What are peoples experiences of injections into the hock?

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mudmonkey17

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Horse seen by physio today to check his back and she said he was lame in both back legs, one worse than other. Thinks is his hocks as has bone spavin in both.

Previous owner had one hock injected around 4-5 yr ago and other was said to be fused.

Need to speak to vet, she due to visit in next few week for vaccinations, but physio seemed to think they may either be able to inject hock again or suggest bute.

He is 17yr old, worked 5-6 times a week, mainly hacking and schooling. Still jumping but we hae scaled it down to small easy fun jumps as he finding anything bigger than 3' hard work. Also has ringbone in front feet that complicates it though these havent caused any problems in 2 years (touches wood).

Any experiences with this kind of thing really appreciated. Also how much would this sort of treatment cost?
 
injecting the joint can work well, but your vet may want to do lameness work up, which may involve x-rays and nerve blocks before medicating.
I dug out a recent bill for bilateral hock steroid injections - totalled £190 - incls vet time, drugs (steroids and sedation) etc.
 
My boy has had 2 cortisone injections in the right hock for mild arthritic changes - he was x-rayed/scanned and nerve blocked Feb 2010 and given his first injection - he was absolutely fine up until Feb 2011 when I noticed his gait go squiffy ever so slighly - he was checked by the vet who said he wasn't lame but presenting as slightly stiff behind and they recommended another injection (which luckily insurance covered) and hes been right as rain since - hes on supplements too. Vet says its hit or miss of they need it done again or never again

Cost of first round of treament including scans/x-rays/nerve blocking/visits and injection was around £900 - second injection including 2 visits from the vet/sedation and bandaging was around £120
 
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Results with steroids were short lived for me - 3 months tops. I opted for ethanol injections into hocks to hopefully fuse the bones - cost £600 APPROX
 
ruby had full lameness work up & xrays in 2009 - arthritis in hock diagnosed - given hock injection - good outcome until earlier this year - so a good 2 yrs - started to feel very stiff & unhappy walking downhill this spring - 2nd injection at end of may - again [touches wood] good outcome - feels far more comfortable to ride, is safer downhill & has been seen to canter in paddock,
cost for latest treatment in total was about £140
 
happy_talk said:
injecting the joint can work well, but your vet may want to do lameness work up, which may involve x-rays and nerve blocks before medicating.
I dug out a recent bill for bilateral hock steroid injections - totalled £190 - incls vet time, drugs (steroids and sedation) etc.
Click to expand...

Happy talk is right. They won't medicate a hock joint unless they have seen xrays to see what kind of problem they are encountering. Steroid injections work very well for the vast majority of horses.

You might like to look at adequan as well which is excellent for cases of DJD (degenerative hock disease). So too is Tildren and here is a fact sheet about this. However its expensive at around £400-£500 a time but is very good in cases of mild bone spavin.
http://www.georgevetgroup.co.uk/pdf's/equine_factsheets/TILDRENFACTSHEET.pdf
Also look at giving MSM to your horse, as MSM is very good for mild spavin too.
 
Thanks for the replies, they are really helpful. He is on a joint supplement with msm and devils relief which does well on.
Will have to sit and wait and see what vet says though she not coming for nearly 2 weeks. Will be gentle hacking and long reining until then i think although he doesnt appear lame, just a bit stiff and is still full of beans, gentle hacking may be a challenge lol :)
 
My big lad has a spavin in his off hind which vets suspects will be bi-lateral. As well as this he has low grade arthritis in both front coffin joints :( Only found out a couple of months ago. He had full examination, x-rays all round, nerve-blocks and lots of sedation! Then vet came out to do steriod injections in front and behind, 3 out of 4 legs worked :)

On his re-examination he was sound everywhere bar his near hind which has since been injected with a different steriod, i'd like to help with names but invoice isn't handy! He was only a touch lame behind. We also thought he would benefit from Tildren, so he had that as well! That was just over 3 weeks ago and he's now commencing proper work again, yes his long term prospects will never be the olympics but he's out of pain, much happier and a nightmare to handle on occasions (as he feels so much better!!)

He was rolled toes in front and lateral extensions behind. He's also on a joint supplement. As my vet said the injections can be short-lived perhaps only 3 months and some horses he wont see again (I'm hoping the latter!)

Has been rather costly i think we are over £1000 now but insurance is paying and he's back to his old cheeky self :)
 
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