Experience with joint injections?

teddysheep

teddysheep

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24 November 2005
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As title really? I have never had a horse need this...until maybe now. I have a Welsh A diagnosed with knee arthritis (no cause identified) about 4yrs ago. He is now 17yrs and has lived a very sedentary life in and out of the show ring and munching grass. The knee in question has a large (and increasing in size) hard lump. When the Vet first diagnosed the problem, he suggested we immediately pull the pony from the show ring, cease all exercise and give him bute permanently and consider joint injections immediately. We did not do this as pony was not lame, in fact had no presenting symptoms other than the lump. Now however, things have deteriorated very slowly over the last year. Pony, very happy to gallop like a lunatic, is not lame unless spins like a prat in a tight circle and can get up/down no problem at all. The only problem we have and it is now becoming a problem is when farrier comes. He cannot bend the leg pain free for the farrier to trim/pull/fit shoes. He is now un-shod to make life easier for him but still finds the leg bending very tricky (despite a very patient farrier) and painful. I am now seriously considering the joint injections.
I have had joint injections myself but have no experience of a horse having them. At the risk of sounding completely ignorant, are there different types of injection? Are they a good thing? and do they last...does the pony have to have many of them? I'd really appreciate some advice here before going to the Vet.
Thanks a lot
 
pain relief before the farrier is a must .
Knee arthritis is diffcult to manage my experiance of knee jabs is they do well at first and then they don't work so well
It's not question of one jab it will need to be repeated until the joint wears out entirely ,on a retired pony I would consider managing him on Danilon rather than jabs
 
My Section D gelding had the starts of arthritis in his knees when he was in his early 20's. He fell on the road one day and then started playing up (totally out of character) when having his front feet shod. Took him to the vets, x-rays showed he had arthritis in both front knees. He was retired, and we took his shoes off. There was no way he would be able to cope with having shoes nailed on etc. Sam is now coming up 31 this year. His knees are quite lumpy and he does get stiff but he's been on turmeric/micronized linseed/black pepper for a few years and I do think this has helped. He's now on 1/2 sachet of Danilon twice a day as well and he's coping really well. He doesn't lie down very often but my vet assures me he's OK. We've recently done bloods etc on him and I've had a substantial vet bill only for my vets to tell me he's in remarkable health. You have to trust your judgement and work with your vets and farrier to find the best way forward but I personally wouldn't go down the joint injection route if you plan to retire the pony as they're not normally a one off permanent fix. As long as you can keep them comfortable with anti-inflammatories and they behaving in what is normal for them, do what you feel is best.
Regards to trimming, Sam is trimmed every 6-8 weeks and I have a very patient farrier who literally is on his hands and knees trimming him. We keep his toes as short as possible to ease his breakover and this works well for Sam.
I also bandage his legs with the pads over his knees in the winter to keep the joint warm when he's in the stable.
 
Thanks everyone, really helpful advice. He's on Riaflex HA at the moment. No problems other than this farrier visit and I'm very lucky to have a patient farrier - feet nice and short too re; breakover. He has been on bute at farrier time but no difference. Maybe a cumulative amount is what's needed or bigger dose...prob a chat with the vet now. I would like to hold off the injections IF possible, but we'll see. Thanks everyone for the help :-)
 
I've tried them. Joint injections can be almost miraculous - trouble is, they don't last. First injection will maybe last 9 months or longer. Second one a few months less and the third injection will only be effective for a month or so. This is what I found. Others may say differently. I also suspect that the steroids used have a detrimental affect on the joint so not good. I use Equimins Flexijoint which helps enormously so much so that I've taken my horse off bute - his arthritis was in the right foot coffin joint.
 
Zuzzie said:
I've tried them. Joint injections can be almost miraculous - trouble is, they don't last. First injection will maybe last 9 months or longer. Second one a few months less and the third injection will only be effective for a month or so. This is what I found. Others may say differently. I also suspect that the steroids used have a detrimental affect on the joint so not good. I use Equimins Flexijoint which helps enormously so much so that I've taken my horse off bute - his arthritis was in the right foot coffin joint.
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this is not always the case.someone on our yard had her horse injected three times in 13yrs for coffin joint arthritis described as moderate to severe.vet said when questionned that somw horses need inj repeated frequently others can go years between it depends on the animal in question also other things like foot balance and surfaces etc
 
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