Arthritis in the Neck, C3, C4 and C5

[Switchthehorse]

Hi

Does anyone have experience of arthritis in the neck?

My mare overnight became 9/10ths lame in a contact on the left rein, but sound on the right rein, in hand, on a long rein etc. She had X-rays of her neck and they were clear. She then went for a gamma scan and that came back with a large hot spot over C3, C4 and C5 which the vet says is likely to be arthritis and next step is inject and see what happens.

All a bit of a shock. I am waiting to hear if there is any spinal compression but I assume not at this stage as no symptoms. Not sure if that has to develop every time? I have already lost one to wobblers...

I also don't know what the outlook is like? she is 13 and a general all rounder although has a talent for dressage and was competing elementary. I literally don't know what I am looking at now? Sure this forum will have lots of woe is me tales but can anyone help me in terms of recovery path after injections? Any tips on how to improve her chances of competing again? And any good news 'mine was as good as new and only needed injections once a decade' stories!? haha.

Thanks all

 

[Birker2020]

Yes my mare has got changes at C5/C6 and she has had two or three lots of steroid injections, and is hacking only at present due to other issues although from April - Sept this year did a number of fun rides with lots of canter and one mad gallop and coped just fine and I am hoping to get her fit again to carry on doing fun rides next spring. She went quite ataxic on a tail sway test with the physio around Sept 16 and I was horrified at how bad she was, I'd noticed she'd stood funny with her hinds the one day which is why I'd called the physio out. The physio also found that she would stand very base wide in front without changing her foot placement when she moved her foot out to the side. So I had the vet out straight away and she was given a steroid and injected again a few weeks later but she was last injected around (I think) Dec 2016/Jan 17 and is doing very well.

I think what sparked it off was pulling back in panic on twine that didn't break, instead eventually the head collar broke as I always use leather headcollars. The vet thought the arthritis was due to old age but it did make me wonder. If there is anything I can tell you that you should listen to then it is that you should make sure all your bailing twine is thinned so its easy to break in a panic. In fact my advice: do it as soon as you get to your horses yard tonight! Bailing twine is made so much thicker these days, it really is a recipe for disaster.

I do stretching exercises with her neck daily religiously, as soon as I have finished hacking or she comes off the walker, its very important to keep a degree of flexibility going. I stretch her on both sides towards her flank and about once every five or six days there is a degree of clunking on the off side stretch but she apprears to be in no pain as such as she is happy to continue. I also stretch her under her girth finishing with a stretch forwards (always need to do this as it releases the muscles I believe) and my physio remarked at the time how flexible she was for her age. Maybe you should consult a physio for the stretching exercise in consultation with your vet if they are in agreement, I can recommend one if you are stuck that I am sure will travel to Notts.

Xrays from a portable machine are rubbish at detecting neck bone problems. They can't penetrate the neck, I learnt that from a friend who lost her horse to wobblers. When she had a portable xray mc look at her horse they said it was alright, it wasn't until it went to hospital that they found it had CVM and was PTS.

 

[Switchthehorse]

Thanks so much for the feedback, lovely to hear a positive story and interesting re the stretches.. will definitely look into a decent physio.. I am no longer in Notts and am down south but know of a few good ones


I am really hoping no wobblers - I know the signs well having lost my 3yo to it, my mare hasn't demonstrated any symptoms so far and the arthritis seems to be on one side of her neck rather than central.

I hope you get a lot more happy times with yours

 

[Birker2020]

Thanks so much for the feedback, lovely to hear a positive story and interesting re the stretches.. will definitely look into a decent physio.. I am no longer in Notts and am down south but know of a few good ones


I am really hoping no wobblers - I know the signs well having lost my 3yo to it, my mare hasn't demonstrated any symptoms so far and the arthritis seems to be on one side of her neck rather than central.

