Severe DJD in hock

[ccowan06]

So I have just had heartbreaking news yesterday in that my long term loan horse(11 year old tb mare) has just been diagnosed (after a month of on/off lameness, that we had just assumed was due to windpuffs) with Severe DJD in both her hocks, with 2 out of the 3 bones completely fused together in one and 1 of the 3 fused in the other, the remaining bones only having a max of 50% of a gap left. She was given cortisone injections but we were told that these would last anywhere between 2 and 6 months and would need redone, the time between would get smaller and smaller until they were no longer effective (usually a max of 2 years) and then she will need to be retired - he said that if a farrier suggests corrective shoes that to say no as it won't have any effect, and that surgery is not an option. The diagnoses came from one of the best vets in the country which makes it so heartbreaking.

Has anyone had experiences of this before? Is there anything else we can do?

 

[coloured_c0b]

Hi i have a horse that was diagnosed with severe DJD of the stifle and fetlocks so you totally have my sympathy, my heart broke into pieces the day he was diagnosed. At the time i was told to PTS or retire. This was two years ago and this summer he was brought back into work as a very light hack upon the advice of my vet. Hes was suppose to be on 2 packets a day of danilon at time of being diagnosed but sadly developed an allergic reaction to this. we've had some success with metacam which he gets just as needed. I;ve not had any cause for concern yet with regards to PTS but will watch him carefully this winter. I personally think the 2 years he had as a field ornament did him good. its not all doom and gloom just really have to see how the horse copes with the condition and go from there. get them on a good joint supplement, mines on synequin its expensive but damm worth it in my opinion, a good understanding farrier, mines barefoot always has been but my farrier is sympathetic during trimming. my has regular physio treatments to reduce any muscle stiffness thats creeping in and i find that really helps with his mobility. good luck with the management and i hope everything goes well

So I have just had heartbreaking news yesterday in that my long term loan horse(11 year old tb mare) has just been diagnosed (after a month of on/off lameness, that we had just assumed was due to windpuffs) with Severe DJD in both her hocks, with 2 out of the 3 bones completely fused together in one and 1 of the 3 fused in the other, the remaining bones only having a max of 50% of a gap left. She was given cortisone injections but we were told that these would last anywhere between 2 and 6 months and would need redone, the time between would get smaller and smaller until they were no longer effective (usually a max of 2 years) and then she will need to be retired - he said that if a farrier suggests corrective shoes that to say no as it won't have any effect, and that surgery is not an option. The diagnoses came from one of the best vets in the country which makes it so heartbreaking.

Has anyone had experiences of this before? Is there anything else we can do?