Degenerative joint disease (DJD) in hind fetlock. help :(

Montys_Mum

Montys_Mum

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Hi,
Two weeks ago the vet came to see my horse as he had been slightly lame for around two weeks. He has said he thinks it is most definatly degenerative joint disease in his hind left fetlock. The vet has given me bute to give my horse (TB) one a day for a month as well as slowly bringing him into work starting slowly at walk and increasing. My horse, Monty, has come sound after the first few days on bute however is stiff when first ridden but loosens up when he gets going.

He first went lame in september 2010 at a local show where he started refusing jumps which really isn't like him at all and the next day he was badly lame. After this he had a month off and a oesteopath came to sort him and he was perfect until last month. My vet said he won't be able to jump again which was a big blow. And also is planning to do nerve blocks and x-rays to pin point and diagnose completely. Has this happened to anyone else? And how do you cope and manage this disease? Also what are the limitations to what my horse could still do?
please help :(
 
Hi there,

In response to your post, why does your vet think the problem is in the fetlock?Has any diagnostic tests been done?I don't have any experience with fetlock problems but my horse has recently had a hind limb lameness which was diagnosed as a hock problem, he also has had a problem with his stifle. After lots of treatment and rest he is now coming back into work, I was given quite a bleak outlook to start with also.
I wouldn't panic just yet untill you definatly know what you are dealing with EG after the blocks and x-rays. If it does turn out to be the felock, I'm sure there will be a lot of people that can advise you, lots did with mine! Good luck, keep us updated. :)
 
Im not exactly sure why but apparently he has less movement in one fetlock than the other and says he has seen it before. Nothing has been done yet appart from trotting up and just felt his legs which hasnt really convinced me that my horse now has this disease cause its a bit of a shock to suddenly be told that. In the past he has had his hocks x-rayed and nothing was wrong with them.
Might just have to wait and see :/ Thanks for your response :)
 
I think you definitely need to find out where the area of pain is so that you know what you are dealing with and how to treat it, the bute trial will be good as it will tell you whether the lamness is pain related, from then on he would probably need nerve blocks to try to pin point the area of pain and then x-rays to confirm it, even if he hasn't had any changes showing up in x-rays in his hock in the past, it doesn't mean that they haven't begun now an that is causing pain, good luck, mines had both of his medicated and seems to have responded very well, i'm now bringing him back into work on a 12 week programme because he has had 7 months off (including the winter) :)
 
I have now taken him off bute on thursday as i rang my vet back and he was very unhelpful about the situation as i asked what we were going to do next and he just said to take him off the bute and use it as and when :s

So i took him off on thursday and rang a new vet to give a second opinion as the vet has been recomended to me by a friend at the yard who i respect her opinion very much. After a day or two off the bute he has started mopeing around quietly and looks stiff and now lame but the new vet is coming to see him in an hour :) so will have to see what he thinks. I am strangely looking forward to it :o just want to know whats wrong and what i can do :/.
 
After a second opinion it is confirmed that my horse has degenerative joint disease in his hind leg and all i can do is manage it with pain killers and keep him comfortable and if the expense gets too high to keep a horse that isnt useful for his purpose to put him to sleep.

I couldnt imagine doing this to my sweet horse so how has anyone else managed a horse with DJD and what was the outcome as this is longterm? :( :(
 
Mine was diagnosed with DJD in both his front pasterns last Tuesday after nerve blocks, joint blocks and x rays. The changes in his right pastern are quite severe even though he has not shown any lameness before - just stiffness.
He has been given cortrohen injects weekly for 4 weeks, 2x bute a day and back on the loading dose of syequin. He is to have complete field rest or 4 weeks.
Vet is not hopeful and neither am I.
He will be put to sleep at the end of the summer as long as he is comfortable, if not he will go sooner.
Sorry - sending you massive hugs. Your horse might not be as severe as mine if the changes are only minor.
x
 
It is a real blow when DJD or arthritis is diagnosed so you have my sympathy i have had two go this way. Unfortunately as it says it is degenerative so there is no cure, however, it depends on how fast the degeneration is happening and where it is. There are a few things that can slow it down and other medications that can allow the horse to have a fairly active life. Bute and steroid injections to name but two. In my experience it eventually becomes so severe that there is only one outcome. But the horse may be ok for light use on bute basically hacking obviously that is not what you were expecting sometimes some one will take a lame horse on for light use only if the price is right. Sorry for being a bit on the negative side but i am only trying to give you some options failing that keep it as a pet/field companion until the pain becomes unmanagable i have a similar decision to make with my horse and i have had her for a long long time.
 
I replied to your post in NL but thought I'd post her as I've been managing DJD in my horse for the last two years and at the moment *touch wood* she is still sound and in full work.

