Kissing spine

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Charliechalk

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Hi, my horse has just been xrayed and it has shown that he has kissings. The vet now wants him to have a bone scan and has talked about steroid injections as a treatment. Has anyone ever had experince of this treatment and does it work, he would not be a candidate for the surgery option because of his age (22). Not sure whether to just retire him or go down the treatment route?
 
Steroids didn't work on my horse, however do alleviate pain in some. Tildren (if lesions are active) or shockwave combined with physio can help also. Buting him as and when is needed along with plenty of lunge work to keep his topline in good shape is best Tx for my boy. I wouldn't personally go down surgery route at 22 due to the extensive rehab and box rest - also you'd def need to bone scan first to see how many lesions are active now (its more than likely he has had impingement in the past which has now settled but obviously still shows up on xray) therefore there's no point cutting off bits of bone bone that aren't causing a problem right now (if you see what i mean...!). What clinical signs has he shown that has prompted vet to take initial xrays anyway? what sort of workload has your horse done through his life? And what do you do with him now (ridden exercise?)?
 
Did the vet say he will be comfortable if he is just retired? Or still in pain?

If he will be in pain then id have the injections, then probably retire. He will need a long rest as part of normal treatment for kissing spine anyway x
 
He wasn't doing anything major, no bucking or rearing etc. Was quite tail swishy and was threatening to bite, throwing his head around when being saddled and mounted. However, once on he stopped this. He doesn't jump anymore as had bone spavins, which have now fused and was competing in unaffiliated dressage untill about sept last year. Due to lack of time he has just been hacked at weekends since then and its since he has been out of 'proper' work he has started to show signs of discomfort. I have just started to school him again and thats when the problems started. Really difficult to know what to do because last summer he was fantastic and i feel he still has alot to offer, but on the other hand i don't want to be selfish and keep him in work if he needs to retire.
He doesn't appear to be in pain when not ridden and is quite happy and forward going when lunged. However, its difficult with him to know whats pain or not because he has always been quite a grumpy horse!
 
Most important thing is to keep him pain free - whether this be intra-articular steroids, systemic steroids or strategic buting depends on horse. Have you tried a pain relief trial to see if his symptoms disappear on drugs, and reappear without them, just to check its not a habit he's got into.
 
He is currently on 1 sachet of Danilon a day. Its difficult to gauge how much pain he is in because he has days when he doesn't react to anything, girth being tightened etc to days when you cannot even rug him without a reaction. I have wondered whether he is just being grumpy but knowing what the xrays show i assume it is a response to pain. The mad thing is though he is absolutely fine when hacking out, very forward going and acts like a youngster, but in the school is reluctant to work in a correct outline.
 
Mine (14) has had steroid injections and shock-wave therapy. According to my vet Tildren and other similar drugs are very expensive whilst steroids are cheap and the most significant factor in the treatment. It has worked reasonably well (done twice in 5 years) although mine has near but not quite kissing spine. He also has Sacro-iliac strain - often KS and SI go hand in hand.

I also do loads of carrot stretches, lunging and have him physioed regularly. He also has wedges behind as the angle of the hoof sole plane is negative it causes a strain on the SI. I ride him practically as normal and do dressage mainly Novice but done a little Elementary.

If your horse is 22 and has just developed them - is it because he has lost topline and is sagging and would building up his muscle gradually by working long and low on the lunge (provided this does not put undue strain on him) help him?

Personally I would explore the option of steroids further- they are relatively cheap, the procedure is fairly routine and the results if they are there can be seen fairly soon. The vet will advise you of the risks of steroids - laminitis being the main one. I would also get a physio involved. Good luck
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My horse was xrayed and diagnosed with kissing spine, her symptoms where not severe and we injected her with steroids, never had a prob since.

Good luck
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I'm going through exactly the same thing. My 7yo KWPN mare was x-rayed on Monday, showed kissing spines at one level - she's now at Bell Equine and having a bone scan today.

Ironically, I had to retire my 10yo warmblood gelding last year after unsuccessful surgery for kissing spines. He was diagnosed in 2005, had surgery, came back into work but was never 'comfortable'. We then turned him away for 18 months and brought him back into work again in 2008, he went well (up to Novice dressage) but early last year he started to show signs of discomfort when he was ridden. Another check by the vet concluded in us deciding not to put him through any more 'procedures' and we have retired him for good. It's devastating because he is a horse in a million.

I've only had my mare since May (my new project after retiring Cody) and she passed a 5* vetting, but started becoming reluctant to work as we put more pressure on her in the school (unable to bend and struggling with lateral work) and getting upset when I put her saddle on. Vet diagnosed OCD in her right hock and she was supposed to have surgery yesterday to remove the small bone chip in her hock. At pretty much the last minute the vets decided to xray her back as there was tenderness (but they had put it down to strain from her abnormal gait caused by the OCD) - and they found the kssing spine. So now it's just a waiting game, should get the results tomorrow afternoon.

I can't beleive that of all the horses in the world, I've ended up with two with the same problem - and as I've had a 'negative' experience of the surgerical route I honestly don't know what I'll do if they recomend surgery for my mare...
 
Sorry to hear about your mare, it is devasting when you find out a younger horse has something like this. I know how you feel about treatment, its difficult because some people have the opinion that medicating with steroids is pointless because it never works and some people have had sucess with it. I have also heard good and bad reports about the surgery. My decision is a little easy than yours because i know at his age i will not opt for the surgery route. I have a younger horse which was bought so i could retire my old boy from competing, but have recently discovered he has problems in his navicular joint and pedal bone so will have to retire him too. You must feel so frustrated at the moment.
 
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