Steroid injection into the hock for arthritis

I haven't experienced first hand on the hock, but my mare had a steroid injection in her front and it worked quite well! Although I am not too sure how long it lasted as 6 months after she had Tildren which has masked the effect of the steroid injection.
 
My horse has bone spavins and had hock injections last October. For her they have made a big difference, she is striding out more, her back is better and she is much happier. At the moment the injections still seem to be working but we are also giving her cartrophen injections. My understanding is that every horse is different and for some the injections last 6 months for others it could be a year or more. I am hoping the injections will last a year or more as I believe that the length of time they are effective for decreases everytime you give the injections.
 
My big orange mare had this done in March. The first 10 days after it she was super, back to her normal self, but she started to deteriorate after that. She was put on a 4 week course of catrophen and either that or the combination of the two put her right again within a few weeks. So far, she's still doing well and back to doing dressage and show jumping happy and confident in herself (her self-confidence in particular seemed to have been dented prior to the diagnosis). She has the odd stiff day now, but she cleared a flexion test on the affected leg when she was reassessed (something neither I nor the vet thought she would do, we were looking for an improvement not a 0/10!).
 
I will keep you posted, but my lad (who was really quite lame) had both hocks injected exactly two weeks ago after x-rays... He is a different horse. I was walking him out in-hand at the weekend and a lady came out of the house and leaned over her garden fence to ask me about my 'youngster', as the way he pranced about reminded her of her filly... :p We've been able to almost double the length of our walks as we can get so much further in 15 minutes now! :D

He is having another set of injections tomorrow - I've forgotten the name of them now (think it began with C? Not the same jabs as he had a fortnight ago). He'll have one of those in each hock every Wednesday for four weeks, and then we will see what the prognosis is from there.* I perhaps shouldn't be as such early days, but I am allowing myself to be optimistic... :):rolleyes::o

*ETS it's Catrophen I think... Just seen Wyrdsister's post! Can't delete my second post though so ignore that... :o
 
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Did your horses all have arthritis (apart from the one with a bone spavin)? Mine's only 11, I don't want to retire him yet!
 
cinnamontoast said:
Did your horses all have arthritis (apart from the one with a bone spavin)? Mine's only 11, I don't want to retire him yet!
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Yes, sorry didn't make that clear.

LittleGinger said:
I will keep you posted, but my lad (who was really quite lame) had both hocks injected exactly two weeks ago after x-rays... He is a different horse.

He is having another set of injections tomorrow - I've forgotten the name of them now (think it began with C?
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Just thought I'd post a quick update, in case you're interested (and because I'm happy :D:o). The vet said Ginger looks totally different and is really improving, so she gave me for lots of Cartrophen to begin injecting in two weeks - once a week. Then she will come back and reassess. In the meantime, we can begin building his work back up to improve his muscle (where he's lost it all from having lots of time off) and maybe by summer he will be back in ridden work. My fingers and toes are all crossed!!!!
 
Reg had his hocks done this Jan, as he was showing arthritic changes which were affecting him. He's a different horse- much more forwards, his way of going has improved hugely, his jumping is endlessly better and he has had no sign of the recurring back problems he had before. It's 6 months on, and we're keeping a clse eye out for signs he needs it topping up.

He's 13, and all being well he'll move up to BE novice in the next 6 months... No sign of retirement yet!
 
Some lovely stories there, it's making me feel that I've done the right thing. I've had to really push my vet for this, eventually phoned and just demanded it.

He's had Adequan injections previously which I thought made zero difference. The vet wants glucosamine for him but with clear extra bone on the hock x rays, I fail to see how that will help hugely. :rolleyes: Cartrophen isn't licensed for horses, as far as I recall, but is widely used and can be effective, but doesn't work on 1/3 of dogs treated with it (think I'm remembering figures correctly!)
 
My mare injured a ligament about 4 years ago. As a result of 9 months off work, she then trotted up lame in both fronts during one of her check ups. X-rays showed arthritic changes in both fronts. She had a course of cartrophen injections, as well as steroids straight into the joints. She has been right as rain ever since.
 
My boy goes in for a lameness work up with stiff hocks and recurring back trouble next Tuesday, you have given me hope that we might be out jumping yet.
 
My boy has had the cortisteroid injections twice now in the same hock - meta and inta tarsal joints. Last lot was I think about 3 - 4 years ago and touch wood he is fine, still carts me over 90cm - 1m fences with no problem. If you want any more info feel free to pm me.
 
vallin said:
When did injecting catrophen become common place? I've never heard of it before.
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My 19 yr old gelding has had Cartophen every month since last August to combat his arthritis. As I understand it from my vet, it previously was mostly used on smaller animals like dogs and wasn't commmonly used on horses due to the cost - but it really does work, so I guess its gaining popularity due to that? I know my boy is markedly better about 3 days after he's had his injection!
 
