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  Discussion on Bilateral inflamed hocks
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New Member:
garrigon

Posted on Thursday, Apr 19, 2007 - 11:49 am:

We have a 20 year old Selle Francais that has been experiencing a great deal of pain in both hocks. I know it is not due to over work. I do not believe it is injury related. He is turned out either alone or with 1-2 other quite horses in a small turnout lot for just a short time. Also, there were no outside signs of injury such as missing hair, broken fence, signs of casting in his stall yada yada....

This has been going on for about a month now. In the beginning we had our local vet come out. Both hocks were puffy and very sore to the touch. There was no heat, he had no temp. The vet tapped the hock and the fliud just shot out, probably a 2' stream for about 10-15 seconds. The fluid was sent to the lab. It showed a few white cells but not enough to indicate infection. Red blood cells were also present. The appearance of the fluid had a slight bloody tinge but did not look like blood. The viscosity was some what thin.

Our vet called around to get some suggestions of what might have caused this but did not get find out much. He was on stall rest and bute for several weeks and did get one shot of dex to help with the inflammation. We began limited turn out. When he first comes out of his stall he is very stiff but seems to free up after he walks around more. But he is still very tender to the touch and you really can't lift his feet much without a reaction.

Right now we have him on several supplements but would like more suggestions. We are trying an oral hyaluronic acid called Lubrisyn (the loading dose), bute powder (1gm twice daily) and liquid MSM (also the loading dose). He is a very picky eater and we are having alot of difficulty getting him to eat his grain with the bute. We have tried molasses, sweet feed and all that stuff. The cherry flavoring of the liquid MSM seems to be helping for now. HE has been on the Lubrisyn for about 10 days. He was on bute for a week or so, then off and now back on along with the MSM for about a 4 days.

I am reluctant to have his hocks injected because they are so inflamed and I feel there is more worry for infection etc.

I had a chiropractor in this week and just had his back checked to see if it started with back pain but his back is fine. All grain and hay have been constant. I can't think f any exposure to any toxins. We are just at a loss.

Any suggestions? What seems to be the most puzzling for out vet is that both hocks are affected.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Apr 19, 2007 - 9:26 pm:

Hello Gwen,
I agree it is a bit perplexing. I think it was Sherlock Holmes who said, "once you have eliminated all the other possibilities whatever is left is the answer, no matter how improbable". It sounds like your horse has bilaterally injured his hocks though I would like to have a set of radiographs to document any chronic changes.

Anyway from the information you should treat this like an acute arthritis and you have taken many of those steps but left out the most important intraarticular corticosteroids with hyaluronate added. Your fear of the injections is illogical for though no one can guarantee there will not be complications the incidence is low and every day that goes by with unresolved inflammation in the joint you are closer to permanent lameness from osteoarthritis. For specifics see the article Diseases of Horses » Lameness » Joint, Bone, Ligament Diseases » Arthritis and DJD: An Overview.
DrO
Member:
paul303

Posted on Thursday, Apr 19, 2007 - 11:29 pm:

Gwen: I have a mare on pergolide, bute, and Lubrin. Had a terrible time getting her to eat her feed with medication, no matter what we tried. She actually got to the point where she refused to eat feed, even after we stopped medicating it.

What worked was using a large 60cc syringe ( you can get them from your vet ). I mix her medications with a couple of tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce and administer it like paste wormers.
Member:
twhgait

Posted on Friday, Apr 20, 2007 - 10:17 am:

Gwen, I have a mare that HATES anything different in her grain and after having to medicate her with bute for a week following an injury, she also decided to hate syringes. I ended up using applesauce scooped out onto a paperplate, mixed with the bute. She slurped it up!
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