Kissing Spine treatment

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patty_c

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I have a retired race horse who is 8 yrs old. He has just been diagnosed with Kissing Spine. His bones are touching or grinding in 9 places. At least 2 or 3 places shows bone deterioriation from grinding. Our options are limited due to cost issue. The vet suggested steroids/bute combination to see how long it will last. The vet said he could not recommend surgery since he would need to remove around 4 or 5. Has anyone gone thru the same severity of KS? Would the horse be able to go back to normal work after the operation? What are the chances of success and approximate cost?
 
Just had my ex racer operated on for kissing spine - he has just had his staples out last Weds. He had 3 levels removed. 75% sucess rate of returning to normal activities. He was injected first then we did a rehab program - he was initially a different horse then started to deteriorate at about 6-8 weeks post surgery as the injection was wearing off. Not had bill though yet but should be under insurace
 
avoid surgery, why do it, they avoid it on the continent...! how about mesotherapy combined with laser and an intensive rehab program involving using the pessoa?? Probably a darn sight better than surgery and probably cheeper too, but still an insurance job IMHO. Are you sure the KS is a primary problem in your horse or is there something else making it a secondary problem? Pm me for more details if you want
 
Bimble does your horse have KS thats the worst advice iv heard so far when someone has asked about KS treatment.

My mare was neurotic and post surgery a different horse so leaving it clearly wouldnt have been an options. injections dont work. my mare had 7 affected vertabre, get in touch with willesley, bridies surgery cost just under 3k its worth every penny (oh bridie is also 16!)
 
Holly - calm!
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Remember every case is different, and although we went the surgery route with Rage I am trying the mesotherapy/electrotherapy/physio/postural re-education route with Boo.

Surgery was the only viable option for Rage because of the extent and severity, but I would certainly not go there again unless it was absolutely unavoidable
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Sorry - blond moment - ment 6-8 weeks post injection not surgery. For mine surgery was the only option and when the vet saw the spine during the op he did say that the rehab would not have been successful in the long term. At the end of the day I want my hore to be comfortable and not in pain.
 
My friends horse was diagnosed with kissing spine but it effected too many vetebrae for them to be able to help him. My friend signed him over to a lovely blood donation centre down in Milton Keynes where he will live out the rest of his life living a natural life in a large herd of horses. If your horse is large enough (middleweight over 16hh non drug dependent and you are happy to sign him over for ever) he might be classed as suitable. I can dig out the number for you if you are interested in this.
 
As Bounty has said every case is different so if surgery is the way forward then do it, if its not then don't.
My boy had KS and initially the injections had a dreadful effect on him and he was in so much pain it looked like he had colic and he literally bolted around his field continuously, my vet said it was a rare reaction but it was awful, they believe it was due to the steriods reducing the natural swelling around the area. So he ws sent for surgery and four removed and although its not been a straight forward case as he seemed to have residual pain afterward, he had three further injections earlier this year which worked this time and we've really not looked back.
He's the bay superstar second photo below and the cheeky little minky at the end!
 
My mare has just been diagnosed with KS & been told to consider surgery. A friend's horse has got it too & been advised to have injections & shockwave. Had not heard of shockwave for KS before. Anyone got any experience of it?
 
Believe my luck!! My horse had ks op 3 years ago under the saddle area. He was 2 months ago diagnosed with it in his bottom, had shock wave for that, He is slowly comin back into work now, watch this space. I do know of one horse that was diagnosed with ks and only had shockwave and it worked a treat but have heard bad stories on this site about it. I was pleased with my horses op and for where the problem was (center of his back) I definately made the right decision.
 
My horse has it in the lumbar region - not severe but enough for him to be in pain when being ridden. Not operable but did the shockwave (only relieved for about 2 weeks) and had the injection.

It has been about 8 weeks now, and initially he felt worse - very unbalanced and argumentative in the school. I am unable to lunge him (long story) so have been hacking him in straight lines in walk for about 6 weeks which he was fine with. He was not happy with giving a bend.

This weekend we had a breakthrough and he was back to the pre-KS horse. He was really swinging his back in the trot and we had an unscheduled canter which also felt good.

It is going to take several more months to re-educate his body to work again, but I always think it feels worse in the beginning, because they have lost all of that topline. I was beginning to think the injections hadnt worked but now I am just going to wait and see what he is like when he is brought back into full work and he has another assessment.

If there is one thing that I regret, its that I stopped riding my horse. He only showed very minor symptoms (shortness in one leg and reluctance to canter on the right rein) but had I kept up his hacking work, I wouldnt have had such a hard slog to build up the topline again. If I had been able to lunge, I would have lunged him in the 3 months he had off due to the shockwave, hospital visits, vet assessments and injections.

Bounty - glad to hear it was good-ish news for Boo.
 
My mare had kissing spine and her vertibrae's were touching in 2 places, so not quite so bad as your chap. I was never offered the op, she was send to a back specialist, who done some intense physio with her for 6 weeks and totally changed her shape and pushed her spine up and apart, and when she came back I did have a strict regime to follow to keep her in the state, and it was either retire or excersise all the time, she wasn't gonna be a horse that could have time off, otherwise this she may go back to how she was, she was doing XC badminton ride the weekend I had her back.
 
I'm going for the surgery. He has a good chance because he's young enough but he'll have to go through a year of rehab. Don't think he's big enough for blood donations, maybe borderline in size. Would shockwave help him heal faster after the op?
 
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