Possible arthritis-some questions

[holeymoley]

I think my horse is perhaps showing signs of arthritis. He is 20 now, I suppose it is in some way inevitable. He has been a very easy keeper since owning him from the age of 3, with the only health blip of severe rotational laminitis aged 16 that by nothing short of a miracle he came through.

Basically, how do I go about asking my vet to treat for possible arthritis? Do I ask for a lameness work up? He isn't lame as such, he's just slightly more careful going down steep hills than he used to be. I have discussed with my vet previously about treatments when the time comes as I won't go down the steroid route for obvious reasons. If possible, I would like to try Arthramid. Can this be injected on the yard or would he have to go to vet clinic? Without going through a whole load of nerve blocks, is there another way they generally pinpoint the area? Any obvious signs?

 

[paddy555]

arthrimid can be injected at home or at least our vet would do if asked.
Where do you want them to inject it? which particular joint?
or even do you want fronts or hind legs?

I cannot see how they are going to decide, other than by guesswork without doing the various tests. If you are just going to do it on the offchance you hit the right joint and if not move onto the next one then it is going to be really expensive.

Less good on steep hills could be hocks or front feet. With the previous lami history and rotation they may be considering the fronts and X rays may help.

I think you will have to advise the vet your horse appears to be showing signs of arthritis and ask them to examine him to establish where they think the problem is and what further checks they would have to make. OTOH vet may examine horse and come to a different conclusion.

My vet, in addition to bute, suggests bozmerix. Not cheap and some use instead of bute. I think it is one of these things that either works or doesn't. I haven't tried it although it is something I may consider if I have to.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

They’ll want to nerve block to assess where the lameness/stiffness is coming from and then x raying to confirm any arthritis. My mare has had arthramid injected at home.

 

[Julia0803]

I’d agree with paddy.

When I thought my cob probably had hock arthritis I spoke to my vet and asked if he could just X-ray hocks and then treat.

He said, ‘well yes, technically I can… but I wouldn’t suggest it’.

His explanation was that a lot of middle aged horses will have changes visible on an X-ray. But what we see on an X-ray doesn’t always correlate to symptoms. Ie, you could have an X-ray that looked bad, but wasn’t causing the issues, or you could have very minimal changes that were causing that horse more of a problem than you’d expect. So in theory you could inject hocks that actually weren’t the cause of the problem, because it was something else.

He suggested a work up, with the idea we were looking at hocks. So trotted up on straight/circle/soft/hard. If any issues found then nerve block, but rather than the standard, starting at the bottom and work your way up the leg, block the hocks first and see if they are the cause.

We did, plus X-rays. It was the hocks. He was injected with arthramid, which sorted the issue. (For him it was a reluctance to canter on the correct leg when previously no issue).

 

[holeymoley]

arthrimid can be injected at home or at least our vet would do if asked.
Where do you want them to inject it? which particular joint?
or even do you want fronts or hind legs?

I cannot see how they are going to decide, other than by guesswork without doing the various tests. If you are just going to do it on the offchance you hit the right joint and if not move onto the next one then it is going to be really expensive.

Less good on steep hills could be hocks or front feet. With the previous lami history and rotation they may be considering the fronts and X rays may help.

I think you will have to advise the vet your horse appears to be showing signs of arthritis and ask them to examine him to establish where they think the problem is and what further checks they would have to make. OTOH vet may examine horse and come to a different conclusion.

My vet, in addition to bute, suggests bozmerix. Not cheap and some use instead of bute. I think it is one of these things that either works or doesn't. I haven't tried it although it is something I may consider if I have to.

Many thanks for your reply. For some reason I think hocks. I know that slowing down hill can be related to front hooves. He has annual xrays of his hooves to make sure everything is still aligned correctly (they are) and twice a year insulin checks and blood work. At present he doesn't get any pain relief other than some Devil's Claw before/after a long ride.

 

[holeymoley]

Julia0803 that’s realky interesting, thank you for sharing your experience, I like the idea of your vet’s with the work up.

It’s really good to hear they can be injected at the yard.

 

[scats]

Mine has arthramid into hocks and coffin joints and these are done at the yard.

 

[SmallPony]

I think my horse is perhaps showing signs of arthritis. He is 20 now, I suppose it is in some way inevitable. He has been a very easy keeper since owning him from the age of 3, with the only health blip of severe rotational laminitis aged 16 that by nothing short of a miracle he came through.

Basically, how do I go about asking my vet to treat for possible arthritis? Do I ask for a lameness work up? He isn't lame as such, he's just slightly more careful going down steep hills than he used to be. I have discussed with my vet previously about treatments when the time comes as I won't go down the steroid route for obvious reasons. If possible, I would like to try Arthramid. Can this be injected on the yard or would he have to go to vet clinic? Without going through a whole load of nerve blocks, is there another way they generally pinpoint the area? Any obvious signs?

I'm in exactly the same position as you, could almost have written the post myself! I am quite reluctant to do extensive investigations and spend a lot of money on tests, because obviously at that age I know the xrays will find some wear and tear, and I am 99% sure it is hock related. At the end of the day, at 20 I'm perfectly fine with altering her work or winding down to hacking if that is more comfortable for her - horse owes me nothing after 15 years together! It's hard isn't it and especially when they aren't actually lame, I don't know if to just keep an eye on things or how pro-active to be. A lot of our turnout is hills although she is on the flat at the moment, so I think I might have to commit that next time they change fields, if she is struggling then we just commit to investigating/treating.

The only other sign I've noticed in mine that made me go hmm, was for a couple of weeks before her most recent farrier trim, she was a bit reluctant to pick her back feet up, although now that seems to be ok again since she's been trimmed. I don't know if a longer toe loads the hock differently or if coincidence!

Would love to stay posted on your situation!

 

[Goldenstar]

I think you are unlikely to get your monies worth from arthamid in a horse of this age .
There is a small steroid risk from steroids being put into the joints the vet will advise you about the balance of risk .
At this age I think I would try to concentrate my money on pain relief and management rather than expensive diagnostic work .
I would start with a call out so the vet can see the horse and it might help to video things that you see the horse doing that have worried you .
I would want to start with a bute trial to see if this makes a difference .
But I would definitely want the vet to see the horse first .
It’s better to have joint injections administered in the vets because they maintain a better dust free environment although if the stables are clean and well dusted down it can be done at the stables .
My vets do inject into joints at my house sometimes and we prepare before hand .

Don’t be afraid of the horse being on low dose oral medication it’s often the best and cheapest way to keep them comfortable.