Bone spavins.....again! steriod injections.

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milomoo

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I have an 11 year old cob who has been intermittently lame since january. He has been xrayed and shows no 'significant bony changes'. The vet has injected both hocks with steriod and he is on danilon. He still is'nt sound, it feels like he has a sore back, I have been assured his back is fine but he feels tight in his back after a short trot or going up a slight incline. He trips behind when he goes down hill, ridden and when being led, this worries me.
He is still on danilon every other day, his insurance won't pay for anymore treatment, even though we have only claimed for 3days at vets, xrays, 2 injections and transport plus 1 set of shoes.

What am I going to do!! My vets are great I am just not convinced it is his hocks causing the problem.
 
surely you have 1 years worth of claims up to whatever your vet cost limit is on the insurance?

If the x-rays showed nothing on the hocks - have they nerve blocked? Spavin and PSD (suspensory) can often be confused as they have very similar symptoms but nerve blocks should help narrow down the cause of the pain.

Good luck - hope you find the reason behind his lameness
 
Hi, i'm going through something very similar at the mo.

My mare has mild spavin in both hocks and this has caused her back to hurt. it is the sore back that is actually making her lame. Until we get the hocks pain free, the back problem will keep re-occuring but now she's had steroid injections, the physio is hopeful that her back will come right. There are no boney changes in her spine so it is purely muscular.

as her back is bad, she will be having long lasting local anasthetic injected into the muscles to help the physio unlock them.

we're doing long reining and light lungeing to built her topline as this is very important in sorting back problems.

who told you his back was fine?
 
My vet checked his back when he was at the surgery for his right hock in may, he has his left injected two weks ago.
When he was at the surgery they could only nerve blocked his right as they were having problems with his left. They nerve blocked his feet aswell. He has a good topline, I am having problems with his weight now though as he is a good doer and gains weight in restricted grazing with a muzzle on. I really need to get him going to mantain his weight.
I think I will try to get a physio to look at him soon though.
His insurance should have let us go to £5000, but they have cut us off at £1000. They are a decent company aswell so i was shocked.
 
Am surprised at the non-paying insurance. They have a written agreement to go up to £5000 and you have up to a year to claim. I would have a chat with them about it and ask them to explain why.

My horse has bilateral bone spavin which is slowly fusing.

I had the physio (APAT registered) see him and it turns out his BS was causing him back pain as well because he had changed his gait to accommodate the sore hocks. A bit like us having a sore foot and not using is properly can cause a sore back in people.
 
is there any chance you could have bone scan or syntigraphy (soz bout spelling). This is how we discovered what was causing my pony's lameness. She had hock spavins in both hocks. this caused back pain. after 3 lots of steriod injections and no improvement (2 sachets of bute wouldn't touch the pain) she was put to sleep in Nov '06. hardest decision of my life. This was quite a rare case in the way that she had it though and largely due to he conformation and past mistreatment. there is also a new drug called tildren (soz bout spelling) had sorted my sisters horses hocks. It is given IV over an hour.
hope it helps and didn't scare you
Luv Elle
x
 
I would get a 2nd opinion or referral set up to a specialist-

All of the symptoms that your horse is showing sounds typical of a spavin to me- I'm only saying this as one of my horses was slightly off and tight in his back a cpl of weeks ago and he has the very early stages of Spavin, luckily we caught it very early on and my vets were able to notice and treat it straightaway.

I cant understand why your vet would treat with injections when he is saying on the otherhand there are no changes on the x-rays?!


As someone mentioned previously you would have a year from when you first advised your insurance company to claim back treatment costs usualy up to about 5000.00.

A sore back is usually because there is pain somewhere else , normally lower down in the leg ie the hock, and the back probably wont feel better until the hock problem is sorted out. If the vets can get the hocks/diagnosis correct then he may be able to refer him to a physio if there is still tightness in the back.

I believe that the Steroid injections last 6-12 months or 3 months depending on the type of steroid used- when did he last have his injections?

