KS...I should have seen it sooner

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TattygareMare

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So, my just 7 year old mare has just been diagnosed with the dreaded Kissing Spine. She has 3 processes touching (suspected T16-18) and they have actually started to corrode each other from rubbing. There is also activity in the whither, however vet did not seem as concerned with this area.

She is going for bone scans next week which will confirm how bad and give me my options, but I'm feeling completely down in the dumps and just wish I had seen this sooner. All the signs were there but they happened so randomly and sporadically that its taken a good few months for me to get the vet out, (after having back, saddle, teeth, physio, saddle again, teeth again, professional schooling etc etc!)

The flighty nutty thoroughbred I thought I had is actually an extremely tolerant little bear and probably should have had me off far more than she did.

Im trying to stay positive and i know there are various options available but the bone scans will show what the next move will be, and I cant help feeling competely miserable, and guilty.

Any experiences (good or bad) and any advice anyone has would be much appreciated. I will try and get a picture of the xray up as I would be interested to see how bad people think it is, or whether I am being over dramatic!

Thanks for listening, orange club bars for you all to share!
 
Would be interested to see the x ray? I was shocked when I had mine x rayed and to me they looked horrendous. Several touching, ones actually overlapping in lumbar region. My vet said they don't seem "active" and doesn't think they are or will be a problem (he's not in work currently). I demanded the surgeon look at them twice, same opinion. I then sent them to cotts (who invented the lig snip op) same opinion. Basically the only way to determine whether they are relevant is a bone scan. Fingers crossed yours aren't actually as bad as they look!
 
Hi My horse had a KS op and was sound for 8yrs after, he only became lame last year because of a series of events started by poor farriery, I believe he would still be sound now if it weren't for this and it certainly hasn't been caused by the after effects of the KS, the change in him was unbelieveable, he was visibly relieved even an hour after coming round from surgery, you could see so much tension had gone. In your favour, your horse is young and if she has nothing else wrong with her the operation can be very successful depending on circumstances. If you find out there are other serious issues, I might hesitate as it reduces the chances of successful outcome.


My horse will always be a sensitive soul and you have to manage them thoughtfully as they are used to trying to run from pain but you have hit the nail on the head - your mare is a brave little thing who was far more tolerant than you could ever have imagined. You may find if you go ahead with the op she may always be a little nervy especially if that is part of her character but I found I was so much more understanding after I had the diagnosis that I actually rode far better and he trusts me much more and I was willing to try things that my gut had told me not to before. The rehab especially allowed us to build a fabulous bond - I am a great fan of long reining it is much more balanced and allows strengthening without being onesided like on a lunge!

I have learned so much. I wouldn't have chosen for him to go through this, but I am a far better horseman because of it. It's not the end of the world and there are many methods of helping her that have evolved even since my clever surgeon operated in 2005. Good luck I feel for you but if your horse is definitely your cup of tea, she is worth fighting for.
 
caberston said:
Has your vet discussed about blocking the area before any treatment is decided on?
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Yes this was discussed but she showed such a dangerous reaction to pain that I am not happy for anyone to get on to test this. My saddler had refitted a saddle she has never been comfortable in, which is slightly longer than the current one she is ridden in. The saddle fitted perfectly she lunged fine in it. When my friend got on for the saddler my mares feet had left the ground before she was even asked to walk on. My friend was thrown off rather violently and my mare continued to rear, bronch and throw herself to the ground for the next 10 minutes until we managed to calm her. This is so out of characted and for her and I am 100% sure this was an extreme response to pain. This is what triggered the initial vet call.


BethH said:
Hi My horse had a KS op and was sound for 8yrs after, he only became lame last year because of a series of events started by poor farriery, I believe he would still be sound now if it weren't for this and it certainly hasn't been caused by the after effects of the KS, the change in him was unbelieveable, he was visibly relieved even an hour after coming round from surgery, you could see so much tension had gone. In your favour, your horse is young and if she has nothing else wrong with her the operation can be very successful depending on circumstances. If you find out there are other serious issues, I might hesitate as it reduces the chances of successful outcome.


My horse will always be a sensitive soul and you have to manage them thoughtfully as they are used to trying to run from pain but you have hit the nail on the head - your mare is a brave little thing who was far more tolerant than you could ever have imagined. You may find if you go ahead with the op she may always be a little nervy especially if that is part of her character but I found I was so much more understanding after I had the diagnosis that I actually rode far better and he trusts me much more and I was willing to try things that my gut had told me not to before. The rehab especially allowed us to build a fabulous bond - I am a great fan of long reining it is much more balanced and allows strengthening without being onesided like on a lunge!

