Anyone come accross joint-ill before

MrsElle

MrsElle

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I have a friend who has a three year old she bred herself. As a newborn he had 'joint-ill'.

He had the joint flushed and made a degree of recovery. He cannot be ridden and his hock is slightly swollen all the time. He doesn't like it to be touched but this might be because he remembers it hurt as opposed to it still hurting.

I had never heard of joint-ill until today, has anyone else heard of it/come accross it and what was the prognosis?
 
Yes, I've heard of it, bloody horrible thing. Rollestone stud lost one of their beautiful 2007 babies (Caspar) to it when he was just a week or two old, and I remember it so vividly cos my foal was born around that time and he went down with a navel infection and I was convinced he was going to die too
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Prognosis isn't very good, I don't think - joints can be flushed, but unless you get it VERY early, too much damage is done.
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Joint-ill is bacterial infection in one or more joints, usually in very young foals. Infection generally enters through the navel at birth, you may or may not have concurrent navel infection. The bacteria then spread via the bloodstream and settle out in the joints if the foal's immunity is not good enough - most foals who suffer from joint-ill/navel-ill/septicaemia will have had sub-optimal or inadequate colostrum intake.

If not caught very early the infection causes catastrophic and long term cartilage damage. Treatment generally involves high dose antibiotics +/- surgical flushing of the joint(s).

The prognosis, particularly for an athletic career, is always very guarded. In advanced or very severe cases euthanasia may be the kindest option.

Clinical signs include lameness, heat and swelling of one or more joints, and generally off suck and poorly.

Hope this helps answer some of your queries.
 
Never heard of horses with it but i had to have a lovely kid put down with it and know of several lambs that had it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Never heard of horses with it but i had to have a lovely kid put down with it and know of several lambs that had it.

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I had a double-take at that sentence until I read the bit about the lambs and the penny dropped!
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One of the foals born at my yard went down with it last year. The joint was flushed twice as far as I remember. If he hadn't rallied after the second flush they wouldn't have flushed it again, it's such an expensive thing to do. This foal was an Anglo-Arab bred to event, but the breeders lost out on any profit they would have made from him, however he was a lovely foal and worth trying to save.

Anyway, the good news - after the second time the joint was flushed, he was on the mend, and has made a full recovery. Obviously he's only a yearling now and hasn't started work, but it is believed that he is 100% and will be a sound competition prospect.
 
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