I would also question the use of keeping a horse on Bute/Danilon long term unless you know the exact cause of the problem but that is just my opinion!!.

Also your farrier would also be a good person to be able to help with this problem as well, ie keeping the toes short etc, theres so much they can do like fitting lateral extensions if the vet thinks necessary or fitting NB shoes behind and keeping the foot shod really wide and long to support his legs.

My advice would be to make sure that you have a really good vet to help your horse.

But good luck with it though and I completely understand what you are going through, hope he feels a bit better soon!.
 
I'd get on to your insurance company - they cannot stop it (as long as you havent broken any terms of your contract). fight!!!

if there are no changes in the hocks then spavin sounds unlikely. steroids should make the horse sound - not permanently (the length of time depends on the horse).

i'd be wary giving bute etc without knowing the cause of lameness. you need to isolate the reason for the pain (back pain is most usually caused by an issue in the back legs).

I'd get the insurance company sorted and then get a referal to an orthopaedic specialist.

My horse had spavin surgery a couple of years ago - i understand what you are going through - it is much easier when you know what you are dealing with!
 
Horses with spavin frequently have sore backs because they compensate in their movement. It is quite normal.

We have a little mare who supposedly has spavin and it is hard to believe as she's totally sound in walk and trot. She's just scored 77.8% in a dressage test from a list 1 judge.

We often wonder if it really is spavin but at the end of the day the lameness specialist says she went sound when he injected local anaesthetic into the hock. That's supposed to be a 99% certainty of disagnosis, together with the x rays.

The problem is that every horse heals at a different rate and there are no hard and fast rules. We've been over two years with no possible treatment because the fusion is so advanced and it's no picnic just waiting.

We got rid of the back pain with Bowen treatments 15 months ago and it hasn't come back but we also have a mare who has a peculiar action in canter. It is lessening and she's very happy working within her own capabilities.

I really sympathise, it's hell waiting and the symptoms are so variable that you doubt the diagnosis but at the end of the day it's a question of time, reducing your activities and realising that this time spent with your horse will improve your bond.
 
This answers some of my concerns.My horse had surgery in jan but he was looking uncomfortable under the saddle.I had him booked in for treatment last week but unfortunately he had another accident and also a kick injury on top of the splint that had just healed so we had to cancel.Did you find the back problems caused your horse to have a short stride and show front leg lameness in the school.I think I might ask for referral for physio.Vet was due tomorrow but I cant see the point if hes recovering from splint and kick injury .The hock caused the splint concussion of front legs from walking out on firm ground.
 
Sounds like we are in the same boat.I opted for surgery in Jan but my boy has had other problems .The hock has caused a splint in the front leg and like yours he has been on danilon on and off for a long time.I suspected back problems and booked for treatment and had to cancel after another field accident.I would definitely ring your insurance company mine have paid out £3000 already and now have another large one coming through for splint xrays and scans.You will be surprised to hear that Im dealing with e and l .Your vet will probably give you a letter or phone them it helped with my claims.I think you have to be very patient with spavin which is the reason I opted for surgery .I must admit its really hard to pin point the problem when they feel sore all over. I dont feel that we are making much progress but hes just been kicked in the splint this week so its back to square one again.Hope your boy improves but dont let the insurance company wriggle out of paying for the year.
 
Thanks for the replys. I rode Minstral yesterday and he started off sound and gradulally got tighter in his back, it is very hilly where I live. When we got to the yard I took him for a walk and short trot in the field and he was sound and relaxed on level gound.
The problem I have is that I have him on longterm loan and his owner deals with his insurance and she is a bit lost off with the veterinary side of it all. I spoke to her yesterday and asked her to persue it futher with NFU and to contact the vets, as we need them to pay up.
The farrier was there for him yesterday and is happier with how he is wearing his shoes now that he has rolled toes and stud nails behind.
I am definately going to get the more experienced equine vet to see him next week and watch him being ridden.
Fingers crossed the moo will be sound soon.
 
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