Bit of a sad post so some helpful advice would be appreciated!

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mischamoo

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My horse was diagnosed with KS this week and he has been started on steroid and tildren injections. Vet was keen to try this before looking at surgery. He has been supplemented with Myoplast and is to follow an 6 week exercise plan – 2 weeks lunging in his equi ami, 2 weeks lunging in his saddle then 10 days light ridden work for about 15mins a day before his re-assessment with the vet.

He’s only been back in work for the past few months following a pedal bone fracture so he’s not having the best of years! but just wanted to hear of any success stories with a KS spines diagnosis and is there anything extra I can do to help his rehab and prognosis, I’d like to avoid surgery if possible as he’s about 15 years old and not sure it would be fair to put him through the op at this age. He had his first session in the equi ami yesterday just at walk on both reins for about 15 mins and he already seemed to carry himself better (long and low) then he ever has in it (normally its head high like a giraffe) so the injections have already seemed to have a positive effect in the way he carries himself, but being the older horse will his recovery be hindered, has anyone had their horse of a similar age treated for this?

Just clutching at a few helpful straws of advice or support as he holds a place dear to my heart so would like to know I’m giving him the best possible chance for a successful recovery.
 
I have first hand experience of six horses with kissing spines as follows:

Ex steeple chaser - never treated - had two spinous processes fused with a visible hard lump on his spine. He was never sore or bothered by it so was not treated.

TB out of racing but never raced. Was totally unridable. Had six spinous processes touching. Received steroid injections and shock wave treatment. Remained unridable.

Cob - Very mild KS but severe reaction (would try to kick you if you so much as tried to touch his back or put a saddle on him). First lot of steroid injections failed. Second lot were successful and his back is still fine four years later.

4 year old newly broken quarter horse. Mild KS. Reacted strongly to saddle and bucked when asked to go forwards. Received steroid injections and intensive inhand 'straightness training'. Is now happily hacking out without problems.

10 year old TB - explosive when saddled. Unable to canter on a circle. Had ten spines touching or fused. Steroid injections failed. Had operation at Rossdales to remove five spinous processes. Sailed through rehab. Improved mobility and stride length, but sadly he has remained explosive to saddle. Vets think it is memory of the pain. I am not so sure.

Good luck with your horse. It really is a difficult thing to go through if you are one of the unlucky ones. :(
 
I have a 22 year old TB, who had evented all his life and to a high level, he was given to me as a step down for him as I enjoy competing at low levels. He became almost impossible to handle and ride, which is out of character because although sharp he is kind, genuine and willing. When we got to the bottom of it he ws diagnosed with KS.

As in your case I did not want him to have suregery at his age. He had the steroid injections to his back, and from day 1 of his rehab the change in him was unbelievable, like switching on a light. That was about 18 months ago and I was expecting any downward changes to be gradual, however almost overnight recently some problems had started again. This time I took him straight into the vet (this Monday), and the conclusion was last times treatment was still a sucess but the problem has spread further down his spine so I had a further 4 vertebrae treated (9 altogether). He is now having a few quiet days before starting rehab, so we will see how it goes this tme round, but hoping for a repeat of last which couldn't have been better. We had sucessfully gone back to doing lessons, clinics, hacking etc, and have done a little competing, where previously we couln't walk a few steps down the road without rearing over.

I really would not begrudge him retirement at his age but he is not hapy about not being busy and having a job to do, I tried at at one point befre his first treatment and his behaviour to hndle got even worse including jumping out of the field, he would suddenly appear from nowhere to meet you when you were out hacking!

I had a very positive outcome from all this. Best of luck I hope all goes well for you guy.
 
My old driving horse got mild KS in his late teens had Tildren and steriod jab, he lightly hunted very happily with a bit physio ,equissage and a Danilon if I thought he had had a hard day but never enjoyed the carriage again so we stopped the driving .
He was very very strongly muscled in his back and that probally helped him ,he worked until another issue caused his complete retirement .
 
MEEEEEEEEEE My horse is 5 months post KS surgery and he is FABULOUS now :) :) he was a horror before and tried to kill me, he has two processes removed from his back. Moose is a 9 year old warmblood with heeps of mental issues and when it came down to it most were caused by the KS he is so nice to own now and we are about to go to our first show post KS surgery. I did not have the injections as Moose was quite severe and the vet felt it was no nessesary. We have a facebook page horses with kissing spine there are lots of people on there to ask advise from or just a bit of moral support
 
All I would add is that sore feet, long term, lead to sore backs as the horse adjusts its posture to accomodate a stance that makes the foot pain bearable.

