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Discussion on How long to hock fusion?
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Member:
rgwromeo
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Posted on Thursday, Oct 21, 2010 - 9:10 pm:
Hi Dr. O,
As you know from previous posts I have a 23 year old AQHA gelding with a lameness issue in his right rear leg. I had an eval done, was told it was a stifle problem, cordizone was injected and meds were changed from Butte to Previcox.
After 2 months I have seen no improvement.
The good news is I had an eval done by another vet, xrays were taken of the hock, degeneration of the disks was seen, cordizone was injected, he was switched back to butte and I now have a sound horse again!
I have also started him on Platinum Performance CJ.
The new vet said the hock will fuse. How long does this take and what can I do to help?
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Oct 22, 2010 - 7:44 am:
Hello Debby,
The article on arthrodesis tackles these exact two questions in the first paragraph under the "Techniques" subtopic. If after reading the article you still have questions I would be glad to address them.
DrO
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Friday, Oct 22, 2010 - 5:24 pm:
Debby,
One of mine was diagnosed a number of years ago with DJD and I was told that over time one hopes for the hocks to "fuse."
At the time of diagnosis his joints were injected to reduce inflammation and to encourage healthier synovial fluid (his was rather thin).
I also put him on regular Adequan injections and have had him on a maintenance dose of CortaFlx for years.
Feet that are well-balanced laterally and medially are very important and I keep my guy barefoot. He performs better out of shoes.
It seems to me that the Adequan aids in his moving freely and with fluidity.
He has done very well for me and I have not needed to have his joints injected again.
The only difference that I notice is that he is not able to back as well as he used to and he unloads slowly when he backs out of my horse trailer, planting his back legs on the ground with a fairly wide base so that I only haul him in a trailer with back doors that can be completely opened up (having no center post to catch a foot on).
Regular exercise seems to be helpful and if my horse has had a lengthly lay off time from work for any reason I must take care not to do too much demanding work without gradually conditioning him.
Good luck with your gelding.
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Member:
rgwromeo
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Posted on Friday, Oct 22, 2010 - 5:34 pm:
Thank you Vicki!
Romeo has had 3 Adequin injections 3 weeks in a row. How many have you done? Is it a forever thing?
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Member:
vickiann
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 23, 2010 - 10:43 am:
For maintenance I mostly do once monthly injections but if something especially demanding is coming up I sometimes give weekly or every other week.
My daughter competes in show jumping and sometimes does a loading dose of the Adequan (every four days) when indicated upon the advice of her veterinary leg and joint expert, between shows.
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