Arthritis Help

[miamibear]

Hiya

Please can i pick your brains....

My boy is currently on a recovery programme for hind suspensory damage, but has been x rayed and discovered arthritis in all 3 hind lower limb joints. This is due to poor confirmation, dropping too low thorough his fetlocks. Hes a big lad a cobby type at 17hh.

Anyhow my question is, im keeping my fingers crossed the suspensory recovers, in which case just the wretched arthritis to deal with.(suspensory is only in one leg)

I have him on a good supplement which i have had him on since the day he returned from the vets (7 weeks) and i will continue this for the rest of his life. He also has egg bars on to change the break over of the hooves.

I dont have much experience of it and i would like anything you guys can pass on so i have my mind prepared for what the vet might say.

He has mentined injections - has anyone had experience of this and whats the long term prognosis - work load etc i can give him on these and do they deteriorate the joints?

Magnets - a very touchy subject on here, i got him fetlock/pastern boots but he wont wear them (hes not used to boots)

Also with regards to work load whats best for him longer term? Hard road work in straight lines or soft schooling work?

I bought him for dressage and we did some showing on grass this season which he excelled at but i can see him becoming a pleasure pony (that is if hes not retired altogether) but i would love him to do a prelim test and a lesson once every two weeks.

Please can you pass me on any info, treatments, things i can do and expectations for work if he should be allowed to do something other than become a lawnmower!

I am working closely with my vet but i just wanted to get an idea and some experiences so i can prepare myself

Thank you for your help

Mel

 

[ct1]

hi. we found my horse had arthritis in her hocks in June. She had injections in her hocks and following this I gently brought her back into work. My vet said there was no reason why we couldnt continue doing what we had been (Novice dressage). We did a couple of shows and she was doing great until she decided she was going to run around the big field like a mad horse. She came in lame and had to be reinjected. i am just bringing her back into work again now building up the trot and it has been 5 weeks since the injection. We just do light schooling at the moment - prior to this we were walking in straight lines.
I have the magnetic chaps which she wears at night and she has Cortaflex in her feed.
I think every horse is different to how they react to the injections and the follow up exercise plan. Good luck

 

[Squeak]

It's hard to say for different horses but I would think that your horse should be able to do prelim dressage and a lesson once every other week. The best thing for arthritis is to keep them in a low level of work and for them to live out 24/7 so that they are kept moving. I am looking into th magnetic boots at the moment as i have heard good things about them.

 

[miamibear]

Thank you both, it seems low level consistent work might be the answer then. I think injections are almost certainly going to happen in 5 weeks time. Just hope it works for him, hes only 8 and i dont want him in pain.

 

[peanut]

I'm not sure about lower limb arthritis but several horses at my yard have 6-9 monthly corticosteroid injections into their hocks and lead very normal lives.

Have you looked into Tildren for arthritis? If you run a search on here, you'll find lots of interesting posts.

Please let us know how you get on.

 

[warbank]

My 18 year old mare has arthritis in her knee, she had a tildren, which was fantastic followed by a course of cartophen, was sound for a year, but gone lame again and as insurance has run out she has gone on to bute, one a day and is flying around like a youngster, i also have special shoes every 5 weeks and she is on top spec senior and 16plus feed, that has all the extra suppliments she needs, also feed her fresh ginger grated into feed because a friend who has arthritis uses it and she likes the taste.

 

[Regan]

My boy was diagnosed with moderate bilateral bone spavin's in august. He was about 4/10ths lame. Hes had Tildren and injections and is on cortavet and buteless. He was on 1 bute a day until 2 weeks ago. All I can say is that it seems to have worked for him. Some days he's slightly stiff- but not lame and I keep some bute in stock in case he needs it. From what I gather this kind of treatment varies a lot from horse to horse. I'd say give the injections a go and make sure he's on a good supplement. Tildren is worth a try if you can afford it- mine was covered by insurance!

Good luck!

R

 

[seadog]

My pony was diagnosed with arthritis in her coffin joints in july 2009 at the age of 13, at the time of xray there was only 1mm of growth.
She was put on the joint supliment cosequin for 6 months and I have now changed to a cheaper one, and she had one hyonate injection and cartrophen injections every week for 5 weeks.
Well, so far so good. She lives an entirely normal life, I'm just a bit more careful for example, if we do a show (dressage or jumping) I'll only do one class, we dont hunt anymore, and when we hack I dont go for more than an hour 1/2, schooling I go for as long as I feel like but just do walk breaks.

I think if you are sensible and do as much work as the horse dictates then there is no reason why you cannot do dressage.

 

[miamibear]

Thank you all for your advice

It seems the general trend is injections and then see what happens, my horse will let me know what he can cope with.

Hes enjoying his walking out at the moment, so thats the first step.

Just another 4 weeks of this and then i will know if im heading in the right direction when he is re scanned

Im reading the great posts on injections now so i know what to look out for when the vet suggests the injection type

 

[chestnut cob]

Hi Mel, long time no speak!

