MRI Scan help/advise please

Darkly_Dreaming_Dex

Darkly_Dreaming_Dex

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Jacob has long exhausted his vet insurance on his coffin joint issues (eg Cartrophenx2, Adequan, Steroids, Arthroscopy, IRAP) and needs an MRI scan. Obviously i need to shop around as we are paying for it rather than the insurance so please can i have recommendations of anywhere that does it.I know about O Gormans, Liphook, Newmarket and Bell Equine but wondered if there was anyone i have missed. I can travel upto 4 hours from Oxford...
Also grateful for any recommendations as to who does the best cash deal/PX human kidney etc
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Only experience of Bell which cost £1600 for both fronts and a hind leg, someone at our yard had both fronts done somewhere Cambridge way and that apparantly cost them £1500.
 
Someone from my yard took her horse for a scan at Newbury recently, and I think paid £1200. They seem to have been very helpful folk there.

Good luck - hope you get the diagnosis you want.
 
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Hird & Partners near Halifax have one. It might be bit far for you to travel to though? As you know it's the coffin joint where the problem lies it will be quicker and therefore less costly exercise than for a full scan. Izzwizz's horse is going back for a second scan later this month for a tear in the Deep Digital Flexor Tendon right in the hoof and I have feeling she said it was about £500 +vat for this scan where as the first scan was about £1200. Give Izzwizz a PM she'll be able to tell you how much they charge.
 
I had my boy's done at Cambridge Equine Clinic (part of Cambridge University both fronts were done and it was £1090+VAT obviously I only paid it at 15% whereas it would be 17.5% now. They had told me it would be about £1500-£1600 for both feet so it came out a lot cheaper than expected. They were brilliant and very thorough.

What is the problem with your chap's coffin joints? Mine has serious collateral damage to both of his and he has been treated with - so far IRAP and shock wave and 5 months box rest.
 
Best thing to do is ring round and ask but make sure they know that you're paying and that it isn't insurance. Some places have an official price and then an 'unofficial' price for when insurance companies aren't paying.
I've had previous experience of Newmarket and Liphook although can't compare prices as one was done many years ago under GA and the more recent one was standing.
 
Thankyou to everyone who has replied
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Jacob is a 16.2 11 year old Clydie cross who has coffin joint arthritis and has been on/off lame for nearly 2 years.His xrays were clear, navicular area was clear. Nerve block to Navicular didnt improve him but a nerve block through the coronet band into the coffin joint had him sound in a couple of minutes.We have tried IRAP, Cartrophen, Adequan, Steroids, special shoes, barefoot. Last year he had an arthroscopy operation that removed a tiny bone chip off the pedal bone and "tidied" torn cartilage on the coffin bone. The surgeon put a camera in and inspected as much of the ligaments/tendons as she could and couldnt see any other damage/scars/lesions/tears.

He was box rested but went back out as he was going mad indoors. He is generally quiet in the field as he has plenty of grass and only one companion. Shockwave was discounted due to the age/position of the injury. He is a hungry heavy horse and resting isnt helping his waist line. I have had several people inc vet and farrier say that he may be unsound due to changing his gait to protect the bad leg. Nerve blocks do make him 99.99% sound but bute makes no difference.The vet says that all we have left to try is Tildren or an MRI...I appreciate that the MRI will only give us a picture, not a solution but i NEED to know what is wrong as its been going on so long. If he is going to be a cheerfully lame field ornament then so be it but i feel that i need to find out once and for all if there is anything that has been missed. I will have a £500 bonus due in March that i will gladly spend on him and i am sure i can scrabble round and find the difference ( i think i will ebay my suzannah dressage saddle
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He is my husbands horse and he absolutely adores him. Two weeks after Jacob came out of horsepital following his operation, my OH fell off his other horse and broke his back
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So there was no pressure to get Jacob sound as i have enough horses to keep in work as it is BUT i know my OH will be allowed back into the saddle later this year and his dream is that Jacob could be sound enough for pottering around the lanes with him..
 
Gosh - sounds like a cocktail of things, a bit like my lad - unfortunately mine also has some start of arthritis too. One thing that you might want to try is cosequin.

When my boy had the MRI he had lateral and medial damage to the coffin joint ligaments, some boney mass in one of the feet and a very slight navicular change (was told nothing to worry about) there was also some signs of arthiritis forming and he is only 4 years old - but like yours he is a heavier breed being full ID. With the shockwave and IRAP they also told me to start him on the cosequin, it's £100 a tub and expensive for the loading but he only has 2 scoops a day. Luckily he has been fine on box rest but things seem to be moving in the right direction. Not sure if it is the cosequin but could be worth a try also.

Sounds like you have had soem really bad luck so sending you as many good luck vibes as I can muster for Jacob, you and your husband.
 
Royal Veterinary college in herts is just installing one at the moment (my vet is based there) so may be worth giving them a call too.
Mine was done at Bell (both front feet) about 18 months ago and that cost just over £1100 but they gave me 10% discount for paying on the day.
 
Good luck with your neddie, just to let you know that in Newmarket there are three equine hospitals that have MRI. These are Rossdales, the AHT (Animal Health Trust) and the NEH (Newmarket Equine Hospital). I don't know about prices, but all three are very good. My personal experience has been with Rossdales and I can throughly recommend them, from a professional personal service to first class handlers and grooms to some of the best vets in the world, your horse would get the best there. Thats not to say you wouldnt at others, its just that I havent worked anywhere else! Good luck!
 
my god youv been threw it my horse went lame in march last year tried box rest for a week .then took her over to the vets for x rays. they found nothing only lame on the turn but left out in paddock eney longer than 40 mins shed come in hopping lame . so after 5 weeks of still being lame and no change i took her back to the vets again . head vet done her x rays he kept her 2 days and when i went he said he also found nothing and the bones in her feet were unbeleiveable for a horse her age .she was 16. so they sent her to leahurst in liverpool for a MRI it cost £1000 when i got there he said she was lame in both front feet and slightly in 1 back one .but he wasnt worried about that because he felt she was only lame behind due to the 2 front ones. so theyd have to MRI both front feet to also compare its .also its a long day of a job but sure enough that MRI found the problem .she had badly damaged the flexor tendon in the foot she went lame on and due to the pressure being put on the other front foot .she had damage to the collatral ligament i was in shock but the MRI does get to the bottom of it and all in all from going lame it took only two months to find out
 
Hi, just read the above and seen my name mentioned by Loodidoodi. My mare went to Hird and Partners in Halifax for her MRI. She had both front feet done, one in more detail as that was the problem, the other just to check. My half of the cost was £512 and that included sedation and VAT. So full cost just over £1000. Very good for diagnosing the problem and amazing to watch, had to hold her whilst its done and took about 1hour. The scan showed clearly the tear in her DDFT and solved the mystery of her lameness. She too has had a bone chip removed from her fetlock in same leg. Shes off for a re-scan this month and I have been told its £450 + vat and sedation. I have to pay half and Ins pays the other.

Hope this helps you and good luck!
 
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