wobbler syndrome tildren/other steriods

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minimex2

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my bob has just been dignosed with wobblers and bone spavin in his hocks.

more work and excercise will help the hocks, but more excercise will/could make the wobblers worse.

i cant find any "happy ending stories" but vet mentioned tildren / and or other steriods could help with the wobblers . - Im aware theres not a cure and vet has said operation isnt worth the risk with success rate. but wondered if anyone with the condition had tildren / other drugs and how did they get on.

Or is it simply a waiting game .
 
Sorry, there is no happy ending. It would be better for your personal safety not to ride him. The condition is progressive but not necessarily at an even pace. He may be fine one day but not quite know where his back legs are placed teh following and you may be unfortunate enough to be on top when he falls.
 
Really sorry but will have to echo the above. We had a mare diagnosed with wobblers and had her pts as couldn't risk her injuring herself. There is lots of hope for spavin, but the wobblers would make any treatment for the spavin a waste of time and money.

Good luck with any decisions you make and thoughts with you.
 
If it is Wobblers then there are no happy endings as it's damage to the spinal cord. But from your post it sounds as though your horse is at least middle aged. I know middle aged horses can develop Wobblers but usually it's noticed in youngsters. If it were me I'd get a second opinion before you make any decisions. A middle aged horse at my old yard was diagnosed by a local vet as having wobblers but a referral to Bristol for a second opinion proved this diagnosis to be completely wrong. He had a shoulder injury that was then successfully treated for many years.
 
My 12 yr old mare was diagnosed with wobblers when she was 4 1/2. She was retired straight away and has had a foal (now rising 6) and she lives out happily 24x7.

Feel free to PM me :o)
 
minimex2 said:
my bob has just been dignosed with wobblers and bone spavin in his hocks.

more work and excercise will help the hocks, but more excercise will/could make the wobblers worse.

i cant find any "happy ending stories" but vet mentioned tildren / and or other steriods could help with the wobblers . - Im aware theres not a cure and vet has said operation isnt worth the risk with success rate. but wondered if anyone with the condition had tildren / other drugs and how did they get on.

Or is it simply a waiting game .
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I'm sorry too as my experience with Wobblers Syndrome was not a happy one. My ten year old WB was pts with late onset wobblers which 'came on' following a fall in the field when he damaged his neck bones. He was affected at C3,C5 and C6 vetebrae and there was nothing that could be done operation wise as he was too badly affected. He was pts at the Phillip Leverhulme Hospital (Liverpool) within two hours of arriving following comprehensive xrays. I wanted to keep him as a field ornament after the consultant said he would never be ridden again but he said he was too dangerous to handle (due to his lack of co-ordination which is called ataxia). Sadly I had to let him go, it was the only thing I could do for him.

I don't understand how tildren could help with this condition as it is my understanding it prevents calcifcation and inhibits new bone formation but surely in a wobblers case the damage is already there. I would ask your vet to refer you to Liverpool to confirm his diagnosis, to have comprehensive xrays (as portable xray machine xrays do not show a true picture) and to get this sorted.

There was a drug which was in a oral paste syringe form which my horse was administered which I believe was an anti inflammatory and pain killer I think it was finadyne. But this was only to stablise him prior to travelling and I doubt could be used on a daily basis.

I really think you should read the following article to give you more of an understanding. http://www.uky.edu/Ag/AnimalSciences/pubs/asc133.pdf

There are horses that have been operated on by inserting a metal plate called a bagsby basket into the cervical column to stablise it but this is where there is minimal inpingement - again my understanding of the condition is from what I have learnt and I must stress I am not a vet.
Dr Antonio Cruz who works for the University of Guelph assisted me with questions following the death of my horse, he has done some very in depth studies into Wobblers Research and I have left some money in my Will to further his research. If I were you I'd ask him what he thinks, he was certainly approachable with me.
http://www.meadowherbs.com/Info Center PDFs/Wooblers_EPM.pdf

Sadly it looks like the chance of your horse making a recovery is poor and maybe you will have to make a decision sooner rather than later. I wish you luck.
 
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