Hind Leg Lameness

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dalidaydream

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My pony has had one thing after another this year. After getting the front end sorted out he is now lame on his right hind - approx 3 tenths. The vet says he thinks it is probably arthritis in the hock but would like to have him in for a full lameness workout. He has mentioned nerve blocking the hock and injecting steroids into the joint at the same time - one needle instead of two. I can see the sense in this but I'm uneasy about injecting steroids when we don't even know for sure that this is the problem. To be honest I'm not sure about having the joint injected full stop. I'm not even sure about the lameness workout and wonder if I should just retire him as he seems quite happy in the field and has been through a lot. He is 16 and had nearly a year off 3 years ago with a tear to the DDFT and has probably had more time lame than sound in the 9 years I've had him.

Sorry, this has turned into a ramble but I honestly don't know what to do for the best and I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself. Maybe I'll give him the summer off and see how we go.

He's already having a joint supplement plus tumeric (there's a real danger we could end up with more supplements than feed :rolleyes:). Is there anything else I can do to make him more comfortable without resorting to injecting the joints?

Thank you to those who've got this far.
 
If you have insurance, I'd personally chuck everything at it.

If the x-rays are done digitally, your vet will be able to tell you there and then if it is arthritis and will be able to inject.

But if you want to keep him comfortable without medicating the joint, then out as much as possible, use a decent joint supplement (Synaquine or Cosequine) and bute.
 
Thanks for the reply but no he's not insured any more as just about everything has been excluded - he's really thrown the veterinary manual at me over the years :rolleyes:

He's currently on Equimins Flexijoint which has made a big difference but I am wondering if something else might me more effective - incidently Cortaflex HA liquid was useless unless I fed it at the dosing level permanently. I wonder if they can get immune to a joint supplement after a while?
 
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