ocd in stifles experiences good or bad

[tikino]

i have a horse in glasgow wieper centre and she has been diagnosed with ocd in her stifles. has anyone had any experiences with this good or bad. i have had a bad experience with hock ocd so am very concerned about my 4 yr olds outcome

 

[CBFan]

Oh ******! Sorry to hear this Tikino...

Yes I do... Mine was pretty bad... she wasn't going to be anything more than a light hack. Operation was a success but she just didn't come sound as quickly as she should have... I would advise at least a year of field rest post surgery before making any decisions...

Are the two horses of yours related?

 

[star]

Not good here. 8yr old welsh cob diagnosed with bilateral stifle ocd on arthroscopy. Prolonged rest but he never came quite sound. He now hacks on soft surfaces and does fun rides butnot ssound enough to compete.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

9yo had it, couldn't do anything surgically for him, IRAP definitely helped as did over a year off. He returned to light hacking and schooling, didn't dare do much else for fear of breaking him and he was never 100% sound. Lost him this year at 11 to something else. Have know younger horses do alot better, depends on the extent of it.

 

[tikino]

thank you guys interestingly it was her little sister but a different site. so i had put a connection to the mare carrying a bad gene although she has never had a day lame in her life. according to the guys at the vet school it is the sire that usually passes it on not the mare not sure i agree with this. Anyway she is still in the vet school at the moment undergoing test. she has now got very flay ridges on the stifles and they dont look to good she is also very lame at the moment. i wasn't 100% sure about going down the surgery route after loosing the yearling

 

[Jenko]

4 is fairly late for a horse to be diagnosed with this.

My filly was diagnosed just after 1yo. she had it severely in one stifle and not many changes in the other. I was advised surgery was the only option if i didn't want to pts now, or have a horse crippled with arthritis before it was 5.

surgery went well but the outlook wasn't great due to the severity in one stifle. She is 3yo this year and although she isn't 'lame' she doesn't move greatly, quite stiff and short behind. Though i am just lightly backing her this year i wont do anything till she is 4 and see how she goes... but in all honesty it isn't looking great! That said i do know of a horse which is totally sound after OCD surgery.. but was a mild case.

 

[Jenko]

just read other posts and seen how late most people found their horses to have OCD, i thought it was a problem with the bone change in the growth plate and that's why you got the cartilage breakdown and holes in the bone.

either way, seems this is a condition that is hard to get a horse back into anything but light work, which is what i had suspected when my filly got it, esp as her x rays were pretty shocking

 

[CBFan]

It is very common for the condition to go undetected until the horse is backed and in regular work as often the abnormality is not irritated enough to cause swelling and lameness until the horse is doing much more exercise than wandering about the field.

Tikino, the genetic link is very interesting and definitely highlights a genetic predisposition I think... It might not be just the mare, it could be the combination of mare and stallion (even though you have used two different stallions) but not a risk I would want to be taking again with this mare I am sure you will agree.

If the filly is insured, and the vet thinks the chances of a decent recovery are good, I would go for it. I think Stifles are usually more easily sorted than hocks but patience is required and I would say after the initial box rest rehab, you would have to turn her out and forget about her for a year, before starting gentle work with her again...

 

[tikino]

It is very common for the condition to go undetected until the horse is backed and in regular work as often the abnormality is not irritated enough to cause swelling and lameness until the horse is doing much more exercise than wandering about the field.

Tikino, the genetic link is very interesting and definitely highlights a genetic predisposition I think... It might not be just the mare, it could be the combination of mare and stallion (even though you have used two different stallions) but not a risk I would want to be taking again with this mare I am sure you will agree.

If the filly is insured, and the vet thinks the chances of a decent recovery are good, I would go for it. I think Stifles are usually more easily sorted than hocks but patience is required and I would say after the initial box rest rehab, you would have to turn her out and forget about her for a year, before starting gentle work with her again...

CBFan i have to say i most definably would not be breeding from this mare again and probably will not breed again full stop. i will see what they are saying tomorrow as they seem to be looking at her wonky liver tomorrow as not keen to do surgery etc until they look into this. there is no rush in her doing anything other than rest for a while just dont want an expensive companion long term

 

[CBFan]

Bless you! I know how heartbreaking it is. I will keep my fingers crossed for your girl that it isn't too bad and that an operation would be a success... Keep me posted.

 

[tikino]

Bless you! I know how heartbreaking it is. I will keep my fingers crossed for your girl that it isn't too bad and that an operation would be a success... Keep me posted.

CBFan there there further developments today in that it appears that she has also got ocd in both her hocks. unfortanetly this has put her condition in another light and i am afraid to say that we are now in a position that she will properly have a few days home with sun on her back and we will then see about putting her to sleep. i dont see a way back for her with it being bilateral on both her stifles and her hock and not sure the prognosis is that great in these cases

 

[Emilieu]

I'm so so sorry you've had more bad news thinking of you xx

 

[CBFan]

CBFan there there further developments today in that it appears that she has also got ocd in both her hocks. unfortanetly this has put her condition in another light and i am afraid to say that we are now in a position that she will properly have a few days home with sun on her back and we will then see about putting her to sleep. i dont see a way back for her with it being bilateral on both her stifles and her hock and not sure the prognosis is that great in these cases

Oh how gutting . My thoughts are with you. I don't blame you for comming to the conclusion you have. It sounds like the best thing for her.

Big hugs to you. How utterly heartbreaking. xxx

 

[tikino]

thanks so much i have look at her x-rays all morning and took them in to my own vets in a disc just to make sure there is nothing more realistically that can be done. as this horse means the world to me but i wont have her suffering