Arthramid experiences

[scats]

Experiences please?
After a few performance niggles in the school and my vet Chiro picking up on a couple of issues, Millie had a work up yesterday with Mark Andrew’s. Nerve blocked and then X-rays.
As expected, mild hock arthritis found. Slightly unexpected was the coffin joint and navicular changes in both front feet. Again, relatively mild, though navicular slightly worse in right fore.
Millie is 12 and conformationally not fantastic so i knew it would catch up with us eventually, but it’s happened a bit sooner than I hoped! Such is life.
I don’t want to steroid injection her because of the laminitis risk. She’s a big girl, on a permanent diet, but still too big, so we are going to try Arthramid this week. Unfortunately he only had 2 with him so is going to come back to do it.
Experiences of this would be much appreciated please. We also have some concerns over her SI joint as she is not moving her back at all- it’s just stiff and locked. So we may look at injecting that too.
Mark said she will 100% be ok to continue hacking and farm rides. He seemed mildly amused when I asked him if this was the end for her ridden days (that’s what a lifetime of horse disasters does to you!).
Glimmers of hope would be fantastic!

 

[Zoeypxo]

Im 4 weeks into Arthramid into the coffin joint and my horse is still very lame.
i am hoping by week 6 i will see some improvement. As far as i’m aware non responders to Arthramid injections are rare.
Lots of success stories on fb groups and on here though. Would love to hear how your one is after 6wks

 

[jenni999]

Re steroid injections. M<y horse is a 16.3 IDxTB who weighs in at around 650kg and sometimes more. He has the ID body and TB legs. Similar story, hock arthritis leading to navicular changes and really sore in front feet. Had 4 months off last year to let front feet recover and then steroid injections spaced out over a period of months. My vet said little lami risk as it's such a small amount, but I was worried too. Obviously your own decision but go with your vet advice. I now fight to keep him under 650kg and he is doing well.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I can offer hope .

The same chiro vet was incredibly impressed with how mobile and bendy my IDx was in her hocks at her recent check. She is also pain free in her back. Ditto regular vet is impressed, too.

Mare was diagnosed with hock arthritis in 2017. She had two rounds of steroid jabs, which worked for a while but then wore off. She sustained a major pelvic injury in Mar '20, but due to lockdown restrictions on what vets could do it wasn't til Aug '20 that I took her to horsepital. She was jabbed with arthramid in both hocks and steroid in both SI joints.

This photo is from the day after she was medicated in Aug '20, you can see how poor her topline was after her pelvic injury. For her to recover so well is fantastic. She also has PSSM and Cushing's.



She has not been medicated since and is off Danilon, she doesn't need it. The jabs have lasted incredibly well. Her right hip is still about 3 inches lower than her right, but she has adjusted to that very well.

My homebred has had arthramid in both front coffins 2 1/2 years ago, and that has lasted very well, too.

Feel free to ask your chiro vet about how arthramid has helped T.

 

[spacefaer]

I've posted previously about our boy with arthritic hocks. He had steroid jabs initially and when they ceased to be as effective, he had arthramid in both hocks. Very significant improvement - we were very impressed.
My vet said that he'd mainly done arthramid injections into SI Joints prior to this, with success.
He also likes to use steroid first, to allow any inflammation in the joint, then inject the gel after 4-6 weeks for optimal effect

 

[scats]

Thank you.
That’s interesting spacefaer as vet yesterday said if he was going to inject SI joint, he’d want to do that with steroids. I assume for inflammation? That’s why we are holding off on the SI injection at the moment, coz I don’t want any steroid in her at all.

TP- thank you. Vet chiro had spoken to vet prior to him coming to discuss Millie and I messaged her last night with an update. I’m oddly relaxed about it all to be honest, which given it’s not brilliant news, is quite strange. I’m wondering if you get to a point after a while where you just think ‘what will be will be’. I’ve had so many disasters and bad luck that nothing shocks me any more really.
Millie loves hacking and doing farm rides so her life won’t really have to change.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Good luck.

I did ask my regular vet whether arthramid was an option for SI joints but she said it wasn't, IIRC because it's too viscous? Though maybe opinions on that have changed in nearly 2 years?

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

My Louis has navicular changes and hock arthritis he had steroids in the hocks and osphos for the fronts, that was over 3 years ago and his been fine his just started to look a bit stiff behind but works through it after a bit of walking.

I spoke to my vet and he recommended the gel which I hope to do in the next few months, I also pulled his front shoes after the navicular diagnosis and he had 3 months in the field and was totally sound so was brought back into work and his never had anymore lameness since.

Just wanted to add his 18 now.

 

[scats]

My Louis has navicular changes and hock arthritis he had steroids in the hocks and osphos for the fronts, that was over 3 years ago and his been fine his just started to look a bit stiff behind but works through it after a bit of walking.

