SuperCat007
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
I have a 26yo with mild-moderate hock arthritis (probably other arthritic changes based on his age). He's fit and sound and on vet advice & support still in full work, including jumping.
He's on Boswellia full time and bute when he's stiff but as we still compete I'm looking at other options. Last year when he had his first EMS test he was borderline, so he's lost quite a lot of weight and doing a lot more work, so I asked the vet again about options (thinking steroids were the only one - how wrong was I?!)
He's uninsured for arthritis (excluded) so we're also mindful of cost.
Vet's first suggestion was Tildren - having read about it A LOT it seems a real contender but I am incredibly concerned about the potential affect on his kidneys, kidneys were working fine when he had a full workup last year but nonetheless they aren't going to be as good as they could be due to his age. This comes from both a cost POV - if he goes into renal failure we'll have to make the decision due to cost, but also for him experience that. Though I appreciate that the risk of that is relatively low.
Second option was cartrophen - I thought this was an NSAID (was getting confused with carprophen) so kind of dismissed, but having read more I wonder if this might be a better place to start to see if it helps...
Final option (purely down to cost) is Arthramid at £250 per vial plus X-rays and considering he will likely need a few areas medicating it will likely make it quite cost prohibitive.
I would be keen on hearing personal experience of any of the above, and opinions on what others might try.
He's sound 95% of the time on Boswellia and has bute on bad days (like right now when it is so cold) or right after he's done hard work or a competition. Lameness is also more similar to stiffness than hopping lame too when he isn't quite right.
Bute does work and I wouldn't be too concerned on using it full time at his age but two things make me want to investigate other options:
1. Bute only helps kill pain & reduce inflammation, no disease modification going on.
2. We do RC qualifiers and they run under FEI doping rules meaning I need to be very careful about when I give the bute if he needs it and I would prefer to be ensuring I am definitely competition legal for fairness and just in case we were tested.
I have a 26yo with mild-moderate hock arthritis (probably other arthritic changes based on his age). He's fit and sound and on vet advice & support still in full work, including jumping.
He's on Boswellia full time and bute when he's stiff but as we still compete I'm looking at other options. Last year when he had his first EMS test he was borderline, so he's lost quite a lot of weight and doing a lot more work, so I asked the vet again about options (thinking steroids were the only one - how wrong was I?!)
He's uninsured for arthritis (excluded) so we're also mindful of cost.
Vet's first suggestion was Tildren - having read about it A LOT it seems a real contender but I am incredibly concerned about the potential affect on his kidneys, kidneys were working fine when he had a full workup last year but nonetheless they aren't going to be as good as they could be due to his age. This comes from both a cost POV - if he goes into renal failure we'll have to make the decision due to cost, but also for him experience that. Though I appreciate that the risk of that is relatively low.
Second option was cartrophen - I thought this was an NSAID (was getting confused with carprophen) so kind of dismissed, but having read more I wonder if this might be a better place to start to see if it helps...
Final option (purely down to cost) is Arthramid at £250 per vial plus X-rays and considering he will likely need a few areas medicating it will likely make it quite cost prohibitive.
I would be keen on hearing personal experience of any of the above, and opinions on what others might try.
He's sound 95% of the time on Boswellia and has bute on bad days (like right now when it is so cold) or right after he's done hard work or a competition. Lameness is also more similar to stiffness than hopping lame too when he isn't quite right.
Bute does work and I wouldn't be too concerned on using it full time at his age but two things make me want to investigate other options:
1. Bute only helps kill pain & reduce inflammation, no disease modification going on.
2. We do RC qualifiers and they run under FEI doping rules meaning I need to be very careful about when I give the bute if he needs it and I would prefer to be ensuring I am definitely competition legal for fairness and just in case we were tested.