I hope you get a lot more happy times with yours

Thank you. Horses can get neuro symptoms from a number of other conditions as well as wobblers, if she isn't showing any signs and she's had a thorough neuro exam then her neck problem might just be causing stiffness and won't necessarily show neuro signs unless the calcification gets larger and then causes nerves associated with the spinal cord to be pressed due to the spinal column getting smaller (I think that's how it works when it was explained to me). Hope you get a physio sorted soon, they are worth their weight in gold. Look for a ACPAT physio https://www.acpat.org/find-a-physio

ACPAT members are fully qualified Chartered Physiotherapists (MCSPs) who have also trained in physiotherapy and rehabilitation for animals, the one I know has done a lot of rehab work with dogs as well as horses. I hope you get her sorted, best wishes x

 

[Nudibranch]

Just to mention the success of neck x rays on a portable machine depends a lot on the machine and the operator. We got some pretty good ones recently. Machine is very new and resolution was amazing. Even OH was impressed. ..it's better than the hospital ones! Vet is happy to do them down to about c7 on a bigger horse.
And yes mine has changes c3 to c7 but not significant enough to be sure they're affecting him.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Mine has slight changes to the c5/c6 and it comes across as slight stiffness.
He is coming back into work from a keratoma op so i am noticing the loss of muscle tone in his neck is affecting it.

 

[ycbm]

s.

Xrays from a portable machine are rubbish at detecting neck bone problems. They can't penetrate the neck, I learnt that from a friend who lost her horse to wobblers. When she had a portable xray mc look at her horse they said it was alright, it wasn't until it went to hospital that they found it had CVM and was PTS.

Vets have had portable x rays good enough to get full neck x rays and back x rays for a number of years now. My own horse had clear wobblers x rays more than five years ago, and a friend kissing spine (clear, thankfully) x rays two years ago.

 

[Birker2020]

Vets have had portable x rays good enough to get full neck x rays and back x rays for a number of years now. My own horse had clear wobblers x rays more than five years ago, and a friend kissing spine (clear, thankfully) x rays two years ago.

Well that's good to know but not sure it is completely correct.It was some years ago when my friend lost her and her horse was xrayed clear using a portable machine saying there was nothing wrong but when it went to hospital the images were very different. In fact there was something in one of last months equestrian magazines that I noted with interest about portable xrays machines.Someone had written in saying is there any benefit to going into an equine hospital to take xrays rather than have your vet come out and take images with a portable machine and the magazines vet advised that some parts of the horse particularly the neck and I think it was pelvis are hard to xray with portable machines due to the muscle mass and clear images aren't particularly common or words to that effect. So its up to you what you believe but I think the general consensus is that it is better to go with a really good imaging equipment which most vets don't have access to.

Here is a link to an article that proves the point https://www.quia.com/files/quia/users/medicinehawk/2407-Vet/Radiology-2.pdf
and another link: http://www.bwequinevets.co.uk/20/Expert-Horse-Radiography-X-Rays/

But hey, I'm not going to press the point home any further. But I know which I'd go with!

 

[Nudibranch]

If portable x rays show nothing and there is good reason then fine, move on to equine hospital. However given the fact (and it is a fact) that some of us have had clear images of changes from portable equipment then why rule it out? Seems rather outdated advice.

As I already mentioned, OH said the resolution on the vet's portable was better than the (human) hospital machine. First hand information from professionals is generally more useful than random internet articles imo, but I recall that point has been made before somewhere....

 

[ycbm]

If portable x rays show nothing and there is good reason then fine, move on to equine hospital. However given the fact (and it is a fact) that some of us have had clear images of changes from portable equipment then why rule it out? Seems rather outdated advice.

As I already mentioned, OH said the resolution on the vet's portable was better than the (human) hospital machine. First hand information from professionals is generally more useful than random internet articles imo, but I recall that point has been made before somewhere....

The youngest reference in the article referred to by HB is 1993. Her information is nearly fifteen years out of date. I have myself seen a clear portable x ray of a neck vertebrae in five pieces, separated by hairline cracks, and clear evidence of a narrowed channel carrying the spinal cord.