Osteochondritis

[Irishcobs]

2 yr old has just be diagnosed with this.
Basically in a youngster when the cartilage growth plates grown they get replaced by new bone so when they stop growing they have strong bones. Exactly the same as children or anything young.
This Osteochondritis thing is where small patches of cartilage haven't been replaced by bone and now he is in a lot of pain as they have either come loose and entered the join space or have died away, exposing the sensitive bone and making him very sore. His in the the stifles.
He got it, vet thinks, when he was very ill over Christmas, he stunted away, not going to be bigger than 15hh when he should make 16.2hh and because of him being ill it has effected his growth and has got this.
He basically will not be able to live a normal life, he was bred to event, he may be about to hack, but mainly will have to be a companion. So at the moment we are box resting and then field resting with a old companion so he does run about but I think if he is going to be in pain or not able to anything but be in field it will be kinder to PTS.
Has anyone heard of Osteochondritis and/or had a horse that has had it?

 

[aran]

OCD is quite common - humans get it too. It can be operated on. Key hole surgery to remove the cartilage flaps and flush the joint out. Most return to a normal life - although it can predispose the joint to arthritis in the long term. I have know quite a few youngsters to get it but once operated on and rested they have come back as competition horses.

 

[judymoon]

OCD is quite common in T'Breds, (i was a vet nurse in states for 5 or so years in Kentucky and have been with T'Breds all my working life) and even more common in standard breds (trotters) its not brilliant but its not the end of the world either. Stifle OCDs are the toughest to deal with, i think, surgery is always an option but i would definately get your horse on a good glucosamin, chondroitin and, most importantly, HA (Hyaluronic acid) combination joint supplement. Cortaflex HA is the most commonest and a relative newcomer to the market Chondrogen EQ (www.kinesishealth.com) is slightly more cost effective.
I know the farms in the states when i worked out there would put the horses with issues on it staraight away.
I really think you will see a difference if you use HA alongside regular joint supplements. Let me know how you get on

 

[sw123]

We had our yearling filly put to sleep last year because of OCD, i think she got it having been fed too much on the yard she went to be weaned. Like yours she was bred to event. We took her to see the top man on OCD in the country.....who's name escapes me but I would highly recommend and he does a few clinics around the country.

Basically she had it in both stifles and he said they are the most difficult area to treat. He could operate with whatever % chance of it being fine, however you don't actually know how fine/whether when they go out eventing its going to be ok until they're up and working so in our yearlings case it would be 3 years minimum and 4 or 5 before she really worked.

We then spoke to someone (a professional event rider) who had a similar thing with her homebred horse and she had had him operated on which had gone successfully. However she felt that his hindquarters were still weak and doesn't want to event him, in fact has kept him and broken him etc but doesn't want to risk doing too much before selling him as you don't know how much it can cope with without trying!!

We decided that as our filly was so young and you could see how sore it was and the fact she'd need to have the op on both stifles that it was better to have her PTS and the specialist we went to see did that at the clinic. He was absolutely great and I will definitely go and find the name for you as someone to talk to....

As for v good joint supplement, one better than cortaflex - called biosynov from sweden but I know of a supplier over here. Has the same ingredients but also added is an antinflam (v good for OCD) and also a lot of antioxidants which help that too.....

 

[Irishcobs]

He has it in both stifles too. And the op will cost £5000+, which if it doesn't work is a lot for a companion.
He is never going to grow big enough for us anyway. We are going to give him a chance but are thinking about his welfare and future.
We have a joint supp from the vet, made by Newmarket. Not sure if that contains the right stuff?
http://www.jointsupplement.com/products.html

 

[judymoon]

Newmarket Joint Supplement is just pure glucosamine. It has no chondroitin and no HA. Biosynov is a herbal formular which does not appear to have Glucosamine Chondroitin or HA in. NJS is no doubt a superior glucosamine product but so much more can be gained through Chondroitin and especially HA tey the kinesis health people, they are pretty good on info etc