Treatment for Navicular Syndrome and DJD

Tildren - a bisphosphonate derivative given IV
Various IA injections given directly into the area (corticosteriods, GAGs and other such things)
Adequan IM
Oral glucosamine + Choindroitin + MSM
Bute!
Often Navilox/Circulon used to be prescribed for the navicular, not so much these days though

Probably others I have forgotten
 
Thanks!
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Do you have any experience of using them?

P x
 
On my nav horse I have used Tildren combined with oral joint suppliment.
He came sound and stayed sound so we didn't inject the joint in the end.
The joint supp I'm currently feeding is Synequin but it's very expensive. Am on my last tub on insurance and will then be experimenting with cheaper alternatives.
 
You'll have to ask your vet about if it would be useful for your horse.

You are looking at about £500 for one infusion, depends on how big your horse is and how many vials they need to reconstitute. I think mine needed 10.
 
[ QUOTE ]
You'll have to ask your vet about if it would be useful for your horse.

You are looking at about £500 for one infusion, depends on how big your horse is and how many vials they need to reconstitute. I think mine needed 10.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thats alot of money...
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Hello, my mare has got what would probably have been diagnosed as navicular before they could mri scan. She's got arthritis of coffin joints, but no boney changes as yet.
Has got egg bars on, is on Synequin (v expensive but good) and NAF omega oil, has had cortisone injection into joint (didn't do anything) and course of 4 irap injections (helped). I try not to ride her on hard. Am also putting her on rubber matting soon, and moving her to yard where she can be out for longer.
Not quite sound yet but still hoping.. will try and help if you have any Qs - has your lovely coloured in the sig been diagnosed?
 
My boy was 20 and developed bilateral front feet lameness that was eventually diagnosed as DJD/navicular syndrome. Best lameness vet in the land said it was one of the worst cases he had ever seen. It had been masked by the bilateral involvement...it still upsets me that I missed it for months. We tried steriod injections into the coffin joints and Newmarket glucosamine but I was warned that the horse may - at best - come rideable for a few months and at worst be able to totter round on daily bute for a couple more years. He never became sound, I never rode him again, he started dropping weight and looking old and tired. He was going downhill and being bullied and squealing in the field and he was quietly pts in my arms 4 months after the diagnosis. Sorry.
 
Have you had a definite diagnosis?

Reason I ask is our TB was diagnosed with Navicular, had x-rays, given navilox, bute etc etc the list goes on. She had no improvement so I called the farrier in and he dug sooo deep into her foot, I couldn't bear to watch, but he found the problem, massive infection. We are talking a few years ago now and scans etc can see much more that the old x-rays did.
 
I had Tildren (4 viles) on mine with nav changes in both front feet, plus egg bar shoes with silicone pads and Cosequin powder in feed.

He's now sound and going well. We're still on the eggbars (without the pads) but I've now got him on the strongest stuff from the Cortaflex range (the one with the yellow lid) and it seems to be enough for him. It's £50 for a small tub and lasts me 2 months at the rate I give it, so a LOT cheaper than the Cosequine! It's not as powerful though, but is doing the job for my horse.

I would say though that he was only very mildly unlevel and the nav changes are very minor, so he wasn't a bad case.
 
would really recommend Flexijoint by equimins when you come off synequin - had my 27yo on it for 5 years now, and recently won a dressage test with 78% with commetns about her flexibility - they didn't know her age either
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QR -
Thank you all for your input into this. 3 years ago, Benj went lame and we went all out on the investigations. Blocks, xrays and MRI. It showed that he had DJD of the coffin joint and changes to his navicular bone, aswell as a lesion on the DDFT and distension of the navicular bursa. After a year of bringing him back into work, I started getting him shod Natural Balance. He has been sound for about 2 years now, with no problems.
Went VERY lame 7-8/10ths a couple of weeks ago. He went for nerve blocks and xrays. All the xrays have shown is that there are huge changes with the foot, most marked on the navicular bone, and he has grown some HUGE sidebones. So we are assuming that he has a tear in the DDFT again.
Vet am out again on Thursday, after we had dropped him down to 1 bute a day, and again, he is very lame.
Vet wants him back in to do more block. The coffin joint this time, as there is a chance that the navicular bone will block out aswell.
My problem is that I have no insurance for this, and already the bill is running up. And do I really need another block? What will it tell me?
I know I will need to have the joint medicated anyway.....

I really am in a tizz about what to do.

P x
 
Hello, Im so sorry, what horrible news.