I have learned so much. I wouldn't have chosen for him to go through this, but I am a far better horseman because of it. It's not the end of the world and there are many methods of helping her that have evolved even since my clever surgeon operated in 2005. Good luck I feel for you but if your horse is definitely your cup of tea, she is worth fighting for.
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Thank you for this. I am hoping the bone scan will show any other issues. I have tortured myself over this and will try to do the best I can for her, but I obviously cant make any decisions until she goes to RVC next week.

She is a very sensitive girl, which now could be put down to pain but I agree, if she is able to go on and have a ridden life it is going to be a very long slow process for her, mentally as well as physically!

Many will have their own opinions on what should/ should not be done but one thing I am sure of is that if she can have a comfortable life with me but cannot be ridden again then she will be my very expensive lawn mower!
 
Michen said:
Would be interested to see the x ray? I was shocked when I had mine x rayed and to me they looked horrendous. Several touching, ones actually overlapping in lumbar region. My vet said they don't seem "active" and doesn't think they are or will be a problem (he's not in work currently). I demanded the surgeon look at them twice, same opinion. I then sent them to cotts (who invented the lig snip op) same opinion. Basically the only way to determine whether they are relevant is a bone scan. Fingers crossed yours aren't actually as bad as they look!
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Lets hope so!

I hope this works...

 
Don't beat yourself up OP, You took all the necessary measures and she is getting seen to now, if we all had magic vet/x ray/scan eyes it would be marvellous, but we don't, I don't have any experience of kissing spine, but hope all goes well as it can at RVC, try not to work yourself up, wait until you have all the scans and vet opinions in front of you, Good luck, keep us updated.
 
Zero00000 said:
Don't beat yourself up OP, You took all the necessary measures and she is getting seen to now, if we all had magic vet/x ray/scan eyes it would be marvellous, but we don't, I don't have any experience of kissing spine, but hope all goes well as it can at RVC, try not to work yourself up, wait until you have all the scans and vet opinions in front of you, Good luck, keep us updated.
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Thank you! This is just the kind of thing I need to hear right now :)
 
TattygareMare said:
How do I post the xray if it is in my photo bucket?
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EC909392-0FBB-4924-B5E4-6F57A29C6B85_zpsnug4lbbn.jpg~original


You need to alter your Photobucket settings (uncheck the box called 'link back to albums') or delete the code outside the [img ]....[/img ] bits.
 
My friends horse has problems in T16/T17 area I think she said. Its going in for a stand up operation next week and then box rest and I think she said no riding for six weeks following. Good prognosis of full return to work and the level it was competing at prior to the problem showing.
 
applecart14 said:
My friends horse has problems in T16/T17 area I think she said. Its going in for a stand up operation next week and then box rest and I think she said no riding for six weeks following. Good prognosis of full return to work and the level it was competing at prior to the problem showing.
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Thank you, its nice to hear positives, and it seems there are many sucess stories around.

I have done alot of research regarding the various procedures and am amazed the impinging DSPs are resectioned under a local while the horse is standing under sedation! Its so interesting, and actually quite scary that there is so much we dont know when it comes to our horses.
 
And just to add it initially took the vets 2 yrs of very mild on & off lameness when my horse was a 4yrs old before he finally got lame enough for them to take it seriously enough to scan, please don't beat yourself up - I felt exactly the same but it was so hard to diagnose as he was bi-laterally lame and very mild to start with, he only upped the ante as I started to ask him to work correctly which he clearly couldn't do and for some horses KS just doesn't affect their ability to be ridden!

If your horse is sensitive she is also likely to be keen to please and I was terrified of getting back on mine post surgery, my vet had written to my insurer to say he was so dangerous to handle and ride that it needed to be operation or PTS - honestly my horse was & is a lovely person but I couldn't even walk him to the field to turnout without 2 legs in the air he was so spooky. Well my friend fed him a pack of polos whilst I plodded him around the school in walk for 5mins 1st time back on - he was a different horse. It felt like going from sitting on a razor blade to sitting on a normal horse. My horse is uber sensitive and is now such a delight to ride, I just think it and he does it - not always my way or perfectly tho it has to be said!

