Retired arthritic horse ... help managing condition

[Hodgson94]

Hi,

Sorry, new to this forum I had a quick look and couldn't see anything similar, so sorry if this has already been discussed.

My mare was retired following a suspensory ligament injury. she is 10 y/o and has now been diagnosed with arthritis/DJD. With the hot weather/hard ground, she has been struggling with lameness, but if she is kept stabled she is worse as she can't move around.

She is currently getting 1 sachet of bute per day in her feed but she is lame, and looks uncomfortable on her bad days (she has good days where she looks fine and not lame at all, and she will still canter round the field etc. and play with the other horses)

Just wondering if people have any suggestions that may help?

Has anyone any experience of cold/ice therapies helping with any discomfort?

She also has a chunk missing out of her front hoof (from a fight with the boy next door last winter through the fence!!), that is growing out nicely but obviously takes time, so her feet are being cared for accordingly, she now has bar shoes on for more support. I am 99% sure the lameness is due to her unbalanced hoof and the hard ground, but I would be interested in people's opinions for any thing I can do that may help...

Thanks for reading.

 

[TheMule]

The easiest and probably most effective thing would be to up her bute, it may be worth a vet review to see if there are any other things they can suggest to help. 10 is no age really so you need to consider the long term sustainability of keeping her sound enough to enjoy life

 

[Hodgson94]

Thanks, yeah I know its so upsetting. I don't want to give up on her just yet in case it is more the hard ground/hoof re-balance. But if she doesn't improve I couldn't face putting her through the winter Will get back in touch with my vet.

 

[dixie]

The easiest and probably most effective thing would be to up her bute, it may be worth a vet review to see if there are any other things they can suggest to help. 10 is no age really so you need to consider the long term sustainability of keeping her sound enough to enjoy life

This would be what I would say too. Its very sad when they are so young and I've just had the same with my 11yr old. Sadly I had to PTS as he deterioted so quickly, despite steroid injections etc etc and wasn't his normal self.

 

[Hodgson94]

Sorry to hear that, it’s so sad I don’t want to put her through any long term suffering but equally don’t want to give up too soon, if she gets worse quickly then as you that’s what I’ll have to do, but it’s so sad 😕 thank you for replying x

 

[hopscotch bandit]

She will need plenty of turnout to get those joints moving, so if you can't turn out 24/7 where you are then think about increasing her turnout hours as much as you can. Some horses benefit from remedial shoeing (lateral extensions)

Supplement wise Tumeric is meant to be good for arthritis but I don't think its got any scientific research to back it, I might be wrong. Devils Claw is a good supplement to give and you can feed this on its own or sometimes it forms part of a joint supplement. Most supplements for joints offer chondroitin sulfate and hyaluronic acid (HA) and these can offer daily support.

Magnotherapy increases blood flow to the area and gives pain relief. The magnetic field relaxes the muscles and soft tissues which allegedly benefit from improved blood flow, which creates warmth and promotes healing. magnets are commonly used on horses with arthritis. The best type of magnet to use are those with high guass readings. Bioflow are really good for horse boots.

Steroid injections work very well for some horses, for others they need to be repeated every 6-12 months.

Keeping as much weight off the horse is very effective as the less weight it carries less trauma to the damaged joints.

I have never heard of ice therapy for arthritis, I would have thought that would be counter productive but I am not a vet. I was always led to believe that warmth is best for arthritis.

 

[SEL]

I find my arthritic one better without shoes, even if he's finding the ground hard. He also knocked chunks out of his hooves (wet winter, dry summer i guess) so was tiptoeing over the ground a bit. He grows odd shaped feet which are his way of compensating for his joint problem.

I use danilon when needed. On vets advice if there's a problem then we do a week with 2 x sachets a day, a week at one a day then wean him off it.