So, along with other advice, you need to keep a very close eye on the balance of the feet, they're critical to resolving back pain.
 
Thank you all for your comments and experiences.

Thanks annunziata - i will check that out!

Vet didn't mention anything like this (I don't know how realistically veterinarians promote the use of them and their results) but I wondered is it worth investing in a magnetic rug or massage back pad, like the equilibrium ones. Would it be a worthwhile investment and surely cannot hinder any progress?
 
Andalucian said:
All I would add is that sore feet, long term, lead to sore backs as the horse adjusts its posture to accomodate a stance that makes the foot pain bearable.

So, along with other advice, you need to keep a very close eye on the balance of the feet, they're critical to resolving back pain.
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Thank you Andalucian for that extremely valid point - because of the recent pedal bone injury which has now healed his feet have been looked at thoroughly over the past 6 months and he is now due to come off pads and heart bars (front feet) next shoeing and go back on to normal shoes, the pad and heart bars have done a good job in increasing his heel depth and growing thicker soles which have showed up on the xrays, he’s also on slightly wider than normal shoes on the back feet to help spread his weight evenly and encourage growth as he has slight under run heels. He’s trimmed and shod every 4-5 weeks at the moment and the vet having taken recent xrays every 6 weeks because of monitoring the fracture, is very pleased with his feet, and the angles on his feet are now how they should be which should help relieve some pressure on his back now his feet are balanced! So although the fracture was incredibly unfortunate it did help us discover some issues with his feet that weren’t so apparent to begin with and now his feet are looking fab and better than before, hopefully should help with his now apparent back problem.
 
mischamoo said:
Thank you all for your comments and experiences.

Thanks annunziata - i will check that out!

Vet didn't mention anything like this (I don't know how realistically veterinarians promote the use of them and their results) but I wondered is it worth investing in a magnetic rug or massage back pad, like the equilibrium ones. Would it be a worthwhile investment and surely cannot hinder any progress?
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A magnetic rug really helped my lad, but a massaging rug (cyclosage) did not. However they are all different and I know massage pads and rugs have helped others.
 
Hiya. My 18yo gelding was diagnosed with KS and Bone Spavin in January.

My vet suggested steroid and tildren injections for his spine, with irap therapy for the bone spavin. He said due to his age, and the fact I just use him for hacking, surgery wouldn't really be worth it.

I had to walk him for 10 minutes, twice a day for the first week he was home, then after that I was allowed to turn him out in the arena for a week. My vet then came to see if he was sound, and he was, so I could start exercising him again.

I need to lunge him to build up the muscle on his back, and I have been riding him on hacks. We just walk, with a little bit of trot and he seems fine. I also got a saddle fitter out, and I got a new saddle which fits him much better. He has Cortaflex in his feed every day.

So far I am really pleased with Bertie's progress. It's like I have a new horse! His trot is so springy now, and he power walks home on hacks. He decided to gallop off with me one day, so he must have been feeling ok. He's also much happier to lower his head rather than being a giraffe :o

I do worry every time I go to trot him in case he is lame, but it's something I have to deal with. I was so worried when I got the diagnosis, I thought I'd have to retire him. But so far, he seems really happy with light exercise, and my vet is pleased with how it's going. The vet has said he will find schooling hard because of his confirmation, so we don't do anything in the school apart from lunge. Me and Bertie are happy hackers :)

What level of work do you want your horse to do? How did you find out he had KS? We found it when we went to the vets for xrays on his hocks.

xx
 
Wagtail said:
A magnetic rug really helped my lad, but a massaging rug (cyclosage) did not. However they are all different and I know massage pads and rugs have helped others.
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Thanks Wagtail.

Joanne4584 said:
What level of work do you want your horse to do? How did you find out he had KS? We found it when we went to the vets for xrays on his hocks.

xx
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Nice to hear your boy is coming along well!

I only use him for hacking, sponsored rides, local shows etc, we're certainly not serious competitors! Discovery was made at the weekend when he bronced away me after I done the girth up, after catching him and removing the saddle his back was really sensitive to touch and he seemed in quite a deal of discomfort, it was such unusual behaviour for him I booked him in to the vets as soon as they could see him for an examination and I asked for an xray to his back.

The affected region is basically where his saddle would sit (think 5 vertebrae were affected), there was quite an amount of imflammation the vet was keen to get that resolved as she felt this was probably causing the majority of the pain. I've been informed on a level of 1-10 he's got a moderate case rated at 4/5 out of 10 and certainly the vet was keen to persue the injections before even considering surgery. I'm aware it's very early days yet for him and am willing to give him as much time as he needs to come through.
 