So although the xrays showed the boney changes etc, that can't be what caused sudden, severe lameness presumably. But a tear in the DDFT sounds possible. Has all the obvious stuff like foot abcess etc been ruled out?

I don't understand what another nerve block will tell you either, and I wouldn't spend the money on that unless your vet can convince you - you'd be better off I'd have thought putting it towards an ultrasound or mri, but I'm not a vet!

I don't know much about DDFTs - do they run through the foot, and if so, is it only an MRI which would show it up, not a standard ultrasound? I know you mentioned he had a lesion before - I know that when lesions on a tendon break down they can result in temporary sudden severe lameness - could it be that's what's happened do you think?

If he was mine I wouldn't be going down the route of medicating the joint, as I just can't imagine that's the cause of this acute problem. Is he sound enough to be happy out in field for a few weeks and see what happens?

Am so sorry, I would be absolutely in pieces, as I am where you were 3 years ago. I think you have to rely on your vet for this one, but you need to be completely honest with them and ask them to be the same with you - you don't have a bottomless pit of cash, you want to do the best for your horse, but you also live in the real world and need to be practical. If he is sound enough to turn away for a while, that's probably what I would do. Let us know how you go, I'll be keeping fingers crossed for you.
 
Hi TillyD,
Thank you for your reply.

I don't believe that the changes are what had caused the acute onset of the lameness either, so the DDFT tear is the only thing we really have to go on at the moment. He has been hoof tested on numerous occasions, and the xrays showed no evidence of gas bubbles.
Its not a nerve block, they want to block out the joint. Why, I am not 100% sure in my own mind!
The end of the DDFT runs over the navicular bone, which is in the hoof capsule, so they only way of looking into it further is MRI. And I know it would give us a definite diagnosis, my limited funds would be better spent on any treatment the vets can offer.
I believe the 'navicular syndrome' needs to be addressed. I am doing all I can via my farrier, but I belive the changes in the bone have gone some way in causing the tendon problem.
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I know I need to be realistic about this. At the moment, even on one bute a day, he is about 7/10th on the turn and about 4-5/10ths in a straight line, so his box is where he will be staying for the forseeable future
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Thank you all again for your input.
I will be speaking to my vet to see whether they honestly think there is anything to gain from blocking that joint.

P x
 
Nothing useful to add, but just wanted to say how sorry I am
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You seem to be holding it together so well, don't be afraid to crumble ocassionally.
Worrying about his future and your money while trying to deal with everything on a day-to-day basis is just so draining... I'm trying to forget.
Good luck.
 
Here we go first post on here.Hope it works!
My TB mare(she is not with me anymore) had navicular sydrome many years ago,and what i believe kept her sound is plenty of turn out,which kept the circulation in her foot going
 
I know... it does get easier, well, not easier but less emotional as you just have to get on with things.
Are things feeling a bit less muddled now you've written them all down on here? I used the vets forum more as an outlet for it all than for actual advice/ideas
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Its a drag..esp getting up at 4.30 every morning
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I am still muddled really, but I have had a chat with the vet this morning, and I am going to take him in on Thursday. They will block his joint and medicate if he does block out. I feel a bit sick about the money I am spending, but hey ho...they will get there money even if it is £10 a week!

Watch this space
 
Hi i'm new to this forum. I have an 11 yr old mare who has just been diagnosed with navicular syndrome by MRI scan.
She has just been treated with Tildrun and we await the results. Having said that she is quite sound at the moment but the tester will be when she comes back into work.
This mare also showed signs of djd of the pastern & coffin joint although these did not appear to be causing the lameness (proved by nerve and joint blocks) however she is now on Synequin and is part way through a 4 week course of Cartraphen (spelling!)
Rachael Murray of the AHT carried out the scan and she stressed that the horse must be kept moving and not have box rest otherwise the soft tissue starts to stick to the bone and then you really do have a problem.
I would be interested to hear from anyone who's horse has returned to a full competitive life following treatment with Tildrun. Sue
 
Hi Sue,
Mine is now a year after diagnosis and 11 months post tildren, and is out competing Dressage Nov/Elem and SJ 1m/1.05. Am even considering a few diddy events on good ground next year (Intro)
 
Hi Ben & Jerry,
Thanks for that gives me some hope for the future. I actually do endurance with my mare so not sure whether I will be able to carry on at the level we were at.
But I will be quite happy if she is sound enough just to keep working.
Sue
 
My 27 year old mare was diagnosed with DJD this time last year. She wintered all last year on Bute and Newmarket Joint Supplement. Was told not to expect miriacles so had planned for this summer to be her last but she's now off of the bute and reasonably sound. She is still on her joint supp.
 
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