Osteochondritis/OCD

[131452]

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My 5 yo Appaloosa x TB gelding was xrayed today and it showed early stage osteochondritis in his stifles. No loose chips visible just some ragged edging on the joint (on the femur I think). Vet is coming back next week to give him plasma and anti inflammatory injections and he will be paddock rested for 3 months.
I'm just looking for people with similar experiences with hopefully good outcomes. He's not lame as such but has shown a shortened stride behind with occasional toe dragging , disuniting in canter. What alerted me to the problemas was that his back and pelvis went really tight. He waa showing ulcer symptoms and the vet coming to scope him noted that his stifles didn't look right.
I'd be grateful for any personal experiences and any useful info.
 

dreamcometrue

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My Haflinger had OCD. He was fine to be ridden for a number of years. Eventually his hocks were very enlarged and x rays showed loose chips (joint mice is the term the vet used). Cortisone injections didn’t help, he deteriorated, laid down often and struggled to get up so he was pts at the age of 14. Broke my heart.
 

[131452]

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Oh I'm so sorry to hear that. Was surgery not a possibility at the time? I understand that as long as there's not much damage to the joint they tend to do well after surgery.
I'm glad we caught it early so hopefully we can prevent it getting to the stage where the joint mice appear. I'm such an anxious person that I keep googling for stuff to try and find info that says everything will be fine. It will be a tough 3 months for me 😫
 

dreamcometrue

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If it is caught early then surgery can have good results but my boy had too much damage, which he hid very well. Nobody realised what was going on, even my vet, as he was never really lame it was the swelling that worried us so much. When the vet showed me the x rays he said it was the worst case he had ever seen and that he shouldn’t be able to walk and he was astounded that Stan had been trotting around and only 2/10 lame behind at the initial visit.

I’m sure your horse will be fine as it is treatable at this very early stage.
 

[131452]

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So sorry about Stan. It was down to luck that we caught it , I had a vet come scope him for ulcers and she said he looked really stiff and put a call in for the orthopaedics vet, who said that if these things aren't treated early they can turn into a big problem like sadly happened to your boy. He said surgery isn't necessary at this stage and hopefully this treatment will stop it getting to a point where we need it.
 

Hanno Verian

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Good luck, I lost a TB x KPWN seven years ago with that, he had surgery but it was unsuccessful, we had to make the decision to PTS aged six as although he was sound in the stable, the moment he did anything or even just trotted around his field he'd be hopping lame.

As I said, good luck, technology and procedures may be better than they were in 2012, I hope so....
 

Hanno Verian

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There was a reasonable amount, it manifested as him not being happy in work, he was an eventer, he just felt wrong, when it was diagnosed there was significant damage to the joint, it was hoped that with in effect removing the misshapen tissue it would recover, unfortunately he didn't.
 

windand rain

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Had a pony out on loan that was being backed at 4 and showed shortness behind She had mice they were successfully removed and the loaners decided they would keep her forever so I did a £1 transfer of ownership she is well into her teens now and has never shown a lame step since. The vet did say he hadn seen anyhting like it before though as she had no sign of injury or deterioration in the stifle joint everything was very smooth and good quality so these must have formed while she was still in utero
 

Denver23

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Hi, just reading through OCD related threads and wondered what the outcome was for your horse? Did you have the surgery? Really keen to get some insight into people's personal experience with OCD particularly with regards to surgery costs, aftercare and outcomes etc. Thanks
 

windand rain

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Surgery cost were abou £3000 box rest for a couple of weeks then in hand walking etc turnout in a small area after a couple of weeks then ridden in walk and trot and usual fitness of a week for every month in each pace before hacking too far and jumping She is mid teens now never lame since and is now a dressage diva. It could have gone either way and I was asked if I wanted her PTS but the loaner had her insured so they went ahead with the surgery and boy am I pleased they did. Keyhole ops on both stifles if the hocks had been involved as well she would have been pts. I of course gave her to them as they did all the rehab etc
 

[131452]

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Gosh this feels like a long time ago now.
My horse initially responded very well to PRP and Osphos injections. But after the initial improvement he started toe dragging and swinging his leg out again. We tried more controlled rest in a small paddock but both his movement and temperament continued to deteriorate. He was eventually diagnosed as a wobbler after a neck xray with no chance of improvement so sadly was PTS in October.
The vet feels that his OCD was a part of a general developmental problem which also caused the compression in his neck so the two were likely to be connected.
I'm sure he was the exception rather than the rule and most OCD cases are localised to the joints they affect. At first he seemed to respond so well to the PRP so once he went downhill again it was really very disappointing.
 
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