He didn't mind winter too much, although he found the mud hard going. But then so did I!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I had brilliant results with magnet leg wraps on one mare. They have been used on other horses and not been anywhere near as effective, so they might not work for yours. She was on 2 bute per day at 15.2hh and was still hobbling lame. Next step was pts. Then I was recommended BioFlow boots by someone who manages a laminitic pony with them.
The mare came in overnight and out for the day with the boots on for 24 hours. She trotted back in for her tea with no obvious lameness, it really was quite miraculous! She did extremely well for 3 months without bute then sadly had to be pts because of an unconnected emergency.

 

[Goldenstar]

Fatty has arthritis and a soft tissue injury to his stifle which I’d what ended his career
Atm he is stabled 12 to 14 hours a day he is fat and atm the main thing we need to do is to prevent him getting fatter .
I have him shod in front the ground is hard and he would sore without shoes and that the worse thing you can do to an arthritic horse because they get in a right pickle once they start trying to save their feet .
He will have his front shoes removed as soon as the ground gets softer.
He has a deep bed during the day and spends a lot of time lying and sleeping .
It’s very clear when Fatty Is not happy and atm although he would like more grass and more forage when in ,he’s in good form .
For me that’s what matters , do you have a bright happy retiree ?in the winter I got this wrong I forced him to live out because it thought it would be best for his arthritis he was grumpy and unhappy when I snapped and brought him in his relief was palpable he quickly returned to his normal cheeky self .
You know in your heart when enough is enough but I would be trying front shoes and perhaps hind ones as well before I decided we where at the end if the road .

 

[Hodgson94]

Thank you that’s really helpful, she is turned out 24/7 so that’s good, she’s just brought in daily for feeds/supplements. I have ordered the streamz bands to try as they can be left on 24/7. I’ll look into tumeric, I’ve got some
Devils claw I might add that in again.

Thank you for your reply.

 

[Hodgson94]

I find my arthritic one better without shoes, even if he's finding the ground hard. He also knocked chunks out of his hooves (wet winter, dry summer i guess) so was tiptoeing over the ground a bit. He grows odd shaped feet which are his way of compensating for his joint problem.

I use danilon when needed. On vets advice if there's a problem then we do a week with 2 x sachets a day, a week at one a day then wean him off it.

He didn't mind winter too much, although he found the mud hard going. But then so did I!

Thank you that’s good to know about winter! I’ll look into Danilon I’ve not heard of that! 😊

 

[Hodgson94]

Thanks, she is shod so that’s good, she is usually happy and mischievous but not at the moment, just trying to try what I can to bring that spark back again. I don’t want to have to make that decision yet... thanks for all your replies really helpful x

 

[jgmbng]

My old boy is on 1 danilon a day but my vet has just prescribed 17 parecetomol twice daily as and when for his bad days. Pack of 1000 from the vets was about 14.00 so not expensive in the grand scheme of things and maybe worth a try on your vets advice.

 

[Goldenstar]

My old boy is on 1 danilon a day but my vet has just prescribed 17 parecetomol twice daily as and when for his bad days. Pack of 1000 from the vets was about 14.00 so not expensive in the grand scheme of things and maybe worth a try on your vets advice.[/QUOTE

I have never heard of this does he eat them readily ?
But it’s certainly a inexpensive option .
OP I would certainly be talking to the vet and trying Danilon it’s not more expensive that feeding a load of untested supplements and that what I have done with Fatty I have ditched all the things you try to see if they help and spent my money on Danilon when he needs it .Fatty does well on cartofen injections these do give good value for money for him .

 

[Hodgson94]

My old boy is on 1 danilon a day but my vet has just prescribed 17 parecetomol twice daily as and when for his bad days. Pack of 1000 from the vets was about 14.00 so not expensive in the grand scheme of things and maybe worth a try on your vets advice.

Thank you, how much is danilon? Would that be to replace bute? Thanks

 

[jgmbng]

I was surprised about using paracetamol to be honest.
I break them in half and hide in his bucket feed of a small amount of copra bulked out with top chop zero, he seems to eat this ok.

 

[ester]

danilon is essentially bute.

I feed boswellia which has helped a lot in the past but not so much currently, it seems to me that at the point where bute is needed the alternatives are rarely man enough for the job.

I would speak to the vet about increasing the bute for a bit and seeing if that helps.