Life after kissing spine surgery

TicTac

TicTac

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29 April 2008
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Here she is. Tictac my beautiful mare who had kissing spine surgery last september to remove 4 pieces of bone after being diagnosed with 7 impinging vertabrae a few months earlier. I started lunging her in January after the cold weather went and have now progressed to hacking her out, all ridden work is still in walk for the time being but she is upto a full work out on the lunge now.

I have another visit from the physio for her tomorrow just for a check up really, but so far she seems good. In all honesty this mare has been a complete star through out her ordeal and I hope that she can now enjoy her life pain free.


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What a wonderful update and sure makes me as one of the many who has a ks horse more positive about prognosis. Thankyou. annax
 
annar said:
What a wonderful update and sure makes me as one of the many who has a ks horse more positive about prognosis. Thankyou. annax
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Thanks annar. My vet did say she was one of the worst ks he had ever seen but to have a useful life it was only fair that I gave her the chance of an operation. The injections certainly didn't work and were a wasted £1000.

What is the case with your horse? I would happily give you as much info as possible if you like.
 
Sadly my horse has proven quite a complex case. What started off as him trying to buck me off after time off witht he snow, diagnosed ks but quite mild so injected. 4 weeks later and only lunging work i was not happy so off he went to stay over at vets and he was also diagnosed with si pain and suspensory ligament damage. we dont know whats caused it, maybe the lunging on pessoa, maybe in the field, were not sure.

he had si injected, back injected and 3 does of shock wave and hes been on box rest now 7 weeks and is working from the box and goes back next monday for check up. i still dont think hes right. sadly with 3 such diff conditions one you rest, one you work, weve had to opt for work because vet said if he lost anymore muscle he wouldnt get through it. (hes an ex racer and had no topline-only bought him in oct) hes up to 30mins ridden walk 6days a week and 30mins walker 6 days too.

hopefully ill know more next week and im hoping his suspensories are showing signs of good healing after the shock wave. annax
 
My horse had 5 dorsal processes removed a week and a half ago. So far so good! I have struggled to find a great deal of information anywhere on the web about the condition and its rehab and have started a blog to try to help everyone out there going through the same thing. Comments and followers would be welcome http://kissingspines.blogspot.com/
 
:):) Awww you look absolutely fab Tic Tac.. and so clean and shiny!! :D:D
I will be getting on within the next week to 2 weeks, one more shockwave to go and like Annar we have 2 conditions to heal. The back is great now and he is looking fit and is comfy over the back. Now for the legs and lots of walking on the roads. So glad to see your lovely photos, you both look fab xxx
 
Here to find out how TicTac is a year later??? My mare is about to have the surgery and i really need some good feedback :confused:
 
Thank you for the pictures, I opted for the surgery back in march, and I am about to get back on Tuesday this week, my physio's has advised she looks great and is quite supple for her age. So fingers crossed all is well.

Good luck, I always had my doubts if I had done the. Right thing, but now I know I have.
 
tracilee said:
Here to find out how TicTac is a year later??? My mare is about to have the surgery and i really need some good feedback :confused:
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Sadly I believe Tictac has suffered a setback (unrelated to her KS), and Island spirit's horse has since been PTS. My horse had five processes removed back in November and I was back riding him in February. Sadly, he too had a major setback and I have turned him away for two months to chill. I will try again with him in a couple of weeks. He is exceptionally well in himself though. I just don't know whether I will be able to ride him again. :(
 
So sorry to hear your news. At present with having the gamma scan i am dealing with ka which that now has been resolved and bone spavin and my i do have a few options on this. So fingers and everthing else crossed
 
You're not mentioning my horse then Wagtail? :confused: he is doing well, only light hacking as I decided to give him ages to recover for his legs, his back is excellent
 
xxMozlarxx said:
You're not mentioning my horse then Wagtail? :confused: he is doing well, only light hacking as I decided to give him ages to recover for his legs, his back is excellent
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Sorry xxmozlarxx I mentioned Tictac as the poster specifically asked about her and then I spotted Island Spirit was on the thread, and that you had already answered for yourself, I thought.

