Arthritis in TMJ

[bellaM]

Has anyone had a horse with arthritis in their TMJ joint?
I think that my mare might, what have you done to treat it? I'm thinking mushy food and something similar to cortaflex?

 

[kevH]

What makes you think it is arthritis?

 

[spaniel]

Highly unlikely to be arthritis. More likely a dental or a muscular problem. have you had a diagnosis of arthritis?

 

[bellaM]

She has been losing weight, her teeth are fine, I have had bloods done (which haven't come back yet!) when I talked to the dentist she thought that there was a possibility of this as although her occlusion is ok she is quiding hay, it is just a possibility, but if the bloods come back clear then it may well be arthritis in the TMJ joint.

 

[Stinkbomb]

I pondered whether to reply to your post and decided to. My old horse Simon had arthritis of the TMJ but unfortunatley it went septic. He lost weight very quickly and the first sign was him quidding food. He had to have two operations at Leahurst hospital to open up the joint and remove dead bone that had rotted away. It was something i had never heard of before and its a nasty thing if it goes septic. Simon did start to recover but was never able to eat hay again. He could eat short grass and mushy foods but i was told that the likleyhood of him ever eating hay was nil. Unfortunatley he also broke his rib whilst recovering so that slowed him down. Im sorry i cant tell you how it ended up as he died of colic a short time later. I always put that down to so many changes in his diet. If you need any more info off me please PM me.

 

[Stinkbomb]

forgot to add i was told it was only diagnosable by xray. I looked at Simons xrays and could see myself where the joint had started to deteriorate.

 

[bellaM]

Thanks stink bomb! sorry to hear your boy didn't make it, thats what I thought treatment might be. Did yours get arthritis anywhere else? You have the cutest signature are they yours?!

 

[Stinkbomb]

No he didnt have arthritis anywhere else and this came on really sudden. It developed into an absess that came out just above his eye as the TMJ goes up the side of the face to that point. If its not septic it should be easy to treat. Simons had actually rotted his TMJ away so the joint had crumbled.

Yes they are all mine!! The bay horse was Simon

the other two minis are the current ones!! and the boxer is mine too!!

 

[casey2312]

You can have the meniscus pad that sits between the Mandible/maxilla in the TMJ wear away.

I have seen it, and the horses are in extreme discomfort where bone is rubbing against bone. If this is what it is, then I think your horse can have injections directly into the joint to ease the discomfort.

 

[Stinkbomb]

Yes they can have these injections but as long as their is no infection present. The injections are sterioids.

 

[bellaM]

what are the symptoms of this? at present if I give her hay she finds it hard and gives up, any hard feed and she dribbles and takes years to eat!! I'm going to get her an arthritis supplement this week I think!

 

[Stinkbomb]

The first symptoms Simon had were that when he ate his hay he would chew it for a few minutes then spit it out as he was unable to swallow it. he just couldnt eat it. when i came to the farm his stable was just full of chewed hay. It then got to the point where he just couldnt eat anything. He then got a swelling above his right eye which was lanced and found to be an abcess. It was treated as such but wouldnt heal. By this point Simon had lost so much weight he was referred to Leahurst where xrays and scans showed he had septic arthritis of the Tmj. Here are some pics to help explain it

Simon as he looked just before the symptoms started.

Simon about 2 months after the symptoms started. It was awful to see him in this condition it broke my heart everyday.You can see just above his right eye where the pus was coming out. ( the shaved patch was where he broke his rib

)

About three months after his operation to have the pieces of dead bone removed and the TMJ scrapped out. ( taken two days before my sweet little man died

) He still was unable to eat hay but could manage grass and soft feeds.

 

[casey2312]

I have been searching high and low for info regarding the meniscus pad and TMJ. But having real difficulty.
If you wish, I can find out more info when I go to the US for my next set of EDT training. In 2 weeks. But dont know if thats too late for you.
You can PM me and let me know if you still want me to find out.