We used to do sponsored/long distance rides and loved them :) I would love to think me and Bertie could do them again. We stopped due to a lack of transport.

When I asked which vertebrae were affected with Bertie I was told pretty much all of them!! He's been a star though, he'd been in pain but hadn't shown any signs apart from being "cold backed". I do feel bad for not knowing, but at least he's getting treatment now.

You'll have to keep us posted with how you're getting on :)
 
I use and LOVE my equillibrium massage pad for Moose it made all the difference in loosening off his back before I ride after his surgery magnets worked okay but not as effective as the massage pad
 
My TB ex racer was diagnosed with a bone spavin in December last year. We have a specialist that comes over from Liphook by referral through our vet. So he advised a course of Tildren which he had in Jan this year. When the specialist came back to see him he also said he wanted to take a few x rays of his back and he did have a few kissing spines under the saddle area. He showed me the X ray of another horses who were quite severe compared to my boy's

He ran through the various treatment options and we decided to try injections first which he did there and then.

He had a few weeks off and has started coming back in to work. He is going better now than he has done in ages. He is also on a course of Gastro Guard as we trialed it for a week and saw a massive difference in him. I decided that I didn't want to scope him as he colic's easily and I was really concerned that starving him for 16 hours would bring this on he can be a stress head at times.And also I felt that he had been sedated, poked and prodded enough lately.

He is like a different horse always comes trotting over to the gate to come in now, doesn't stress half as much as he used to about being on his own and the ridden work is getting better and better. We are even attempting our first dressage test in a few weeks.

If you are insured or can afford to cover the cost I would say try it nothing ventured nothing gained.
 
I have a mare who was sold 4 yrs ago and has been gifted back to me - with KS. We have no Insurance cover for any treatment available. She has just had 6 months off over Winter and is coming back into work now. I am working with my Physio and Trainer and between us am hoping she will come back as a light hack if nothing else.

We are doing walking out in hand up hills, its killing me but I am feeling better for it so she must be. We are also doing lunge work over raised trotting poles and poles set out in a fan shape, we alternate days between the two exercises of poles and walking out. Already she is doing better. I could go down the Myoplast route but have decided on the best feed I can afford which is including Top Spec balancer to build up her muscles from within. Already she is looking better after 2 weeks of this. My Physio is coming back at the end of the month to check her out and maybe moved onto ridden work, hacking up hills. We are also doing carrot stretches in between her front legs and side to side to stretch her spine out, this is done every day.

I really hope it all pays off, shes a super mare and enjoys her work, not a field ornament by nature!
 
Joanne4584 said:
He's been a star though, he'd been in pain but hadn't shown any signs apart from being "cold backed". I do feel bad for not knowing, but at least he's getting treatment now.
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This is exactly how my horse has been - feel awful :( I aim to do everything to help him now though, so onwards and upwards!

Aside from a few people who have gasped in horror when I have mentioned KS to them whom simply think it is a dead end for him and a recovery from KS is simply not an option, I'm hoping my insurance will cover it (they're "assessing" the start of the claim at the moment) and I hope to do my best by him and offer him every chance I can as he is a good lad with a kind heart.

Thankyou every else for your input and stories - its much appreciated. I will keep you posted on his progress :)
 
mischamoo said:
Aside from a few people who have gasped in horror when I have mentioned KS to them whom simply think it is a dead end for him and a recovery from KS is simply not an option, I'm hoping my insurance will cover it (they're "assessing" the start of the claim at the moment) and I hope to do my best by him and offer him every chance I can as he is a good lad with a kind heart.

QUOTE]

Recovery from KS is really good and is Moose is anything to go by a great sucess we are actually looking at starting jumping soon :)

who are you insured with??

xx
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I'm studying at Hartpury College and do a lot of work at the equine therapy centre. They seem to get loads of KS cases in, most of them post-op and they seem to have a high success rate. Vets always very pleased in the vet reviews and ponies all look happy and enjoy coming back into work.

Hope that helps
 
QUOTE]

Recovery from KS is really good and is Moose is anything to go by a great sucess we are actually looking at starting jumping soon :)

who are you insured with??

xx[/QUOTE]

I'm insured with E&L and I know they don't appear to have a good reputation amongst a few on here but I've been pretty impressed with them to date. They've paid out in full so far for all the pedal bone fracture treatment that's been incurred (c. £3,000) to me and my vets. They're currently assessing the KS claim as my vets only submitted the initial bill and report last week.

I'm covered for £5,000 per incident plus an additional £2,000 on physio/ultrasound/laser treatment etc.

If surgery is an option what sort of operation is seen to be the most proactive as have done a little on both methods.
 
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