Hock arthritis treatment pathways

[Lexi 123]

A lot of vets won’t give arthramid or tildren majority of them will only give basic joint injections and nothing else. someone I know wanted to try these treatments but vets refused to try theses treatment’s So ended up having to retiring the horse . what I found that really worked for my horse was Bute trail and after I give the joint supplement called devil relief . she is completely sound now.

 

[Zoeypxo]

A lot of vets won’t give arthramid or tildren majority of them will only give basic joint injections and nothing else. someone I know wanted to try these treatments but vets refused to try theses treatment’s So ended up having to retiring the horse . what I found that really worked for my horse was Bute trail and after I give the joint supplement called devil relief . she is completely sound now.

thats strange, what area are you in?
Ive never been refused a treatment

 

[Sossigpoker]

A lot of vets won’t give arthramid or tildren majority of them will only give basic joint injections and nothing else. someone I know wanted to try these treatments but vets refused to try theses treatment’s So ended up having to retiring the horse . what I found that really worked for my horse was Bute trail and after I give the joint supplement called devil relief . she is completely sound now.

Is this because the vets aren't skilled enough? I can't see any other reason why.
My area has a number of excellent performance vets as well as hospitals but I know that's not the case everywhere.

 

[huskydamage]

I'm currently trying hock injections on my horse with bone spavin. Ive never heard of tildren or arthamid either. It was never really offered by my vet as an option

 

[holeymoley]

For those of you that have treated with Arthramid- were your horse's lame before hand or just a bit short in their stride? Considering it with my gelding who is 21 this year although he isn't lame, just perhaps ever so slightly stiffer behind than normal but again nothing over the top.

 

[Tiddlypom]

For those of you that have treated with Arthramid- were your horse's lame before hand or just a bit short in their stride? Considering it with my gelding who is 21 this year although he isn't lame, just perhaps ever so slightly stiffer behind than normal but again nothing over the top.

Has he been nerve blocked? If a horse is bi laterally lame behind, that can be very revealing. A bit short usually = lame.

The combined arthramid + steroid hock jabs has been a game changer for my wonky 17yo IDx. Judging by just how jolly she's feeling 3.5 weeks post medication, I will be taking due precautions with my normally saintly mare when getting back aboard after her saddle's been refitted .

 

[Sossigpoker]

For those of you that have treated with Arthramid- were your horse's lame before hand or just a bit short in their stride? Considering it with my gelding who is 21 this year although he isn't lame, just perhaps ever so slightly stiffer behind than normal but again nothing over the top.

Being short = lame.
Yes my 8 yo cob was short behind with toe dragging. But he wasn't head nodding lame.
Totally sound after Arthmid and going better than ever.

 

[Tiddlypom]

For general info, just got the bill in for my mare's bilateral hock jabs with steroid + arthramid. It's very reasonable. Done at clinic so no call out. Includes 2 x rays.

£889.56

 

[Squeak]

Yes! Mine was doing hacking and light schooling but now he's doing more intensive schooling and has started some small jumps. 3 months after Arthramid and Osphos he's looking and feeling better than ever before.
My vet feels that the right hock is a form of juvenile arthritis but now that he's sound to just crack on and don't treat him any differently from any other horse. I.e he's only 9 , he doesn't need to take it easy , he's capable of doing what I'd like him to do (I wouldn't jump much over 2 ft and he should be up for that)

yes my vet says i can do anything just be mindful of some arena surfaces and xc when the ground is too hard.
Had an unlucky tendon injury so out of work again now but unrelated to the hocks

Thanks both, really interesting to hear.

 

[Squeak]

I'm currently trying hock injections on my horse with bone spavin. Ive never heard of tildren or arthamid either. It was never really offered by my vet as an option

I was thinking the same thing when reading this thread, I wasn't sure if it was because it was 6 years ago and maybe they've developed since then but I certainly wasn't offered it as I would have jumped at the chance to try some other options for him.

 

[mavandkaz]

I was thinking the same thing when reading this thread, I wasn't sure if it was because it was 6 years ago and maybe they've developed since then but I certainly wasn't offered it as I would have jumped at the chance to try some other options for him.

Tildren went out of fashion after it became clear that it can cause serious issues to kidney function (with repeated use). So some vets a) won't have had much, or any, experience of using it, and b) some are very wary/cautious of it.

Racehorse vets, and sports performance vets are those more likely to have experience using it.

Can't speak for arthamid, as not used it, but seems to be a bit hit and miss - or at least from what I've read from owners.

 

[Zoeypxo]

For those of you that have treated with Arthramid- were your horse's lame before hand or just a bit short in their stride? Considering it with my gelding who is 21 this year although he isn't lame, just perhaps ever so slightly stiffer behind than normal but again nothing over the top.

i first started using steroid injections due to lameness
Originally they lasted 18-24 months each time but when my most recent ones started to wear off after 7 months i went for arthramid instead, i had noticed a slight toe drag when going down steep hills so booked the vet before she could get more uncomfortable and eventually lame. Toe drag was gone within a week of the arthramid, that was summer last year and not had any issues since re hocks.

 

[Birker2020]

Tildren is not very dramatic? It's an IV drip - I think the main side effect is colic so as long as you make the drip really slow and give Buscopan, then walk them afterwards, it's quite straightforward. Mine has had it twice; he got colicy after the first time so second time round we gave buscopan and slowed the drip, and that sorted it. I definitely wouldn't hesitate to do it again.

I found my horse got worse, colic wise after the third treatment of Tildren but like Widgeon says, they give an injection to prevent colic.

The worse thing was the soaking wet bed after each treatment, the horse was literally swimming in urine after every infusion, I have no idea why it made her so wet!