I have to add that although I have had a setback, I still have hope and I do not regret having the op done. :)
 
Wagtail, sorry to hear your news too but I am of the strong opinion that surgery in KS should be the last resort and not the first. I believe that the other symptoms you are now seeing are indeed related to the KS (not the surgery) in that they pre-existed the KS and if not the cause were contributory in the KS too. Undoubtedly there will be cases where the CAUSE of the KS is the spinal processes being anatomically too close but in my experience other issues are the cause starting with muscular dysfunction. Other contributing factors can then be rider, saddle and training. I shall be following the above blog and posting a video on there of a horse we recently treated for KS, was condemned as dangerous and never to be ridden again and within 3 months she was back being ridden.
 
KS is diagnosed where the processes are anatomically too close. Your claims about this 1 horse continue to concern me, you have not, to my knowledge had a KS horse, or followed that whole process through as a horse owner. You have not answered as far as I'm aware my questions as to why vets would claim a horse was unrideable without recommending surgery as a cure, or who these vets were, it just doesn't add up I'm afraiid, you are not a vet or medically trained, in my view you simply do not have enough expertise to tell owners what is best for their KS horses against the advise of experts. :confused:
 
xxMozlarxx, I am sorry you have a problem with my opinion but I have intention of justifying myself to you or anyone else. Just like no-one else does. Clearly what I say presses several buttons in you. My opinion, based on experience (I am not sure why owning a KS horse is magically better than having treated and been involved in successfully treating several KS horses) is that as often as not the CAUSE of the KS is muscular in ORIGIN. Of course the spinal processes are touching this is what causes the pain but WHY are they touching. To say they are 'anatomically too close' if what you mean is 'the horse is built like this' is, I am afraid, simply not backed up by scientific evidence. Read the literature. It is called a 'syndrome' for the very good reason that it is poorly understood as to what causes it. There SEEMS, in SOME cases, to be some evidence for a genetic (i.e purely anatomical) basis but really this is little more than guesswork. Dr Kent Allen has written an interesting article on KS which you might want to read.
 
I can't speak for any of the horses refered to above or KS cases in general but my vet and I do believe that my horse's KS is a secondary condition.

She's going for further investigation in the next few weeks to find the cause so I'm quite interested in GoodyGoody's opinion.
 
GoodyGoody said:
xxMozlarxx, I am sorry you have a problem with my opinion but I have intention of justifying myself to you or anyone else. Just like no-one else does. Clearly what I say presses several buttons in you. My opinion, based on experience (I am not sure why owning a KS horse is magically better than having treated and been involved in successfully treating several KS horses) is that as often as not the CAUSE of the KS is muscular in ORIGIN. Of course the spinal processes are touching this is what causes the pain but WHY are they touching. To say they are 'anatomically too close' if what you mean is 'the horse is built like this' is, I am afraid, simply not backed up by scientific evidence. Read the literature. It is called a 'syndrome' for the very good reason that it is poorly understood as to what causes it. There SEEMS, in SOME cases, to be some evidence for a genetic (i.e purely anatomical) basis but really this is little more than guesswork. Dr Kent Allen has written an interesting article on KS which you might want to read.
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Treated them in what way? You are as far as I'm aware a human Bowen therapist. Of course I have read the literature and had the experience. Some horses are 'built like this' and some horses close processes will be worsened by how they use themselves, it's not rocket science. I'm not clear why you don't seek to justify your claims, I would have thought it really important to back up your claims with evidence. Especially given that it would be very unusual for any vet to write a horse of as unrideable when there are cures. My vet has been at the forefront of research and treatment of KS, he is an expert and 1
of the best in the country. I still researched the whole thing and made an
educated decision.
 
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