Osphos Treatment arthritis. Any experience?

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Eventer1994

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So my Eventers been diagnosed with arthritic changes in the facet joints of the thoracic region of his spine. One option is osphos treatment (newer drug to Tildren) followed up with the correct rehab programme. So guys talk to me...does it work? Your experiences? Worthwhile investment?

Any feedback welcomed, thanks!
 
Our 6 year old mare was diagnosed with this in the summer. I think our vet opted for tildren in the end but had mentioned osphos (im not sure what the pros and cons are of each). We did daily lunging in a Pessoa and fortnightly physio for 8 weeks. Couldn't ride during that time as she had strained her supraspinious ligament. (Had shockwave for that which seemed to hinder rather than help!).

Returned to vet in September for follow up, after a week of light riding. Plan had been to repeat tildren at that stage. Vet was so pleased with her progress that has held off any further treatment at this stage.

Next 6 weeks were mainly hacking, continuing lunging x2 weekly. This week we had physio check up (6 weeks since last treatment) and she is very happy with horses progress. So now we need to slowly bring her into normal work.

We are supplementing with turmeric and Maxaflex for the arthritis.

Im not sure how much effect the tildren has been in all honesty. There was no clear improvement early on and it took til the end of he rehab before physio really saw the improvement she was expecting.

I think for our mare it has been the rehab and physio that have helped most, as she has now developed strong muscles whereas she was previously very weak behind.

We are taking it very slowly and don't yet know if her original symptoms have resolved (she was kicking out in canter in the arena) - but all I can say at this stage is that she is much happier and more comfortable, and she looks great.

Sorry I've waffled on a bit! My daughter is doing her extended project on this subject so we have videoed and recorded everything throughout and she is in the process of compiling a video of her progress if that's of any interest to you?
 
My vet also mentioned tildren but weighing up the pros and cons of both we decided osphos would be best for my boy. As you say the rehab program is the main influence in the recovery process, so we're looking at 6weeks non-ridden work (lunging pessoa/long reining//lateral work/to pole work etc) with physio/acupuncture every other week then progress to ridden work with vet check ups. Just a rough idea but i've got my spreadsheet all set out! (yes i am one of those people!!)

I'm hoping the osphos treatment will break the cycle of pain, as he's currently 'exploding' when i ask him to walk forwards after getting on (rounding over his back leaping and plunging until i have to bail and he stops) although this is inconsistent as doesn't happen all the time and has no pattern hence getting the x-rays etc My hope is that osphos would stop the pain then allow him to work correctly building up and strengthening muscle which will fingers crossed 'take over' from the medication. Last thing i want is for it to become an association with the saddle/rider and have a behavioural problem too!

Oh i would definitely be interested, would be lovely to see the progress at each stage, so glad your mare is heading in the right direction and thankyou for replying just trying to get other peoples opinions before making the decision!
 
Oh this is fantastic, thankyou so much. Messaged you too but thought i'd also post here :)

I've actually decided to turn my boy away for 6 months, although i was against this to begin with, the pros outweighed the cons. We haven't got a school on site but in hacking distance so a rehab program over the winter months was going to be a struggle. Whilst researching and trying to make a decision he had 2 1/2 weeks off and in that time you could already see changes happening. He'd started rolling which he hadn't done in months, for me a horse that doesn't roll indicates an issue. His character really started coming through, becoming rather cheeky and interacting with his field mates and people. It's been a month now and he's playing with his field mates (rearing/bucking/churning up my fields and generally being rather annoying!!), he's rolling more frequently, putting weight on etc

He's a 5yr old gangly WB so i think time off will hopefully make him mature both mentally and physically, I'll then go back for x-rays April time and see if there are any changes and go from there. Extremely glad to have my other horses to ride so at least i won't be twiddling my thumbs and enables me to 'ignore' him.

Thankyou so much for your help, please keep me updated on your progress. Fingers and toes crossed it continues in the right direction!
 
And think abotu adding linseed meal into his feed. Provides a lot of useful anti inflammatory substances. I have one with hock and shoulder problems and I can clearly see if he misses his linseed meal for a 2 week period. It does a lot for him.

Tea mug a day is all he gets and he does very well on it.
 
He's already on a mug of linseed in each feed and notice a big difference weight wise too :) interesting to hear the difference in your boy! Found arnica tablets are fantastic, again for inflammation wear and tear etc. We get the 30c tablets from Holland and Barrets. 1 tablet before each meal popped in the side of the mouth. Worked wonders for my arthritic dog too!
 
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