 

[Tiddlypom]

Both my regular vet and my chiro vet, who are not the types to be swayed by the latest treatment hypes, separately describe arthramid as a 'game changer' in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

 

[Birker2020]

Out of interest those of you who have had good results with treatments, did your horse return to the same level of work as before?

Yes, after chemical arthrodesis using ethanol my horse returned to jumping and dressage and fun rides.

 

[Birker2020]

Both my regular vet and my chiro vet, who are not the types to be swayed by the latest treatment hypes, separately describe arthramid as a 'game changer' in the treatment of osteoarthritis.

I was told it was a very effective treatment that can last 18 months or more. But like any new treatment, its very expensive which is the major drawback.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I was told it was a very effective treatment that can last 18 months or more. But like any new treatment, its very expensive which is the major drawback.

I don't call £889.56 for arthramid + steroid into both hocks very expensive.

 

[Michen]

Out of interest those of you who have had good results with treatments, did your horse return to the same level of work as before?

Yes. More and better work actually.

 

[Birker2020]

I don't call £889.56 for arthramid + steroid into both hocks very expensive.

I recall it was around £850 for one vial split between her coffin joints on both left and right fore on and her navicular bursa on her left fore - a scan showed this was inflammed. She also had 10mg triamcinolone which is steroid and 40mg of depmedrone which is used to treat pain and swelling in arthirtis.

The £850 was just for the arthramid. This was going back to April 2021. Even the vet confessed that Arthramid was expensive treatment but said it could last 18 months so saved in the long run. I was self funding so it was a last ditch effort.

I felt that the chemical arthrodesis we'd had years before was much better value for money, £700 for both hocks which included the xrays necessary to carry out the procedure, given the long term effectiveness.

 

[Zoeypxo]

I paid £350 for one syringe in coffin joint inc call out
Think both hocks were around £720

 

[Birker2020]

I paid £350 for one syringe in coffin joint inc call out
Think both hocks were around £720

Just goes to show how over priced my previous vets were which is why they've lost a good 30% of their clientele to another practice.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Just goes to show how over priced my previous vets were which is why they've lost a good 30% of their clientele to another practice.

One vial cost about £250-300 with my vet and we needed just the one vial for the right hock.

 

[AandK]

My horse had arthramid in his right tcj joint yesterday, the full syringe, following steroids 2 weeks ago. The steroids have helped already so I’m hoping the gel is the last piece of the puzzle! Haven’t had the bill for the arthramid yet, but the bill for the steroids (he also had some HA, which isn’t cheap!) was £496 including call out.

 

[Julia0803]

I was told it was a very effective treatment that can last 18 months or more. But like any new treatment, its very expensive which is the major drawback.

I don't call £889.56 for arthramid + steroid into both hocks very expensive.

It’s gone down a lot in price.

When my cob first had it it was £750 per vial, plus all the other bits that go with actually administering it, so about £2k for both hocks to be done (this was 2018 I think).

He had it redone in December and it was much cheaper, about £900 all in. The vials themselves were much cheaper, but also the vet said new research has changed practice. Previously they administered short acting steroids at the same time (not the long acting steroids used by themselves to treat joints) but apparently they’ve now decided that’s unnecessary so obviously that made it cheaper too.

He’s a sport’s performance specialist that deals almost exclusively in lameness and does thousands of injections per year (I know this as we were talking about the infection risks of joint injections). He has arthramid in stock as standard.

What surprised me was several others have had arthramid injections on our yard this winter. All the other practices had to order it in and didn’t carry it in stock. This caused delays as they said they would order it in in advance if the vet coming out (to investigate hock arthritis previously diagnosed) but only if the client agreed to pay for the drug even if it was not required as the issue turned out to be something else/new problem. So clients were having a visit, then waiting a week or more for the dug to be ordered, then a second visit booked in to administer it. There now seems to be a shortage- one livery is still waiting for it to come in. So for the OP it may be worth talking to the vet to see if they carry it/how long it will take them to get hold of it.

 

[Birker2020]

A friend knows a livery on another yard who routinely medicates his promising youngster with arthramid to prevent arthritis as her value far outweighs any potential for future issues.

Suppose that makes sense.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

Out of interest those of you who have had good results with treatments, did your horse return to the same level of work as before?

Yes

 

[ifyousayso]

It crazy to see how available arthramid and Tildren is in the uk. In the south of Ireland there very little places that do arthramid most people have to travel a big distance to get there horse injecited with it or they have to go up the north. I have never heard of Trldren been used here. Most arthritis is just treated with steroids injections and if they don’t work then you’re out of luck. You hope they will come right or retire unfortunately in Ireland.

 

[Zoeypxo]

It crazy to see how available arthramid and Tildren is in the uk. In the south of Ireland there very little places that do arthramid most people have to travel a big distance to get there horse injecited with it or they have to go up the north. I have never heard of Trldren been used here. Most arthritis is just treated with steroids injections and if they don’t work then you’re out of luck. You hope they will come right or retire unfortunately in Ireland.

its a shame it isnt more available. Im in cornwall and only been offered arthramid since early last year, i noticed on fb/forums etc people mentioning arthramid many years prior so hopefully it will come available to you too soon.

 

[musk]

Farrier came out to trim and shoe to xrays but said his NPAs on the xrays weren't actually bad and could be sorted with correct trimming and he didn't need to put wedges in (I know farrier isn't against wedges due to time issues etc as he has 3 degree wedges and pads in our other horse so I trust him with this ) . Pony looks a little happier in field as would be expected and my BOT hock boots have just this moment arrived so going to pop them on for an hour and hopefully it makes him a little more comfortable

 

[AandK]

Just had the bill for the Arthramid, was pleasantly surprised! £512 all in, £292 was for the syringe of Arthramid.