Treating Minor Arthritis

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Karen
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Treating Minor Arthritis

Post by Karen » Tue Sep 30, 2014 12:23 pm

One of our horses has been having issues with tripping lately, and after having a full neuro panel done (came back clear for EPM and a bunch of other bad stuff), talking to our farrier, checking saddle fit and having the chiropractor out, we're pretty sure he's starting to show early signs of arthritis. Based on prior owner's information, Quinn should be 15 yrs old now. The Dentist had him at 18 when he was out a few months ago.

So...anyone treating a horse for mild arthritis successfully? If so, what are you doing? NSAIDs, and if so, which one? We don't want to cause ulcers while treating arthritis. Injections? Some of this stuff is crazy expensive and has to be injected by a vet every 4 days??

Adequan, Legend keep coming up on web searches, and Equinoxx for an oral NSAID, but not much else.
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Ike
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Re: Treating Minor Arthritis

Post by Ike » Thu Oct 02, 2014 1:45 pm

Karen I have a 16 yr old QH that I team pen an sort cows on. She has ringbone, pretty severe arthritus. Started out with the shockwave treatment which worked great but wears off after about 5 months in her case, plus it's expensive. I have been using Farnam Liquid Flex for the past 6 months and it seems to be helping her a lot. It's a liquid we add to her feed. I have also used Prevecox, which is not FDA approved for horses but worked great. U have to ask ur vet about that. She wears shoes and having her in a contoured shoe also helped. You can discuss what's best with your farrier. We also went to 4.5 or 5 week trims instead of the usual 6 wk. Like myself, she still has some days she is just a lil stiff....so we don't ride those days.

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Karen
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Re: Treating Minor Arthritis

Post by Karen » Fri Oct 03, 2014 8:45 am

Thanks Ike.

LOVE my vet (had an appt. for one of the dogs last night).

We talked at length about Quinn. He ordered some Previcox, said to swing by on Monday to pick it up, and give to Quinn for the next couple weeks. If we see an improvement, we'll keep him on it. If not, we're going to treat for Lyme. His neuro panel came back squeaky clean EXCEPT a VERY mild positive for Lyme. There's still some conjecture out there about if horses even show physical signs of Lyme the way dogs & people do, and the results were SO mild as to be inconclusive (and the tripping issue has been going on long enough that if Lyme was the cause, we feel the test would be far more conclusive than it was).

I'll probably pick up some MSM the next time we're at Tractor Supply also. That might be enough to keep him pretty comfortable during the winter when we don't ride, if our suspicions are correct and this is the beginnings of mild arthritis.
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fourseasons
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Re: Treating Minor Arthritis

Post by fourseasons » Thu Oct 09, 2014 2:18 am

Can't say that I've every tried it, but a horse buddy gives their injured and/or sore horses willow branches and leaves to eat... found this link on NIH's site however:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20509453

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Karen
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Re: Treating Minor Arthritis

Post by Karen » Thu Oct 09, 2014 5:18 am

We had the chiropractor out last Tuesday, who found several places "out" (but nothing that indicated a saddle fit issue) and adjusted him. Quinn was given Tues-Fri off, and we trialed this past weekend. My husband said he was a different horse. Traveled with his head lower, was sure footed, no tripping at all, and gaited up a storm (as well as Quinn has ever gaited). If that's all it is, we'll have the chiropractor out several times a year to check him. I'm amazed.

I also stopped by the vet and picked up a month's worth of Previcox. We're going to see how Quinn does this coming weekend without meds (he was ridden lots by a 100 lb 11 yr old last weekend, who won't be with us this weekend), and if he's still and tripping, we'll start him on the Previcox and see how he does the rest of FT season.
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