Bone spavins again!

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Mitchyden

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Zara was diagnosed with bone spavins in January after a bone scan at the RVC.
She had already had her joints medicated but this hadn't worked at all.

In February she had Tildren and after 4 weeks she had gone from 4/10ths lame to 2/10ths lame so a second Tildren was advised.

This was done beginning of April and only 2 weeks later she had gone 99% sound. Now 3 weeks on from that, she is back to being 2/10ths lame again. I'm fast losing the will to live and don't know where to go from here?

Originally the vet suggested fusing the joint with some sort of alcohol treatment if the Tildren didn't work, but I'm loathed to do this as there are too many things that can go wrong.

Am I destined to have my 14y.o Arab mare as a field ornament for the rest of her life or has anyone else had these problems and then things turned out ok?
 
I have the same problem with my horse who is also 14, his was diagnosed last June, joint was medicated, he was rested and then came back into work slowly, was sound for about 2 months and then went lame again the same as before.
Probably not what you want to hear but my horse is currently living mostly as a field ornament. Vet recommended very light work whilst on bute, ie nothing more than walking in straight lines. They said they thought that he would be sound again eventually but it's almost a year later and i'm not that hopeful anymore sadly.
 
Do you know exactly what cortisone/joint medication they used at the RVC in January? -as there are short and long acting medications I've been told.

One of mine has mild Spavin, had it diagnosed in 2008 and he is in full work and will be out competing this summer- I do remember my vet saying that Spavin although it won't go away as it's degenerative can be treated and managed to some degree but the bones don't necessarily always fuse- one of mine had Tildren once (not for spavin) and it worked the first time, but not the second time (which is quite common apparently) so we opted for joint medication instead!

I hope you find something that works for her, good luck with everything- is she on a joint supplement at all?
 
Sounds all too familar. My lad has bone spavin as well as arthritis in his coffin joints. He had steroid/HA injections last year, followed by Tildren in February, then went beautifully sound for a while. He became unlevel again a few weeks later, and my vet injected the hocks for a second time which worked for a few weeks.

I was disheartened when he went lame again recently, and I decided to retire him rather than put him through more injections, just to have the same result a few weeks/months down the line.

He too is 14, and he's very happy mooching about in the field. I give him the occasional bute when the ground is very hard and he's on Newmarket joint supplement. He'll be having his shoes taken off shortly. Even though it's sad not to be riding him, I know I've done the right thing. He still gets lots of TLC and he owes me nothing. :)
 
Mitchyden said:
Zara was diagnosed with bone spavins in January after a bone scan at the RVC.
She had already had her joints medicated but this hadn't worked at all.

In February she had Tildren and after 4 weeks she had gone from 4/10ths lame to 2/10ths lame so a second Tildren was advised.

This was done beginning of April and only 2 weeks later she had gone 99% sound. Now 3 weeks on from that, she is back to being 2/10ths lame again. I'm fast losing the will to live and don't know where to go from here?

Originally the vet suggested fusing the joint with some sort of alcohol treatment if the Tildren didn't work, but I'm loathed to do this as there are too many things that can go wrong.

Am I destined to have my 14y.o Arab mare as a field ornament for the rest of her life or has anyone else had these problems and then things turned out ok?
Click to expand...

what can go wrong? - I hear this op has a fantastic prognosis;)
 
I had the alcohol injections last August on my boy. This followed 3 x steroid injections which gave short term relief + 2 x tildren which had a debatable effect.

His hocks fused successfully in about 4 months and he went sound. The xrays are amazing, and he was going brilliantly, however he then strained his suspensorys and is now having treatment for them. Sigh. He will more than likely be retired (but you never know) as I do not know how much work he will stand up to having had 2 significant issues with his hind legs. I do not regret the alcohol injections for a second as they gave him a few months painfree, and he remains sound with hocks.

The actual injection is much the same as any joint injection with the exception of having to have an xrayable solution injected first, then xrays to ensure it is the right place. This is then withdrawn and the alcohol injected. It's done under standing sedation and was not in the least bit distressing. The biggest risk is it going into the wrong joint as it would cause big problems.

I boxrested for 2 days then turned out as normal. Walked for 6 weeks then started building up and he began improving.

I would do it again without hesitation, and I much prefer it to the operation as that involves more boxrest and is more invasive.
 
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Thanks minigal - was looking for someone who'd had this done, mine is going in for this soon so good to hear the injections worked well. This has helped put my mind at rest a bit :)
 
I can't remember the long list of things that can go wrong but I know one of them is that the joint can fuse too quickly causing the horse to move in a totally different way. This itself puts pressure on other ligaments, tendons, joints etc.

I was also told that she should go sound immediately but it would take approximately 9 months to a year to actually find out if she would stay sound. Apparently this is because the alcohol kills the nerve endings and as these come back to life (or some technical veterinary term!), the horse can go lame again.

I have decided to try it next week anyway as to be honest, I don't think she's happy as she is now so I've not really got anything to lose. It will either get better, worse or stay the same. At least I will know that I've tried everything then before I make a decision about her future.
 
Mitch I am sure it will be ok :vibes:

It took 14 months for my boy to come right, 4 following the alcohol injections. Goodluck!!

I'm off to vets tomorrow will try and get hold of the xrays so you can see the amazing effect it had .
 
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