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Discussion on Shoulder problems and cosequin anyone?
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Member:
famous
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Posted on Friday, Dec 5, 2008 - 6:02 pm:
I have a mare that was mis-diagnosed with navicular and found she has some lameness in her shoulders. A friend suggested cosequin equine for her. Has anyone had experience with this product? Is there a blood test to diagnose arthritis? (I forgot to ask my vet on that one)I don't want to just rush in throwing supplements at a problem. Ideas welcome.
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Friday, Dec 5, 2008 - 6:40 pm:
Hi Lora, I can't ans. your question about cosequin, seems we all have our favorite joint supp. Whether supplements work is answered in the article in the header above.
Blood tests will not diagnose arthritis...wish it was that easy .
Shoulder lameness is kind of vague, IME I have to say 90% of the time what looks like shoulder lameness is hoof problems. Most horses will pull their leg away when lifting them in front of them unless they have been trained otherwise, and can make it look like the shoulder hurts.
How does your horse walk? does she limp? or does she just seem short strided?
Did your vet do anything other than lift and extend her leg to diagnose the shoulder lameness?
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Member:
famous
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Posted on Friday, Dec 5, 2008 - 6:56 pm:
She does not always limp. Her left seems more pronounced in the gimp if I work her on the ground or ride her for more than say 30 minutes. She takes short strides as well. It looks as if she is trotting on egg shells - won't extend her stride.
The vet did a temporary nerve block to her navicular area and exercised her after letting it take effect. No change in gait or stride. She will not break out of a trot - ever. I have tried from the ground and in the saddle.
We had egbar (sp?) shoes on her and just removed them last week. They did not seem to alleviate any discomfort or pain. The limping would still emerge.
WEnt to ole mac boots with a natural trim. I have left the boots off of her last couple of days - she is just in the pasture. Giving her a break until I figure out a course of action here. I have put her on a low starch grain with some rice bran oil and buckeye minerals. Want to give my girl the best I can. She is my buddy.
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Member:
ajudson1
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Posted on Friday, Dec 5, 2008 - 8:51 pm:
Lora,
I have a horse that I KNOW was kicked in the shoulder, (saw him get kicked) and I tell ya, I've been told it's his shoulder, his elbow, his hooves causing his lameness. It acted up for 4 years, not as a head bobbing lameness, but an unwillingness to extend that leg forward fully at a trot. Off and on problem, used Bute and Aniflex Complete for joints. Been sound for the last year or more now.
I have another horse who was short strided, and very gimpy. In both cases there were issues with hoofs (I've learned to trim myself, so it's a work in progress yet) The gimpiness and short stride you are describing may be thin soles and tenderness, heels underslung & tendons over loaded, or other hoof imbalances.
I'd start with hoofs and work my way up. If you post a good picture of her standing square, full body shot of the sideview, many on here can tell you if she's standing o.k. for starters. With a proper trim, her body can heal the best, if there are issues. Won't hurt to give a joint supplement, but if she needs hoof attention, you'd be wasting your money on the supplement.
I honestly don't think the trotting on egg shells, both front feet, says shoulder lameness.
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Member:
dres
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Posted on Friday, Dec 5, 2008 - 9:46 pm:
have you had ultrasound done on the shoulder..? I had a mare that was slightly off on the left side for a couple of years.. as 3 year old just started then turned out to grow up.. as a 4 year still slightly off.. sent off to be bred.. late 5 year old colt weaned , still slightly off,.. so off to the vet.. after blocking etc it was suspect of a biceptial bursa of the shoulder.. so a Utrasound was done.. slight fluid in the bursa.. so while in there we injected her with a steroid .. two years later she has never taken a miss step..
Can't help ya much but that is my story on a shoulder problem..
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Saturday, Dec 6, 2008 - 9:32 am:
Lora how old is your horse? Does she seem better in the boots or on soft ground? Why have you put her on a low starch diet is she fat? Unfortunately I live where there isn't very good diagnostics available, and one of the reasons I joined HA.
Dr.O. will usually point you to an article to read and they are great! I would suggest you start with diagnosing lameness. Which is here
https://www.horseadvice.com/horse/messages/4/5284.html
searching shoulder lameness will probably result in many hits too. If you have questions after that Dr. O. will ans. them, and usually the members will throw in their 2 cents also. Very helpful group, with a lot of experience.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Sunday, Dec 7, 2008 - 5:04 am:
Hello Lora,
The answer to your question on Cosequin (basically a chonDrOitin glucosamine supplement) is not as straight forward as we would like and discussed in detail in the article associated with this discussion. While everyday we are discovering chemicals released into the blood by arthritic joints it is not a practical diagnostic method for arthritis. I like the idea of revisiting the shoulder lameness diagnosis because it is often misdiagnosed and for more check out the link provided by Diane above.
DrO
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Member:
famous
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Posted on Monday, Dec 8, 2008 - 10:24 pm:
Thank you for the info. A plethora of information! I will pay attention the next time I see her gimp as to whether the boots help. Her gimp comes and goes, but definitely is worse after riding. We just removed the egbar (sp?) shoes and the gimp came and went with those as well.
My mare is 11 years old. It was suggested that I put her on a low starch diet by several folks, no she is not overweight. I had also read in "Natural Horse Care" to not feed high sugar feeds. The particular feed I went to has a better mix of vitamins and minerals to boot.
The diagnostic material presented in the article was awesome! The second vet we took her to did much of the testing mentioned, but no x-rays. I felt comfortable with his query and he was very forthcoming with his reasons and thoughts.
It may come down to taking her to the university where there is better diagnostic equipment. I have to take this in stride as I am taking my gelding with chronic uveitis to the university on Wednesday to get the cyclosporine implant. Why is it always the horses you love to ride?
Thanks again. Will keep you all posted as things progress.
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