Experiences of arthritis in fetlocks - please help!

[ChestnutConvert]

I have just been told that my mare has mild osteo arthritis in a front and hind fetlock and that she will need corto co-steroid injections to give some soundness.
Vet seemed to imply that she will only have one and once that has worn off that is it. I will be talking this over with him today but was wondering if there are others out there who have gone through this and what happened?

Are there other options in the future, other treatments etc that can be tried? I really don't want to give up on her if i can as she is only 9 and i'm just distraught to lose her for riding.

 

[bec81]

My 15 year old mare has osteaarthritis in the coffin joints, I'm assuming that a lot of the information will be similar, although I'm led to believe they can do more for it in the other joints as they can't get to the coffin joints as easily.
My mare was diagnosed in April this year, she had steriod injections into both joints and was put on a glucosamine supplement.
My vet advised that most horses will only ever have 1 lot of injections, but some will need them repeating at varying intervals, though she said not to have them too close together. Took a long time for my girl to become sound again following the injections but the vet said that there was no point injecting her again, and if she was going to do another injection it would be after 1 year (just before the cut off for the insurance), however this would be unlikely.
Also, supplements are different depending on severity. Can add chondroitin and MSM to the glucosamine.
After doing some of my own research I also add apple cider vinegar to her feed, and since adding this she has been sound. Not sure if this is down to the apple cider vinegar but daren't stop giving it to her just in case
There's mixed reviews on magnetic therapy for arthritis, I got some magnetic boots and put them on her for 30-60 mins each day, don't know if this is helping but certainly doesn't do any harm.
Bute can help, mine isn't on it but I've known horses with oa to live full happy long lives on bute.
Rosehip is supposed to be a good alternative to bute but I haven't tried this myself.
Make sure they don't become overweight, any extra weight will put extra strain on the joints.
Talk to your farrier, there's stuff they can do with the shoeing that will help relieve the pressure on the joints
Lastly keep them moving. They may need box/field rest at the start (mine had 2 days box rest and 2 weeks field rest), your vet should be able to advise what's best for your horse as some may need months. Out as much as possible, mine lives out 24/7, and regular work even if it's just walking for 20 minutes. I'm very careful about what I do on her and where - no trotting/cantering on hard or uneven ground. Even when she was still lame in trot (fortunately was never lame in walk) my vet still insisted on her being ridden every day in walk.
She is now back in full work, having weekly lessons and we have done a couple of walk/trot dressage tests. I don't jump her but that's mainly because she didn't really jump before the diagnoses and jumping doesn't come easy to her, so puts even more strain on her joints, but I know plenty of horses with oa that still jump perfectly fine.
There are some operations that can be done to remove excess bone or to fuse the joints as a last resort but I don't know much about these as they would not have been an option for my horse given the location of the joints involved.
Every horse really is different, and it's about finding the best fit for you and her. My main advice is be patient. As I said my mare took a long time to come sound again, and even the vet was beginning to give up hope and had started talking about alternative options when one day she was suddenly ok. Like people they will also have their good days and bad days, so don't despair if she seems to 'go back' a bit
Sorry for such a long post, but wanted to give you as much information as I could

 

[TART]

BEC81 what a great reply I agree with all you say - my mare has trauma arthritis in her knee and we use magnetic bands that can stay on overnight, we also use cider vinegar and linseed as well as joint fx and maxiflex ( mussels in addition) it's actually not too costly and fingers crossed it appears to be working for us infact it looks like somebody forget to tell my gal that she has a problem