My 15 y/o welshie has DJD in her coffin joint, she was diagnosed about 2 years ago after a 2 week period of not being lame but not being 'right' either. She has such a big movement usually that although I noticed she wasn't stepping through as she normally did and was more reluctant in her work it was virtually impossible for the vet to see.
We were lucky in that we caught it early, she wasn't lame enough for nerve blocks so the affected leg was xrayed, and DJD was confirmed. She was put on a joint suppliment (cosequin) straight away and was given a hyonate injection directy into the joint, then cartrophen injections every week for 4 weeks there after.

She was back to her usual self within 5 weeks and I brought her back into work slowly and carefully, the vet came back for a check up and agreed that she was fully sound. After 9 months I decided to take her off the very pricey Cosequin because I was unsure whether it was making a difference as she started taking it at the same time as the injections....it turned out it was making no difference.

2 years on and she is back in full medium work, I am careful out hacking and make sure the ground is ok when jumping on grass but she is managed like a normal (is there such a thing?!) horse. She hasn't had to have any more injections but I am warned that many need them every so oftern (2 years).
So I am keeping my fingers crossed that her 'growth' has been doneand can continue treating her like every other 15yo. She just compleated an ODE at the weekend and did a 15 mile endurence 2 weeks previous so DJD doesn't always mean the end of ridden work.

I know that more than likely she will have to 'slow down' and then retire earlier but she's got a home life and I have prepared myself for all eventualities!
 
I am confused as to why your vet is just recommending painkillers rather than treating the DJD. This is a link to the Tildren website - Tildren is a drug that my horse had as a drip for her arthritis which I told you about in NL, both in her hocks and in her fetlock as a result of a bone chip which was left undiagnosed for possibly 15 years so did a huge amount of damage. They have an owner's leaflet which details a lot of things that you can do to treat DJD which I think you need to talk to your vet about. They mention spavin and navicular specifically on their website but my vet told me that a lot of these bony conditions have very similar root causes in terms of their treatment needs.
http://www.tildren.com/eng/Spavin

How lame is your horse anyway? Mine was lame behind maybe 2/10 once we took her off devil's claw and refusing to work into a contact at all because it hurt her to take her weight behind. Honestly there is A LOT that can be done so please don't give up now. Explore your options and speak to a vet that specialises in this kind of lameness if necessary. Good luck!
 
The second vet that came earlier today has put him back on to bute as well as a weeks boxrest as he has a digital pulse in both front legs which he thinks is laminitus or just bruising. (he is on danilon, 1 a day)

My vet said that they could do the whole nerve blocks and xrays to pin point the problem and get an official diagnosis but he said its not really necessary as it will be the same outcome. He did do flexation tests, stressing the fetlock and the hock which he concluded he thinks the DJD is in his hock.

Monty was fairly sound on the bute the first month but still didnt move right so maybe 1-2/10ths lame. not sure what he was off the bute but he was quite bad in the flexation tests today.

The only thing is my horse is not insured due to financial reasons as my parents pay for him atm, which is why he is on bute and not injections, but i dont know if they are any different in the way they help?
Ive been told he cant jump anymore (as he was my showjumping horse) but can do light hacking.
 
Imust say I'd be going for the nerve blocks and X Rays (I did this and didn't claim as it ended uyp costing less than my excess so you don't neccessarily need insuirance to cover that sort of thing), otherwise how can ytou/your vets be sure the diganosis is 100% correct etc.

Just for refernce, my boy is an Ex Grade B shjowjumper, he's 21 now...other than having pretty bad Arthritic changes in his pastern and fetlock joints on one foreleg he is 100% fit and healthy *touch wood*.....After Full investigation (as above) he was put on 4 Danilon a day for 4 weeks then reducing to 2 and staying on 2 permemnenetly. He also had 4 cartrophen injections over a 6 week period. The first vet who looked at him told me to retire him and consider putting him to sleep before winter......I was not happy with this advice as, prior to going lame with the arthritic changes he was in full competition work, and didn't have one little complaint. I got a second opinion from the lameness specialist at the practice who said to bring him back into work and see how he coped.

At his last visit we were back doing Dressage, hacking and schooling 6 days a week....he told me if I wanted I could try jumping him again as he seemed to be coping fine. I haven't jumped him again and never will however, physically, there's no reason he couldn't jump again, although not the BSJA tracks he was used to....I just hate jumping so am glad he's now happy to turn his hoof to flatwork!

All I'm trying to say is, don't give up yet, and don't settle for being told "light hacking only" without a full investigation and some further treatment, your horse may well come right as my boy has.

I know my boy won't carry on forever, but the way he is now I'm hoping he'll carry on for a good few years yet! *touch wood again as I don't want to jinx it!*
 
Thats really good to hear. Its a bit of a blow as hes never really been lame without a cause (normally little cuts on legs that swell or sole bruising). I think i will go for the nerve blocks and x rays just to make sure they are right and not mis diagnosed.

I know he will have to retire early if he has this and wont be around as long as i would want but would be nice for him to do more than light hacking, hes only 12 :(

Will just have to wait it out and see how he feels really.
 
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