosage was upped until he was comfortable, then brought down again.

He was retired aged 12 for a combination of reasons and is now just a pet, still on 1 Danilon a day and he seems to have stabilised. 1 sachet of Bute/Danilon a day for a largish horse (chunky 15.3) isn't a big dose and if I were you I would keep him on a steady dosage (after consultation with your vet) and you may be pleasantly surprised.
 
Have you spoken to your vet about having his hocks medicated? My 14yo 17.1hh boy has just had both of his hocks medicated for arthiritis (steroid injections) and had a course of Adequan. He feels like a 4yo again, totally different horse. He's gone from shuffling along, moving like a pony, to moving like the big horse he is.

He didn't need bute, just a course of Metacam for a couple of weeks after having the injections. Mine has come back in to full work and will continue to lead a full life, albeit without much jumping as vet said the more jumping he does, the quicker he will break in the long term. He is going to do dressage (I have ambitions of affiliating but not sure I will ever be a good enough rider for that!), the odd bit of XC and will hunt occasionally each season.

I wouldn't have a problem putting a horse on bute every day but talk to your vet about Metacam instead - my vet said Metacam has less of the bad long term effects than bute.
 
He si 15.2hh and is very upright and has the worst conformation going and and he plaits lol bless him you gotta feel sorry for him really
 
Has your vet not advised considering medicating the joint or similar? I know it's expensive and doesn't work for all horses. But those it does work for can make a huge difference. My mare was diagnosed with low ringbone in both fronts and arthritis in the high hock joint on off hind about two years ago. She very suddenly seized up behind one day to the point that she was more or less stuck behind. Lots of investigation later and she had her hock medicated with a steroid and unfortunately it didn't help her. I was then advised to try cartrafen (sp?) and the dofference was amazing!!! It's a course of 4 injections over 4 weeks and she went from borderline being PTS to in work 2 weeks after the last injection. 2 months ago she had another course, approx 20 months after first course and we've been out doing some dressage recently. No bute required at any time since first injections, just keep her on NAF MSM joint supp and regular gentle work.
 
I had the osteopath out after my boy had his hocks medicated, to deal with the muscular soreness he had. She said he "appears" to almost be plaiting behind but it's because he was so sore in his sacroilliac region - the muscles were so tight it was affecting his movement. She came out a couple of times, did lots of work on him, gave me some stretches to do myself and recommended what sort of gymnastiscing (sp) exercises he should be doing to improve things. Osteo says the plaiting movement will gradually decrease over time as he builds up the correct muscle and learns to move properly again.

So you might find that it's related to the arthiritis. I would def be talking to my vet about medicating and having some complimentary therapy (osteo, physio etc but not chiro) to sort out the muscular soreness afterwards. My boy's movement is so so different now.
 
Hi there
Sorry about your horse.
I had a pony who lived till she was almost 32 and she had bute from the age of 17, it never affected her liver or gave her colic etc. My vet says old horses should be comfortable
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My view is that I would not hesitate to take Ibruprofen or arthrotec for pain relief, so why deny it to my horses? Yes, there are side effects, but you can monitor any organ damage, and if your only other options are a horse in pain or a horse put to sleep, why not try upping the dose with your vet's approval, and see how he goes?
 
The first thing to do is to get some x rays taken of both hind legs and find out exactly what is going on.

In my case my horse had a stress fracture in one of the bones within the hock which fused but one year down the line she went very lame. She was x rayed and given 4 months off work to see if the arthritis would cause the bones to fuse together. This worked well and she is still being hacked out at a walk for up to 4 hours per day.

If you use Danillon Bute which is the kindest one then it should not do your horse any damage at one sachet per day.
 
my 17 yr old connie, who is a companion/light hack has spavins.

he has had x-rays, and sadly didn't improve greatly with hockinjections. still 2/10 lame behind.

he is now on 1 danilon a day and is 1/10 lame. he is 15.1/15.2 - has a LHC for 15hh so prob 15.2
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and is 506 on the weight tape.

he also gets science supplements "flexability". it might be the weather, but I think he has been moving much better through his back since I've been putting the massage pad on him.

he is gently exercised 3/4 times a week
 
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