Joint supplement less effective over time?

[DD265]

Does anybody know whether joint supplements can lose their effectiveness over time?

My boy is on the maintenance dose of CortaVet (Chondroitin and Glucosamine) and has been for about 8 years.

He is now stiff and struggling with his hocks in particular where we know there were arthritic changes diagnosed back in 2008. He's 23 years old so it's probably not unrealistic to consider long term use of bute and the vet did prescribe some on the last visit for this purpose. We never actually started as he improved significantly and has been fine for a couple of months until the week before Christmas, when I think the colder temperatures have caused him to go backwards a bit. We're wondering whether the CortaVet is actually achieving anything now.

 

[Casey76]

It's possible that his condition has now degenerated to the point where the supplement isn't as effective - supplements can help to slow down the degeneration, but can't completely stop it, so it might be worth re-discussing using bute or danilon with your vet.

Sorry your boy is feeling stiff :/

 

[Birker2020]

I'd try him on bute. Its only dangerous when given in large doses over a long period of time. I know of a Shire who has 1/4 of a sachet a day and has been comfortable on that for many years. My own horse was on 1/2 sachet of bute for a long period and was very comfortable. He has spavin and weighed in at 700KG.

It might not be the colder temperatures that are causing the problem so much as the dragging of the hind limbs through the mud in the fields due to the heavy rainfall the country has encountered.

You might like to consider Bioflow magnetic boots. these make a huge difference to my horses legs, they don't fill out so much when he wears them, and he is less stiff in the mornings. MSM is also very good for horses with spavin, fed alongside Chondroitin and Glucosamine. I feed the Equine America joint supplement that also has HA in it. He's also had his joints fused with ethanol, which might work well with your horse, if his xrays deem such a procedure worthwhile. Its a simple and very quick procedure and relatively painless (the horse did not react at all to the injection. He was in the clinic for 1.5 hours total and it cost me around £300 for both hocks to be done, with the contrast xrays which are essential, to ensure the procedure can go ahead. The horse can be turned out the next day as there is no risk as there is with steroid injections.

This was about 3.5 years ago, since the procedure was done he's gone back to jumping up to about 1.05m, novice dressage, a couple of small ODE's and fun rides. he has had a complication which effects 5 - 8% of horses 3-4 years post treatment, but with the lateral extensions on his hinds, a course of bute to reduce inflammation and curtailing jumping until the vet confirmed he could continue he was making a good recovery until his ne<script id="gpt-impl-0.9120620476782094" src="http://partner.googleadservices.com/gpt/pubads_impl_78.js"></script>w injury last week!

I certainly don't think it is unethical to give your horse the best chance of a recovery by using either bute, or chemical arthrodesis. 23 is not really that old these days for a horse, I have heard of many that still hunt/compete in their early to mid twenties.

 

[Auslander]

I don't think there's any harm in him having a bit of bute in the cold weather to help him along. I have no qualms about dishing out pain relief when required.

Having said that, I've not had to use any this winter, as I've had great success with Harpagyl, a Devils Claw supplement from Audevard. I've used Devils Claw before, but never really rated it - but my vet recommended tring this one, and it's made a big difference. It's a veterinary formula - the purest and most bio-available form of the active ingredient, and I'm really impressed with it.