My older lad is having his third annual fetlock injection tomorrow - he's a 17 year old with fairly high mileage, and had it done two summers ago after being 3/10 lame on that leg, with arthritic changes showing in the fetlock joint. He went very mildly lane again the following year, presenting exactly the same symptoms, was treated in exactly the same way again very successfully. He's now feeling very slightly 'off' on a tight circle and not keen on certain types of surface, not lame per se (still competing successfully at dressage last weekend) but it's time to do it again - cartrofen and corticosteroid into fetlock joint tomorrow :) Keeps him happy, sound and comfortable doing prelim/novice dressage and jumping once or twice a month. He's not a horse who would retire gracefully so I feel more than justified in helping him in any way possible!
 
LittleGinger said:
Oh! This is what I am talking about in my post :) So glad to hear it seems to be working for your mare, wyrdsister.
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LittleGinger, Catrophen goes into the chest as it works systemically - I'm not sure it can go into the hock...

Vallin, we opted for Cartrophen because my vet doesn't rate Tildren at all. It's pretty commonly used in the SW...

Cinnamontoast, yep, definitely arthritis for my girl. She was 5/10 lame when we started! :eek:
 
wyrdsister said:
Cinnamontoast, yep, definitely arthritis for my girl. She was 5/10 lame when we started! :eek:
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Yikes! :eek: Mine is maybe 1/10, 2/10 on circles/hard surfaces. He hooned round the field when a new horse was put in a few weeks ago and came in about 6/10 lame, bilaterally! Bloody awful! He's had weeks of box rest and was pretty much sound yesterday. Just hope the injection works.
 
My boy had both hocks injected in February. The difference was amazing - his movement was so much looser and he was a lot happier in himself. It is still working at the moment although my Vet said that it may wear off and he might need a 'top-up' at some point but it varies from horse to horse as to how often this will need doing. I must say, I didn't believe how huge the difference would be - he is like a different horse! :)
 
cinnamontoast said:
Did your horses all have arthritis (apart from the one with a bone spavin)? Mine's only 11, I don't want to retire him yet!
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My boy is nearly 14 and yes it's Arthritis (he also had a steroid injection in his back as he has a narrowed vertebrae) I know how you feel - I was heartbroken to think I might nit be able to ride my beautiful boy again but the difference really is amazing - I realised just how stiff he was before the first time I got on him again! Good luck, I hope you get him sorted! :)
 
Bertie had irap therapy in his hocks for bone spavin, and steroid and tildren injections in his back for kissing spine. His first ones were in January and so far so good... My vet had a look at him on Tuesday and said he's looking really good and trotted up fine.

We only do light hacking, but that is enough for me. Bertie is 18 now and I was so worried he'd have to be retired when we got the diagnosis. I also got him a new saddle, properly fitted by a professional and that has made a difference too. We've never had such a springy, forward going trot!!

xx
 
My mare had bone spavin, injections made little difference to her. She was intermittently lame for the next 18 months before we decided to PTS.
 
I know this isn't what people want to hear but thought i would share. My girl has arthritis in her fetlocks as written about on here and after 3 steroid injections it has turned out that she is one of the 1in10 that they just don't work for. Trying a new drug on Mon fingers crossed.
Not poo pooing the injections just saying that there is a small chance that they won't work. Good luck.
 
Injections worked for us only for about a month, and then the stiffness returned, much worse than it had been. We then had tildren, which so far has had good results (has been about 2 months now). So if the injections don't work there are other options.
 
I tried everything with my mare, it all had a short term effect and then didn't help although she has a very aggressive form resulting in her being PTS on Tuesday, aged only 8.

For milder cases I know people where the injection has worked wonders.
 
cinnamontoast said:
Yikes! :eek: Mine is maybe 1/10, 2/10 on circles/hard surfaces. He hooned round the field when a new horse was put in a few weeks ago and came in about 6/10 lame, bilaterally! Bloody awful! He's had weeks of box rest and was pretty much sound yesterday. Just hope the injection works.
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Yeah, it was a bit yikes! She went from being occasionally 'iffy' (1/10, maybe 2/10, on certain days, not even enough to be sure there was anything to call a vet for, to 'ouch, I'm broken' almost overnight). I suspect she has a high pain tolerance - and may also have hooned around like a fool!). I have to agree with some of the more recent posters, the injections may or may not work - the steroids didn't really for us - but that's not the end of the world. There's quite a range of treatments available, so don't panic if the injections do fail. There are others to try and it seems to vary between horses what works and what doesn't. Good management helps. A decent joint supplement, maximising turn-out time (interesting that box rest helped yours, it's a disaster for mine), and bute/danilon on the 'bad' days (which can still happen even if the treatment is predominantly successful) can certainly prolong a comfortable working life. Fingers crossed for you!
 
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