arthritis or injury? *quite long*

[rosencassie]

jill, my friend, has a pony who is a 27yo welsh A, called Luke and he has been having bad problems with a hind leg. on his right hind he has an old stifle injury from about 2years ago. when she tries to pick it up he brings it right up and sticks it out in an unusual way then will fall over. he was also forced to trot by the vet on monday and he was intensly going down on that leg and could hardly walk after. the vet thinks its arthritis in his hock. hes on painkillers and flex (or something for old horses joints) anyway and is now on another course of painkillers from this vet and its costing £50 a week just for the injection and she simply cant afford it. shes at her wits end because she was having trouble with money before she had the vet.

shes asked me to ask all you experts if she could try any cheaper pain relief or overall what to do with him. shes more than happy to have him as a pet because he is no longer a riding pony

 

[Nudibranch]

My oldie had a daily bute for 12 months which kept her reasonably happy, we gave her a last summer then had her pts in the autumn before the cold set in. She started the bute because it suddenly became severe literally overnight - we think she either stumbled on frozen ground or was kicked, which injured her and as a result made the arthritis acute rather than chronic, if that makes sense?

Has he been put on box rest overnight or for a couple of days? This is a pretty good check - if it's arthritis he should be stiffer whereas if it's an injury he may improve with the rest.

Bute costs about 50p a sachet and with an oldie, long term liver damage isn't such a concern for obvious reasons.

 

[rosencassie]

he is in during the night, usually comes in about 6.30pm and goes out about 8am. the injury was a kick which healed very well and he went back to work but recently Jill thinks its flared up again but doesnt think its arthritis

 

[cellie]

What about herbal pain killer .I use boswellia you can buy it of ebay.Its anti inflammatory and kinder on the gut .You can also buy msm on this site (natural horse)which will help with mobility.They will give you advice on what product is best for your horse.If you cant find link pm me I found it under ebay equestrian horse supplements .