pastern joint arthritis?

doctordoolittle

doctordoolittle

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7 weeks ago my horse suddenly went lame and it was thought to be a field injury related to twisting/overextension of the off side fetlock. He is now sound but still looking a bit sore/tentative circling on concrete especially to the right. This could be related to stiffness due to box rest, injury could have exacerbated underlying arthritis or he may have previously been like this but not as noticeable. When he was in horse-pital recently for a scope they did Xrays which showed there was some degenerative changes in the pastern joint bilaterally. Obviously this could be an incidental finding but it does fit with this discomfort he now seems to show on rotation.

He is back at the vets in 2 weeks for repeat scopes so if he's still showing some discomfort then they will nerve block pastern joint to assess further. As he's got ulcers NSAIDs will not be suitable so will probably be looking down the cartrophen route.

what do you think are the best joint supplements on the market? Have had my horse on a joint supplement since I've had him (3yrs) as a preventative and he is now 15.
He's on suppleaze gold as when i looked into it this seemed to have good reviews and seemed to be pretty cost effective!! Have used biosynov in the past but its not that palatable and stinks of curry!

Please can anyone tell me of their experiences of management and any advice/tips

Thanks :)
 
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I don't think there is just one product that is best as some work better than others depending on the individual horse and the condition of the joints etc, also some products have higher levels of the ingredients, others lower, which unless you continue with a loading dose on an everyday basis, might not make a blind bit of difference anyway or you may have too much of one ingredient and not enough of the other...confusing I know.

So you might be better off supplementing or trialling the ingredients separately to get the correct balance for your own horse, which is something you could talk about with your vet.

Products with high levels of MSM is said to benefit horses with arthritis.

Also cider vinegar I have found is very good for horses with arthritis.
 
Thanks for your input - its such a minefield as it seems to be with any type of supplement!

Will have to do some reading on the different products and compare contents and will obviously be discussing with my vet.

However I just wanted to hear others experiences and what they recommend

Have used cider vinegar in the past - not sure how effective it is compared to other supplements?

Will have a look into those products amymay
 
My OH's 16yr old gelding (a chunky cob) was diagnosed with this last spring. It was thought he had strained something playing like a loon in the field but after a few weeks rest he was still lame. X-rays confirmed the arthritic changes.
He was given a course of adequan(sp?) jabs and turned out on his own for most of the summer. He was also given synequin.
We did have a 2nd course of adequan done 6 months after the original. The vets had wanted to inject into the joint but we had enough trouble with the adequan jabs as the silly sod is scared of needles. (we went through 2 headcollars and 3 vets before we found a technique that worked to jab him!)
We still have him on the synequin as I'm sure it has made a great difference to him, he is sound but just occasionally a bit stiff til he gets going. He has been out doing dressage recentley, the only thing we have stopped is jumping him as the last time he seemed a bit sore for a day or so afterwards.
 
The adequan jabs can be used to help prevent whats there from getting any worse and is also used for tendon/ligament damage (from my basic understanding of it).My mare had it when she damaged her hind suspensory ligament about 5 years ago. It's a course of 7 injections given over 3/4 weeks.

The synequin is costly at about £140 a tub but once the loading and intermediate dosings are done they seem to last forever. I had 4 tubs on my insurance and have opened the last tub last week. I think we started it in about June last year so I think it is well worth it.

I hope everything ends up as well for you as it has for us! The silly old fool is still pinging around unlike the veteran he is meant to be!
 
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