I suspect you'll find that if you decide to operate and then do plenty of ground work especially long reining to get her to lift her back and strengthen the muscle there before you get back on she will cope very well, ks is often picked up when a fit horse does less work for a period and then can't cope when the work is upped again.

Your horse sound very lucky to have such an understanding owner - I was prepared for mine to be a field ornament too but he isn't!! Good luck
 
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My friends horse had this Operated on aged 7, and went on to compete in BE for 5 years up to advanced and 2* CCI. He's now retired from competing due to other things, but is still hacking and hunting.
 
Thanks BethH, Our horses sound very simialr in personality so I am hoping that this is the way things will head for us.

stencilface, thats great to hear! I am hoping that post treatment (poss surgery) I will end up with a little cracker as the pain is what has been holding her back.

I cant beleive the difference in her mood since she has been off work for the last 2 (ish) weeks. Its not until they perk up again you realise just how misearble they were!
 
Hi, my horse was diagnosed with KS two years ago now. Treated with steroids and went back out eventing quite soon after; I then bought him in December 2013, and had a few problems which were largely saddle related so started the rehab again and used a remedial saddler. He's now not had steroids for 18 months and is fit and well and ready to go eventing again - jumping happily with no problems; flat work fine too although it has taken a good deal of time and patience to work through some of the resultant issues like difficulty with canter. We do carrot stretches and tail tucks every day to keep the lower lumbar area strong and flexible and help lift the stomach muscles, and I keep his routine as varied as possible.

His temperament has been key as he's so calm and willing - but in short, a success story, I hope!

Sounds like you're already onto the case but do be really careful with saddles especially if the problem area is behind the saddle - I now use a semi-flex saddle with serge panels, and the immediate difference was incredible, having had problem after problem with different saddles that I kept having checked.

I also keep him out 24-7 so that he's always moving around with his head down, grazing - vet advised this, too and I think it's really important if you can.
 
Mine has recently been diagnosed with KS, dorsal processes are close but not actually inpinging.

He just wasn't quite right, not pushing through properly from behind. He's so good he never bucked or misbehaved just sometime disunited in canter. Interesting what BethH says about it being picked when a fit horse has time off as our problems seemed to start when he had time off for something else and lost weight and muscle.

The initial x rays showed changes in his back but the vet (at the RVC) wasn't happy to say it was clinically significant without nerve blocking. We did this about 10 days ago, both myself and one of their riders rode, nerve blocked and rode again. We all felt he moved better after. They then kept him in overnight and medicated his back the following day.

Now it's a rehab plan with the option to operate if this doesn't work. Also a plan for one of the RVC vets to do some acupuncture. Start unridden work at the weekend and if that goes well start ridden work two weeks later.

They decided not to bone scan as we are reasonably sure that this is the source of the problems and don't want to add to the insurance claim in case we need to operate.
 
I've no experience with KS but didn't want to read and run without sending my best wishes. I had medical problems with my late mare and I too felt terrible for not going down the vet route sooner (I turned to the vets when I had exhausted everything else; saddler, physio, dentist, different routine, etc). It's natural to feel like that when we love them like we do. You're doing the right thing by her now which is what matters. Best of luck xx
 
Thank you all, I'm feeling much more positive now.

From the end of the month ours move to their summer fields so she can be out 24/7 if need be, but as I said I would be surprised if surgery isnt recommended so she will have to wait until she is allowed to be out again.

Monday's bone scan is creeping closer... I just want it to hurry up so I can find out my options!

I have done so much research and so many people have said that the rehab can be the make or break in their future. There have also been alot of comments on various posts on H&H that people can over do it on the lunging and pessoa work. I prefer long reining to lunging and so does she, and she is also fantastic to handle so I would have no issues in doing alot of in hand work with her.

Anyway I could go on forever with all the things I could do, but I wont know for sure until Monday/Tuesday!
 
You sound like you've got exactly the right ideas - if you can, do yourself a favour if you opt for surgery and get her as fit as you can beforehand - difficult I know when they are explosive but get the long reining well underway to strengthen her as it will help her tick over & she will really benefit when you start the rehab. Mine hated pessoa etc but really took to the long reining - I truly believe it saved his life! Spend alot of time on a big swinging walk as that will pave the way for you to go onwards and upwards.

Fingers crossed for Monday - I really hope you get to the root of the problem, your mare sounds a lovely person.
 
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