tildren

clairefeekerry1

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Following my many posts as am absolute last resort the vets have said we can try tildren. On the x rays he had some very minor bony changes to one of his hocks and showed an improvement when his metatarsil was nerve blocked. Has anyone had any experiences of tildren and what it was used for? They are also going to do a muscle biopsy for espm. This is all very last ditch but worth a try?
 

milz88

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Hi, I have not tried tildren before, but my horse has been diagnosed with quite onset bone spavins in each hock plus one small bony spur on the left hock, he also responded well to nerve blocks and was then medicated with joint injections and HA, would it be worth trying these injections before Tildren, just as I know Tildren is quite a bit more expensive! Good luck
 

applecart14

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Following my many posts as am absolute last resort the vets have said we can try tildren. On the x rays he had some very minor bony changes to one of his hocks and showed an improvement when his metatarsil was nerve blocked. Has anyone had any experiences of tildren and what it was used for? They are also going to do a muscle biopsy for espm. This is all very last ditch but worth a try?

We fired the lot at my horse who was diagnosed with bone spavin. Tildren is very effective particularly in mild bone spavin if diagnosed early enough before any form of fusion has taken place. I think I remember my vet helped to pioneer the treatment of it and was involved in case studies, etc so he knew about Tildren inside and out. I was initially worried about the colic risk (having an extremely colicky horse) and also about the risk of heart attack which was extremely minimal. However i needed not have worried as my horse had three infusions over a 12 month period as well as HA, steroid intraarticular injections and a course of adequan. It came to about £2800 - £3K all in all.

Here is a really useful fact sheet re Tildren which explains it better than I can.
http://www.georgevetgroup.co.uk/pdf's/equine_factsheets/TILDRENFACTSHEET.pdf


I compete Bailey unaffiliated SJ up to approx 1.10m/1.15m height, fun rides, one, two and three day events up to novice level, and unaff elem dressage. He's just had both hock joints injected with steroid as part of his once yearly regime (although he'd actually managed to go 3 years this time) and it cost me £150 but i had to finance this myself as my claim ended three years ago. The Tildren was approx £450 per throw. He is riding really well now, and has lots more enthusiasm for life, prior to his joint medication he was being ridden in spurs, a whip and given oats to pep him up as he went really lethargic and quiet. Sadly I didn't realise that he was being 'lazy' because he must have been quite uncomfortable otherwise I wouldn't have left it so long, and feel a bit sad about it now to be honest but you live and learn and as he was still dragging me up the trailer ramp and loving his show jumping I hadn't twigged on.

I would really recommend Tildren. The only downside was the side effects, it caused my horse to feel pretty rough for the 12 hours following the infusion and he was a little colicky and his bed was soaked with urine but he soon came round. A few hours discomfort against another twelve months of being comfortable and being able to enjoy what he and I both love to do is worth it imho.

Last week we won our Novice dressage class and this friday we are XC practicing, on saturday we are jumping two classes and a clear round and on Tuesday we have a jumping clinic followed by a ODE the weekend after. Tildren is fab.
 
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clairefeekerry1

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Hi. He's already had one lot of injections that are a step down from tildren and they had no effect. To be honest the changes in his hock are so minor they are barely not worth treating but to date thats the only nerve block he responded to.
 

applecart14

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Hi. He's already had one lot of injections that are a step down from tildren and they had no effect. To be honest the changes in his hock are so minor they are barely not worth treating but to date thats the only nerve block he responded to.

Ever heard the saying a stitch in time saves nine?

My horse only had very minor changes but we decided to throw every thing at the spavin whilst he was insured for future convenience as much as protection against the inevitable degenerative changes that would no doubt take place in years to come.

Incidentally the inclusion of an MSM supplement in the diet is considered very worthwhile in cases of mild bone spavin.
 

clairefeekerry1

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Ever heard the saying a stitch in time saves nine?

My horse only had very minor changes but we decided to throw every thing at the spavin whilst he was insured for future convenience as much as protection against the inevitable degenerative changes that would no doubt take place in years to come.

Incidentally the inclusion of an MSM supplement in the diet is considered very worthwhile in cases of mild bone spavin.

so are 'bony changes' the same as spavins then?? the vets haven't said the word 'spavin' to me, just described it as very minor bony changes. they also said they could x ray 100 horses and half of them could show worse x rays than mine without the symptoms mine is showing. suppose we can only treat what we see though. i'm going to try the tildren as i have about 500 left on my insurance and the claim runs out in 2 months time so might as well. vets have said they'd keep him in for 12 hours just to check he was okay. its great you can compete and jump etc now, tbh as long as he was hackable id accept that right now!!
i too also wish i had clocked on to my horses discomfort ages ago. he was always described as lazy, started running out etc. whatever it is that is wrong with him i wish i'd noticed the signs earlier.
anything else you can add or tell me? does your horse get regualr x rays to check the progress of any changes?
 

clairefeekerry1

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No his suspensorys weren't scanned but he's not actually lame and never has been. He's just not right. If I remember rightly the vets said with hind suspensorys they'd expect some degree of lameness?
 

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My horse had Tildren a couple of weeks ago when he was diagnosed with ringbone in one of his front legs. IIRC the vet said it acts as a painkiller and helps stop further bony change - he said it takes around 6 weeks to fully work and lasts for 6 months. He also had Adequan, which he has had before to help with his bone spavins. I believe Adequan will help with soft tissue problems too... I think it says on the box (I will check tonight) that it is for the treatment of arthritic conditions and "equine tendonitis symptoms", something like that.

He hasn't had Tildren before so I don't know how effective it will be but Adequan is brilliant. Mine also had steroid injections and HA into his hocks. I think I only had his hocks x-rayed once - I know the spavins (bony changes / arthritis) are there and I know how to manage them so don't feel I need to have them regularly x-rayed. The ringbone is more aggressive so I might have that x-rayed again at a later date to see if/how it has progressed. Before my horse was diagnosed with spavins he showed exactly the same reactions when worked as you describe - lazy and running out/stopping at jumps.

It is worth considering some physio or osteo treatment too. My horse was v sore in his lumbar and SI regions from compensating for the spavins, needed a course of treatments to sort him out.
 

ihatework

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No his suspensorys weren't scanned but he's not actually lame and never has been. He's just not right. If I remember rightly the vets said with hind suspensorys they'd expect some degree of lameness?

I thought you said you got a positive nerve block? In which case surely there is some subtle lameness/gait abnormality?
Hind suspensory lameness can be equally a subtle, certainly worth a quick scan IMO ...
 

chestnut cob

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I thought you said you got a positive nerve block? In which case surely there is some subtle lameness/gait abnormality?
Hind suspensory lameness can be equally a subtle, certainly worth a quick scan IMO ...

Yes, I thought I'd read there was a positive nerve block in a hind leg too.

Horse I know is going for a gamma something scan, somewhere up in Yorks, to help diagnose what's going on with him. Seems as though it could be any number of things but nothing really showing up on full lameness work up. Might be worth talking to your vet about this?
 

clairefeekerry1

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Hmm not sure why the vets haven't suggested this? Must be a reason why as he's been to 3 different practices inc a large hospital and not mentioned. He isn't lame, he drags a toe and hitches one of his hips in trot only. Also he's had 6 months off turned out with no improvement. Wonder why its never been mentioned. Yet another thing for me to take up with the vets then!
 

clairefeekerry1

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Horse has had a full body gamma scan which showed absolutely nothing. Was gutted as was told this diagnostic was the answer to all my questions so when it came back showing nothing I was gutted!
 
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