Arthritis of the coffin joint

L

lexibell

Well-Known Member
Joined
12 January 2009
Messages
508
Location
Northants/Cambs border
Visit site
My boy has been diagonsed with acute arthritis of the coffin joint.

hes been on rest and restricted turn out since January.

Vets have tried medicating joint but it hasnt made any significant improvement.

They have recommended I turn him away for 6-12 months and then see if there is any improvement, in the meantime they have said I should prob make a claim for loss of use :(

Anyone any experiences they can share? positive or not.

Any suggestions of alternative suppliments etc??
 
Me too. Sorry, but it didn't work out - everything tried by the owner. Sorry Lexibell - I know you bravely said positive or not, but....
 
so what did you do?? retire or PTS???

He seems soo happy and content out in the field at the moment, but then he gets soo wound up when the others go out and hes left on his own.

I dont know what to do for the best for him
 
We had very simlar with my 10 year old WB. He was comfortable on 1 bute a day and the vet recommended it would be better for him to do some ridden work. We found a lovely home for him locally with a lady who wanted to look after him and ride occasionally. He is living the life of riley in the field and has a brill new mum who loves him loads. It doesn't have to be the end of the line. It took quite a while to find the right home but everyone is thrilled and I still get to see him.
 
Jacob has had:
Adequan- which is usually very effective- certainly worked on my (old)cob's low ringbone- no effect on Jacob
Then steroids- sound until it wore off then worse
Then Cartrophen- huge improvement, lasted around 3 months but that helped his cartilage damage more than the bone remodelling
Then IRAP- another one thats normally highly effective- no effect on Jacob
Arthroscopy Operation to clean the joint- normally highly effective- no effect on Jacob

Natural balance shoes really help and my old cob is so much sounder with them.

Jacob's soundness follows the state of the ground- when its hard, he is lame, when its soft he is 99% sound.

There are lots of things to try, its just Jacob is clearly VERY happy in the field "busy doing nothing"
 
Im hoping that will be the case. I know 3 novice riders who just want a walk around the village every now and then and a pony to love and play with - and 2 of them have already asked!!

Hes such a big brave beautiful boy, I want whats best for him, what ever that is.

Im going to give him the summer off, as the arthritis has been brought on because of complications during surgery on a keratoma, the damage to his hoof is still growing out so I still think its early to make life long decisions.

Blacksmith says leave it for 6 months, then get some shoes on him, give him a bute a day for a week or two, start lightly walking him out and then see how he is, so thats the plan for now, and keep everything crossed in the meantime.

At the moment hes comfortable just grazing out in the field with no medication, so will let him enjoy the spring grass and have a break, hes been through a lot recently

Thanks for your replies x
 
DDD - I asked vets at rossdales if there was anything else to try - we only have medicated with cortosone (pretty sure Ive spelt that wrong) once, it didnt work. they said no :( ????

I have fellows farm out for vaccs in a couple of weeks so will ask them the same question.

Thats why I came to you wonderful people, Im not the sort of person that just gives up, and Harrys not the sort of horse that does either, there must be something else to try??
 
My mare aged 20 has arthritis in coffin joint .She was medicated in coffin joint and navicular bursae with hyluronic acid and depo steroid the vet could see arthritic changes in the coffin joint but decided to medicate the navicular bursea to be on the safe side.
She is on 1 danilon(when very hard under foot 2 danilon plus a joint supplement Flexamine HA 1 measure morning 1 measure evening.She is 16hh weight 650 kilo
She is sound for light hacking and schooling in my sand arena in walk and trot .
The first time she was medicated it took a while to improve and lasted from June to end of March when she was done again .
The vet also discussed the xrays with my farrier and a special heartbar shoe was made for that front foot fiting the new shoe seemed to coincide with coming sound a week after the injections.
She is much better on 24 hour turn out than when kept in though she is stabled at night in winter,
On this regime I hope to keep her in light work for some years.
 
lexibell said:
DDD - I asked vets at rossdales if there was anything else to try - we only have medicated with cortosone (pretty sure Ive spelt that wrong) once, it didnt work. they said no :( ????

I have fellows farm out for vaccs in a couple of weeks so will ask them the same question.

Thats why I came to you wonderful people, Im not the sort of person that just gives up, and Harrys not the sort of horse that does either, there must be something else to try??
Click to expand...
My horse has just had his coffin joints injected at Rossdales last week, and they said to me if it doesnt work they can try a few more things,
He is not on any different type of shoeing, but he has bone spurs on his joint too.
So I have to wait and see if it works in a month,
 
hi
i had a 4 year old with juvenile arthritis of the coffin joint, i got loss of use on her and sold her to someone i know for £1 to be a companion (her 17.3ish needed a decent sized companion). 12 years later she is still in the same home and gets ridden lightly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top