Where do you go from here? Update on my boy

[gingerthing]

I have a 9 year old TB that I had been looking forward to competing in some dressage this summer and generally having some fun with, up to now he has been working really well and enjoys his job.

Untill recently, he has had trouble holding weight, in keeping the canter together (disuniting)/wrong legging and has soundness issues with his near hind. This horse has had stifle issues (OCD) in the past which I am well aware of. I understand that there will come a day when the stifle is likely to become arthritic because of this, and could happen at a fairly young age.

I have had my vet out several times who had advised to rest him for 2 weeks on bute, then try riding again. if he is still not sound then he would be happy to arrange xrays. the vet had strong suspicions that his soundness issues are coming from the stifles ie arthritis/DJD - he is now quite stiff behind and plaits the hind legs. After a flexion test he was hopping. i will also add that one point he was on 2 bute twice a day and still not sound.

Vet came out again yesterday and I asked about future prognosis. basically he has said he is happy to xray, but in all honesty it will likely only show what we already know, in his opinion it is a lot of money to spend on something that is unlikely to come right. The diagnostics and treatment will be excluded on his insurance policy. In his eyes its spending 'good money on a bad cause'.

feel in a bit of a rut really .

 

[cptrayes]

First, trust your vet - he is one to treasure not running up a bill when he sees no sense in it.

Second, I would go for some more investigation to confirm that it is above the hocks, since horses with spavin plait behind and will go unsound on flexions and can be helped. This needs nerve blocks, not xrays as horses can have painful spavins with no sign of it on xrays at all. It would be a shame to write the horse off if there was still any chance that it was his hocks, but it does depend whether you can afford the £200 or so it will probably cost.

Third, if a nerve block shows that it's his stifles, then I understand that the prognosis is very poor even without the previous problems, and at that stage I would have the horse put to sleep so that you know he is never going to be in pain or passed from pillar to post when he is older.

I hope this works out for you.

 

[foxy1]

First, trust your vet - he is one to treasure not running up a bill when he sees no sense in it.

Second, I would go for some more investigation to confirm that it is above the hocks, since horses with spavin plait behind and will go unsound on flexions and can be helped. This needs nerve blocks, not xrays as horses can have painful spavins with no sign of it on xrays at all. It would be a shame to write the horse off if there was still any chance that it was his hocks, but it does depend whether you can afford the £200 or so it will probably cost.

Third, if a nerve block shows that it's his stifles, then I understand that the prognosis is very poor even without the previous problems, and at that stage I would have the horse put to sleep so that you know he is never going to be in pain or passed from pillar to post when he is older.

I hope this works out for you.

100% agree with this. Very sensible advice.

 

[gingerthing]

Managed to obtain information today on his previous veterinary records from when he was a yearling. He was xrayed on the stifles, hocks etc as a general measure and they came back ok so it seems, comments about the stifles looking 'suspect'/weak behind/locking (probably not exact comments), but no definate diagnosis of OCD had appeared to be made. He has had no arthroscopy or injections to the joint at all. In this time he had a 4-5 year race career. Up till now he had been managed with field rest when he had a stifle effusion and bringing back into work to build up the stifle from what I can gather.

have spoken to my own vet and informed him, he seemed optimistic about the fact that he hadnt had any surgery in the past. He will get him booked to come in to be xrayed, fingers crossed we will know more then

 

[Birker2020]

Managed to obtain information today on his previous veterinary records from when he was a yearling. He was xrayed on the stifles, hocks etc as a general measure and they came back ok so it seems, comments about the stifles looking 'suspect'/weak behind/locking (probably not exact comments), but no definate diagnosis of OCD had appeared to be made. He has had no arthroscopy or injections to the joint at all. In this time he had a 4-5 year race career. Up till now he had been managed with field rest when he had a stifle effusion and bringing back into work to build up the stifle from what I can gather.

have spoken to my own vet and informed him, he seemed optimistic about the fact that he hadnt had any surgery in the past. He will get him booked to come in to be xrayed, fingers crossed we will know more then

this is information regarding the prognosis for horses following surgery for OCD of the stifles and the link for the site is below. If it were my horse I'd say 64% of horses returning to their former use is fairly good, and although not fantastic odds, is better than not trying at all. But thats just my opinion.

Best of luck whichever course of action you decide to take x

Prognosis
In one study of 252 stifle joints in 161 horses, follow-up information was available for 134 horses. Of these 134 horses, 64% returned to their previous use, 7% were in training, 16% were unsuccessful, and 13% were unsuccessful due to reasons unrelated to the stifle. The success rate was higher in horses having smaller lesions, and it was also higher for older horses. However, this age factor was considered to be due to the fact that the most severe lesions were generally identified in the younger horses.http://www.equineortho.colostate.edu/questions/ocd.htm