Cost of having hocks medicated...

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Christmas Crumpet

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Happy went in for full lameness work up yesterday because he was slightly lame on his off hind which also resulted in a sore back (something which never quite got mended after his hoolying around in the field in the snow).

Turns out he's got changes in his hock and so both (I think) are going to be medicated. The vet assures me he should be fine afterwards and that I can continue to hunt him. I hope so seeing as he's only 8 and could be my horse of a lifetime.

How much does it cost to inject them and what do they do it with?
 
Depends on the vet really, but mine charges just over £100 for one hock (this was with HA only), I take horse to the clinic to avoid the call out charges.

Injections are pretty easy. They will scrub the area to prepare, clip if necessary. The most important thing is to prevent any dirt from entering the joint with the needle, so it has to be done in as anti-septic conditions as possible.

Beware that if they use the usual steroid+HA mix there is a small possibility of laminitis being a side effect. Keep horse off grass for 48 hrs to be careful (but I'm sure they will advise).
 
Here is a compreshensive list as I have vet invoices in my draw at work. this was initial diagnosis of bone spavin.

To get to the stage where they decide to inject them possibly£70-£80 for vet visit to yard, examine lame horse, trot up/flexion test, look on lunge. This was my first invoice.

Visit to clinic: examine horse, neve block, look on lunge, pain killer, technique of joint injection, joint injection stuff, sedation, 8 x xrays and radiography interpretation = £440 this was my second invoice

Visit to horse, drip horse, insert catheter, tildren, finadyne, tubing for drip set, drugs, hyonate injections, sedative, advice = £800 this was my third invoice. He also had two more follow up visits and a course of adequan. The whole thing was about £2,200.00.

The hyonate injection x 1 cost £75.20 and with the vat came to £88.36 and the aseptic technique comes to £73.70 plus vat which comes to £86.60. Obviously this would depend on the veterinary practice used. They even charge more to interpret xrays than they do to do the bl**dy things, but I guess when the insurance company is paying it doesn't feel too bad.
 
Hi there. He is fine now thanks for asking. He was diagnosed in November with mild bone spavin. He is going back to the hospital the week after next for the day to have a repeat of the Tildren so possibly may well have more joint injections as well if the vet sees fit. I want to leave him at the vets for the day as he is relaxed about being there (so long as he has his haynet you could stick him on the moon and he wouldn't care) and with Tildren because there are side effects and he is very colic prone I would be happier with him there so they can keep a closer eye on him. Plus the fact I can return to work and pick him up after work. The joint injections themselves are very worthwhile. The vet aspirated (think thats the word for taking out something) the hock for joint fluid and examined it and said he recommended the adequan as a follow up as the joint fluid was not sticky enough or vice versa. I am jumping my horse, albeit on a surface non competetively, popping him over the odd jump on pleasure rides and schooling in the school and he isn't a bit lame. I am delighted with his progress and if teh Tildren and joint injections have given him a few more years than all the better.
 
My horses have had their hocks medicated for exactly the same reason as yours- it makes sense to get both done if poss, as the other unmedicated hock can end up taking the strain.

One of my boys is 8 too, and he's working as normal with the injections, I just am careful about what surfaces and ground he's worked on.

They normally use a type cortisone (steroid) , my boy is 8 and was diagnosed with Spavin last year and for the xray plates etc, examination and injection and 2 visits it came to £700, he recently needed both hocks doing again and it came to £260 for one injection.


My other horse had cortisone and HA in both hocks and it was about £700, including him being examined ridden etc.

If you compete under rules then my advice would be to check what drug they are using and clearance times etc. There is a small risk of Laminitis with Steroids.

They will normally scrub the area, sedate the horse if necessary and inject the joint and give a shot on antibiotics, normally 2 days rest, then yu can turn out, and then 2 weeks easy work until the injections kick in.

The injections really can make a huge difference so good luck with it all!
 
For just the hocks injected you are looking at approx £100 plus callout, obviously doesn't include any of the diagnosis stages
 
Thanks - thankfully Happy is insured so that makes it all a bit easier.

He won't do anything very exciting competing wise. I'm a total wimp if its anything over 3'6" (although out hunting its a bit different!) but I'd like to continue hunting him because he's turned out so well this season. And I love him to bits!
 
Its normally Hydralonic acid and Hyonate they use, Oakham vets used HY50 on an old hunter of my bosses, you dont really want cortazone, when I took my old bosses hunter to Oakham to have joint infiltration Neil told me cortisone was outdated and didnt last that long. Did your vet tell you this isnt just a one off thing it will get to the stage where you will have to have it done maybe twice a year.Showjumpers constantly have their joints done to keep them going and not just the old ones.So if you have it done this time will your insurance only pay once, then exclude his hocks. I take it with him been a hunter he is roughed off at the moment? If you have him injected now it will have worn off by Xmas cant you wait till about July to have it done just before you start to get him fit again, just a thought.
 
Good old Neil Ashton! We used to be up with the Cottesmore before moving to Dorset so I know Oakham vets very well (Unfortunately!).

Am having supper with my vet this evening so will talk to him about best time to have it done and what needs doing etc and also what to do about insurance.

Thanks for thought about when to have it done. Something I hadn't thought of.
 
I can't recommend this procedure highly enough. My horse was 7 when his hocks started fusing, and we had both hocks done (over 2 yrs ago now). He is better than ever; he had an x-ray last autumn to check and both hocks now fused and stable. He only had the jab once and at the moment it doesn't look like he'll need another. A friend's horse had it done a month before being placed in the Intermediate at Aldon and said she could really feel the difference in her movement etc.
 
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