Sorry to hear about your boy. Mine has arthritis in both hocks and has had them medicated twice (Cortisone injections), however the decision was easier with him as he was 14 when diagnosed and is 15 now. I had him medicated in May last year and again in April this year. He has also had 2 courses of Adequan and is on a good joint supplement. The key for him is lots of turnout and lots of work in straight lines. I spent about 6 weeks just walking out hacking, slowly building up to a bit of trot then some canter in straight lines. Didn't go in the school for a good while. My vet said hacking in straight lines is best for them, schooling puts pressure on the joints (or as he puts it "endless going in circles will knacker him"). He still jumps (once a week, maybe once a fortnight, up to 1m at home but not that big away from home), schools probably once a week (not endless circles, mostly lateral work in walk and trot because it's a great way to keep him supple), does as much hacking as I can manage - 1.5-2.5 hours on weekend days when I'm struggling with his weight (v good doer), otherwise 1-1.5 hours. He has hunted lightly since the diagnosis but probably not this season.

I think you just have to pay attention to what your horse tells you, if that doesn't sound too fluffy. My horse sometimes come out of the box a bit stiff in the mornings but walks it off quickly. When they were stuck in over Xmas last year because of the snow and ice, he got very stiff but on talking to the vet, he said it was to be expected and he'd be fine after turnout. He needs regular work to keep him moving and regular turnout.

 

[twinkle]

lubrisyn joint supplement from horsehealth or monthly cartrophen injections
lubrisyn made my old little lamintic pony canter and play again in the field even think i could ride her again to be honest but im to big now and my dressage mare that fell on the road done hind suspensorys had the operation and then found after more xrays as first ones were clear that she had developed boney spurs on both hocks came completly sound from monthly injections!

 

[miamibear]

Hiya CC

Good to hear from you! Cant believe your boy has Arthritis, its horrid isnt it?

Sounds like what my farrier suggested with the straight line walking, but hes much sounder in the school on sand, but i have the option of shock absorber pads should i need them for hacking. We arent too far from the beach either so that could be an option too.

Thanks for the advice just a waiting game until the vets now in 4 weeks!

Arrrggghhh!

 

[chestnut cob]

I guess because he's older and only has spavins (which seem to be pretty common), it is easier to accept. Must say though I've been surprised at how easy it is to manage, or how easily we both seem to have adapted to his condition anyway. For ages before the diagnosis, he was "just a bit stiff", some days quite badly, others not so. It's easier to actually have a diagnosis and understand how to manage it, rather than having a horse who is sometimes stiff but you don't know why. The injections have made a huge different to my lad - he wouldn't walk over a pole on the ground when he was diagnosed because he was so sore whereas now he tows me over jumps because he's enjoying himself so much.

Good luck getting him sorted. I have never been offered shock absorber pads though he does have lateral extensions on his shoes behind which are supposed to support the joints. May be worth asking your farrier about those

A couple of the horses at the yard I'm on have had Tildren for arthritis (sorry, did you say you'd had that already?).

 

[miamibear]

No we havent gone down that route so far although the vet may prescribe it when i go back for his re scan, thats when he will decide how to treat the arthritis.

He has extended egg bars on (just because its easier to get a shoe that big by making two in to one! Hes got massive feet!! The biggest shoes didnt give enough extention.

I agree with you on the management side, i will have to let him tell me when its too much, the tell tale sign was his canter transition, apart from that the big daft lad didnt even look lame, he passed all flexions, sound in a sand arena but lame on a hard lunge surface. Vet almost sent me home telling me i was imagining it before the hard surface.

To be fair the vet wanted to see quite a bit of work from him when he was in for two days, hard work on a hard lunge surface witout then with blocks (twice), something i would always steer clear of and i think that may have done a little more damage but essentially the arthritis has been there fore a long time he just has a high pain threshold!

Im gradually changing my thinking to that of, if i can keep him and only hack it would be better than not having him at all, just have to give up competing if it comes to it, but i only do prelim dressage mainly and only once a month so hopefully it will still be possible eventually

And im with you on the hacking for a good doer, hes one too! nightmare!

xx

 

[S14Tobin]

I had my huge cobby chap diagnosed with ostio-arhritis in his front pastern joints in June, basically down to his type, and incorrect trimming for years. he's just coming back into very light work (mainly time constraints), he also HATES boots, never worn them etc, but I have pursuaded him to wear turnout gaiters in the day to keep his legs warm and dry, and magnitic fetlock boots at night - took some convincing, but he;s now ok with them both. He's also on 2 bute a day (down from 4 ), which Im looking to drop to 1 sachet and combine with an alternative, such as No Bute or similar after I've done some research. 24/7 turnout would be best, but we have to bring in at night Nov - March, I did feed a suppliment, but have now stopped, he;s also on as little feed as possible (handful litereally of lami friendly chaff to add bute to), and a slice of hay. My aim is to keep him moving, and get his weight down as much as possible. Also add a bit of oil to his chaff. Vet said injections should be last resort for him, (agree!), but very much agree there really does seem to be 'something' in the magnets.... he clicks in his nbeck, so planning to get some rug patches... the difference in him is noticeable. New farrier has 'pulled' the angle of his fronts back as far as possible, which has in turn altered his backs, the way he holds his back etc, hence the length of time he's had off (give him time to re'learn' movement) and when I get told he's been seen bombing around, it's like the best news ever! Good luck!