I spoke to my vet and he recommended the gel which I hope to do in the next few months, I also pulled his front shoes after the navicular diagnosis and he had 3 months in the field and was totally sound so was brought back into work and his never had anymore lameness since.

Just wanted to add his 18 now.

Thank you. Vet wants Millie to carry on hacking and moving. She’s odd because she just comes out initially looking like she’s got 5 legs but works through it very quickly. She’s always had a slightly choppy trot as she’s got quite upright patterns and feet. A big sign was that she’s not lifting her back at all, she’s moving her hind legs, then her back is staying rigid and just moving forwards. Vet Chiro picked this up last time she was here too, so we need to work on sorting that, but it will be interesting to see if medicating the hocks have any impact on this.

Whether we will be able to continue any great schooling, I’m not sure. I’m pretty sure these niggles started last year to be honest. In lessons we were asking questions of Millie and although she would always give us an answer, she seemed to stop giving us what she normally would. Trainer wanted me to push her but I just had a feeling that Millie was saying no because she couldn’t do it, not that she wouldn’t. Hence why I stopped my lessons. Pushing her just sat wrong with me, and that’s what I was being told to do. I did get a vet out at the end of last year who told me she was completely sound and to crack on, but I wonder whether things were just starting to become difficult for her then, even if they weren’t showing yet. That’s why I spent pretty much all winter just hacking and haven’t done any dressage this year.
Just hope I can make things more comfortable for her.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I found the best thing for Louis is sports massage she is brilliant and I can so feel the difference afterwards, Louis gets quite tight in his upper hind leg I can feel all his muscles become solid and he looks almost stilted, I book a massage session and she recommends hand walking for 2 or 3 days afterwards and then his absolutely fine.

I also do alot of carrot stretches tail pulls leg circling and stretches and have started doing some thoracic sling stretches, I do these for both of my horses now and I find they really help and do them everyday if I can.

My other horse was diagnosed with slight hock arthritis last week as well and his having the gel treatment in about 5 weeks time, he also has a bit of front foot pain vet things it's referred pain from the hind end so will be interesting to see how he is after the treatment, he was only very slightly not right nothing too horrendous but his so sensitive and it seems to affect his whole body if something is going on.

 

[SEL]

The Appy is a tank on a permanent diet. Steroids didn't do much for her hocks and I saw a definite event line in her hooves a couple of months later.

I had to change vets to get arthramid but it made a huge difference. She was a nightmare for the farrier with her back legs and now it's no trouble at all.

I had a small amount of steroid into her SI at the same time and tbh she could do with another shot but she went on to injure herself on another leg and with her PSSM I pretty much retired her. Hocks still good tho!

 

[asmp]

Is arthramid a lot more expensive than steroids?

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

Mine had steroids followed by arthromid after an MRI for something else found early changes.

He has gone from school sour to not really minding the school work now. He's much more comfortable.

 

[milliepops]

Is arthramid a lot more expensive than steroids?

i was offered it for one of mine and it was a fair bit more than steroids yes
I didnt go ahead but for different reasons!

 

[scats]

Yes a fair bit more expensive. If she was a thinner girl, I would have tried the steroids but I’m terrified of her getting laminitis.
He hasn’t given me a proper price yet but £600 was mentioned. I assume that’s for two jabs. She needs four. If it’s £600 per injection I shall be needing to sell some organs!

 

[Birker2020]

Is arthramid a lot more expensive than steroids?

£700 per injection, my last horse needed 2.5 from memory in her coffin joints. But it caused her to overcompensate in another area so she was putting more weight on her navicular and in the end her DDFT was rubbing on the spur that was on the back navicular bone and she was PTS.

So I'm not sure how effective it would have been long term if she'd not have had other issues.

 

[spacefaer]

Is arthramid a lot more expensive than steroids?

Yes - how much more depends on your vet practice. You hopefully wouldn't have to do it again though (or at least not for a few years)

With our lad, he's a big RID so he had steroids then arthramid in his hocks, and also had steroids into front coffin joints at the same so that if the new improved hocks overloaded the front limbs, he had some protection there

 

[Tiddlypom]

In Aug '20 it was £1200 to medicate both hocks with Arthramid and both SI joints with steroid. That was in horsepital, so no call out charge.

SI joints can be done at the yard, but it's easier and safer for the vet if the horse is in the stocks. Even so, the vet was balanced up a step ladder fielding the ultrasound probe to locate the precise sites to medicate. Hocks are easier.

 

[Zoeypxo]

Mine cost £300 for one coffin joint inc call out and sedation.
Its looking like she may need another syringe put in

 

[racebuddy]

Mine has just had his neck done with the arthamid £1000 for two injections x

 

[Zoeypxo]

6 weeks post arthramid injections tomorrow and my horse was sound ridden today ! Yay