Coffin Joint DJD..... anyone any experience??

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Maloo

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Well.. 15 weeks ago Maloo was diagnosed with laminitus
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(first ever episode) (despite being hunting fit and not overweight) so have sucessfully managed the lami (thanks to good HHO and Veterinaryadvice) and she has been given the all clear which is brilliant.
But she is still lame - she hasnt got any better since before christmas, so called the Vet out for a re-exam this week. Well Moo was terribly excited to see Vet, and even more excited to be trotted up (que exuberant Passage/trot and Vet stating that she is OK when her adrenalin is up!) then the wotsit pulls away and bu**ers off through the gate that had just been opened to let the chap in to deliver our hay
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- naughty Moo!
Anyway after recapturing her (she didnt go far it was tea time
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!) and finishing the initial tests the Vet thinks it could possibly be Coffin Joint DJD, hes gone back to the practice to check the x-rays we had done for the lami to see if he can see anything, and will most probably want to do further tests next week (lunge then nerve block and re-lunge) prognosis wasnt brilliant because although she could have annual cortisone injections this could cause her lami to flare up.....
So has anyone had any experience of CJ DJD? and with a heavyweigh horse (ID)? Did horse come sound enough to ride or is a field ornament???
Any feedback gratefully received.
Many Thanks
Maloo
 
One of our old ponies had DJD in both front coffin joints and had 1 cortisone injection. (Not indicated in your girl clearly)

He was 14.2 ish but really stocky - a proper cob type. He isn't competed anymore, but I retired him to a hacking home 2 years ago and he's still sound. So hopefully hacking won't be ruled out for your girl? He's on Newmarket Joint Supplement by the way.
 
My mare has this - diagnosed only by an MRI. If you are insured I would push for that, as there may not be boney changes to show on an x ray.

Had cortisone injections, IRAP, various supplements, eggbars then light aluminium shoes, then no shoes. She is unlevel on small circles and hard ground. She gets much better after warm up - on a good surface she looks sound. I don't know that she'll jump again, at least not competitively, but we are off to do dressage next sunday. So, it is certainly manageable.

My mares problem is that she's not the type to settle into light/medium work so still to find out if she'll adjust to that (she is a being a right witch at the moment on light work!) but if she had the right head on her, she could definitely have a second career just doing a bit less. PM if you want any more info - good luck, hope it all works out.
 
My 20 yr old ex-trekking pony developed this through being one of the safest horses on the planet (and so very regularly ridden by all standards of rider). Sadly, he must have had it for some time because it was diagnosed in both front feet. Bilateral lameness like that can progress to horrific levels before you spot it since both feet hurt the horse as much as each other so he won't appear lame until it is very far advanced. By the time I knew something was amiss with Sullivan and had him referred to a specialist lameness centre, his DJD was the worst the vets had ever seen. We tried to help him but were unable to control his pain and he started to lose weight and would panic when his buddy and protector horse wasn't there to save him from bullying. He started to look very old and was clearly unhappy and I made the awful decision to pts before the winter made his life even worse.
 
My old boy was 15 when he was diagnosed. Only on 1 foot though. He is now 26. Depending on the severity and how you are able to manage it they can live on. I dont ride him any more and he is happily teaching the others how to wind mom up.

At first he had Adaquan injections into the joint, then the muscle. Then the vet got the dose wrong and he didn't come sound so I put him onto Cortaflex. I wont say he is perfect but he still loves life and is happy so I will go with that till he tells me otherwise.
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mine was diagnosed with navicular last may, she already had djd in hocks - which has now fused and is managed by no jumping and careful about the ground. For her navicular she had xrays and it was discovered she also has a bony spur on left fore coffin joint. She isnt insured anymore for arthiritis due to hocks so no mri, but she has had eggbars and wedges for navicular and 'touch wood' she is sound and it isnt affecting her - we dont really hack out much due to navicular so most of our work is in arena. we do dressage i school 6 days a week - our indoor is small so working onsmall circles and she is fine. I do give her good joint supplement (pernamax) and she has magnetic boots and rug on. She is ok, yes it may get worse and i have been told i could inject (depending on costs) frequently. But she seems fine at the moment so i not going to change anything. I think if i were hacking out alot on unlevel surfaces, trotting on hard ground it might be different.

ETA mine is a 15.3hh IDXTB (chunky)
 
My girl (15.1h Welsh D) had this diagnosed over 4 years ago. X-rays and nerve blocks showed some bony changes so the vet decided on injections directly into the joint on both front feet. The main problem was the right fore but they decided that medicating 1 might just make the other flair up worse and it would have to be done in the future, so instead did both so it came under the same insurance claim for me.
She had the injections a period of box rest for 6 weeks then the vet re visited and said he saw more improvement than expected and to start ridden work again.
She was on the Cortavet liquid and now normal cortaflex and is (touching wood) sound.
I actually had her re x-rayed recently to make sure all was well in the joint as they originally said the injection might need to be done every 6 mths, but luckily nothing else has changed in the joints since the 1st treatment.
She is sound enough to compete at dressage and i have never had any comments to say she isn't! And we occasionally jump when i feel brave enough and even managed some x-country the last couple of years, so there is hope but every case can be different. I hope that you are as lucky as me! Fingers crossed for you.
 
Thanks for all the replies !
I know I have some magnetic boots hiding somewhere in my tack room which I will try.
Vet has said about injections into the joint of cortisone - but will ask about adequan injections injections (then no worries about it flaring up the lami).
Moo is insured so if the tests this week are inconclusive then she can go up to the practice for a MRI.
Unfortunately we dont have a school at home - so all work is either in the field or on the roads.
We already have heartbars fitted due to lami, farrier is speaking to Vet and has already spoken to me of what he can do (bring breakover point back, side clips and some other stuff I cant remember......oh he did mention natural balance shoes?)
So now I think I shall make a list of all the stuff I want to ask the Vet (as my mind always goes blank when he is there) and try the magnetic boots for a bit each day.

thanks again folks for all the replies - muchly appreciated!
Maloo
 
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