OCD Heavy horses.

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builtforfeednotspeed

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Has anyone got any experience with heavy horses with OCD. Horse is 8 and found it in one hock. It can’t be done standing sadly, vet was against operating at first because of the risk of GA. But they phoned around and spoke with Leahurst hospital who said that surgery would be less than 30 minutes and they take extra precautions with heavies. It’s not the surgery I’m worried about it’s the getting up after as heard a lot of people say theirs didn’t with GA. horse isn’t lame currently but vet said the fragment can make them crippled lame in the future so best getting it out now. Or you don’t operate but will need stem cell injections and something for arthritis as the fragment will cause arthritic joints. I’m damned if I do, damned if I don’t. Long term they’re saying surgery is best for soundness but huge risk of loss not coming round from GA. I don’t know what to do. Thankfully my horse is sound and we have time but I’d of liked to do ridden showing in the future. Or we leave it alone and hope it doesn’t do much damage. Thank you.
 
Didn’t want to read and run as you’ve had no reply’s I thought I’d bump your post for you.
Not OCD related but I had a Clydie X that underwent a GA for stifle arthroscopy (whilst with new owners I’d sold him to) It was a diagnostic procedure and sadly he had a severed cruciate ligament. I took him back with an amount of money towards his keep and, bless him, he did return to hacking. That said he never really thrived like he used to and I thought the whole situation of being physically compromised and having had a GA took its toll on him. Anaesthetics have come a long way since then though.
My current 16.3 8 yr old had hock OCD bone chip removal last October, which was a success. I had all other joints x-rayed before agreeing to surgery to rule out any further issues. Unfortunately he was still lame when we went for post op checks. Investigations led to Bi Lateral stifle issues. Scanning showed cartilage deformities due to previous OCD that hadn’t showed up on X Ray. Steroid treatment (low dose) has exacerbated his issues sadly and his joints are very compromised.
My research at the time led me to believe that removal of chips is the best way to go - my lad was lame with no improvement after a bute trail, so it was needed anyway.
Good luck with yours
 
That’s the difficult part. My horse isn’t lame with it apart from a small swelling on the joint. So it’s do you go making it an issue. Vet would rather do a stem cell injection and if ever goes lame we know we’d need to operate then.
 
My Belgian draft cross (not the horse in the pic) had GA in 2022 for colic surgery. They did warn me beforehand about the general issues around recovery immediately post-op, but didn’t make any particular comments re drafts. He was fine.
 
The clydie in my avatar has been upside down on the table at leahurst and is still here 10 years later! His was for an infected pastern joint so I can't help on the OCD but I do completely understand the concerns.
It is quite some time ago but I did some serious research (very quickly as it was an emergency surgery). The stats for GA recovery at the time were about 1 in 100 horses don't come round successfully and if that is an emergency it halves. There was no traceable evidence relating to heavy horses but it is widely acknowledged that the outcomes reduce and I do sadly know a few who haven't survived it. I was less interested in speaking to the surgeon beforehand but I would not agree to it without a really good conversation with the anaesthetist. She was incredibly calm about it and ultimately my horse was going to have to be PTS immediately if we didn't try the surgery. I can still cry remembering the conversation I had with him (my horse) before he went in but I also remember the look of disgust on his face when he came round and wondered what the hell I'd just allowed to happen to him - he would not "speak" to me! I was just glad to have him back, those 3 hours were some of the longest of my life.
The one thing that really interests me but I don't think anyone has any evidence of is the fitness level of the horse in terms of outcomes. Are heavies adversely affected because (certainly 10 years ago) most were field ornaments, show ponies or breeding stock and therefore bodies not used to the strain? Alfie at the time, although desperately poorly, was exceptionally fit - he was supposed to have done an 80cm ODE the day before his op.
 
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