Aspirin for mild stiffness in cold weather?

[sublimequine]

I’m trying out giving my mare some aspirin for the mild stiffness (mainly in her hocks). She always tends to get stiff in the wintertime, no surprise when she’s not moving around as much with the pasture covered in snow and sometimes ice.

She’s already on Glucosamine, and I’ve tried MSM in the past. MSM has never seemed to help with her stiffness.

Anyone else used aspirin for similar stiffness issues in the past? It’s pretty cheap and easy to get at the local farm stores, so I figured it was a “can’t hurt, may help” thing.

(FWIW, she’s on 24/7 pasture turnout, only stalled during extreme weather, blanketed, kept at a good weight, etc).

[KentuckyTBs]

Won’t hurt to try and see if it helps her on days where she is extra stiff. I’ve done it for horses & dogs.

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=KentuckyTBs;7340796]
Won’t hurt to try and see if it helps her on days where she is extra stiff. I’ve done it for horses & dogs.[/QUOTE]

Did you notice a difference when giving it?

[Laurierace]

I would not use aspirin as you described. The potential short term benefit is not worth the potential GI issues in my opinion. If she needs pain relief give her previcox or even bute.

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;7340893]
I would not use aspirin as you described. The potential short term benefit is not worth the potential GI issues in my opinion. If she needs pain relief give her previcox or even bute.[/QUOTE]

I’m thinking both of those would have the same potential adverse effects to the GI tract?

[Jumper_girl221]

While previcoxx can affect their GI adversely, it is less to none with most horses compared to other NSAIDS.

I’ve had my ulcer prone mare on it short term for various reasons without any adverse affects in the past.

[Chestnut_Run]

I know you said you tried MSM with no noticible difference, but were you giving her a theraputic dose? I use MSM a lot and really noice a difference. But for horses, I give a minimum of 10,000 mg per day for average size 1,000 pound horse and 12-15,000 mg per day for a large 1500 pound horse. Plus it really needs a loading type dose of 2-3x that for the first week. Most people waaaaaaaaaaaay underdose MSM and then don’t see the results they want. Even feeding a “good” dose, it’s less expensive than most supplements, and way gentler on the GI than bute, banamine, or aspirin.

Sheila

[2tempe]

Sublimequine - I’ve read that asprin can be helpful in horses, but only for a few hours - maybe 4-6, can’t remember. Bute has a longer benefit period.
I had a gelding on it for a while, but it was partly to serve as a blood thinner after a bout of lymphangitis

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=Chestnut Run;7340949]
I know you said you tried MSM with no noticible difference, but were you giving her a theraputic dose? I use MSM a lot and really noice a difference. But for horses, I give a minimum of 10,000 mg per day for average size 1,000 pound horse and 12-15,000 mg per day for a large 1500 pound horse. Plus it really needs a loading type dose of 2-3x that for the first week. Most people waaaaaaaaaaaay underdose MSM and then don’t see the results they want. Even feeding a “good” dose, it’s less expensive than most supplements, and way gentler on the GI than bute, banamine, or aspirin.

Sheila[/QUOTE]

I did have her actually on a 20,000 mg/day dose with no effect. It made her coat and hooves grow really well, oddly enough!

[Laurierace]

If you are going to run the risk of gi issues anyway, why not use the most effective product, not the least?

[QUOTE=sublimequine;7340905]
I’m thinking both of those would have the same potential adverse effects to the GI tract?[/QUOTE]

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;7341000]
If you are going to run the risk of gi issues anyway, why not use the most effective product, not the least?[/QUOTE]

Because aspirin is OTC instead of prescription-only, and it’s cheaper than bute. Also, totally anecdotal, but I’ve seen at least a handful of horses in the past on longer term low doses of aspirin with no obvious adverse effects.

[Laurierace]

Which makes one wonder why you bothered to ask for opinions in the first place but whatever. Best of luck to you.

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=Laurierace;7341051]
Which makes one wonder why you bothered to ask for opinions in the first place but whatever. Best of luck to you.[/QUOTE]

I’m looking for others who’ve used aspirin in the past, and if they found it to be effective or not.

[inca]

I would definitely try Previcox. It has a much lower chance of causing GI issues than bute and is not that expensive. I think I paid around $40 for a month’s supply. Yes, it requires a prescription but you can then order it on-line. I know plenty of horses that Previcox has really helped. My vet has no issue with long-term use of it.

[atr]

Never had much luck with aspirin, and most horses don’t want to eat it as it tastes vile and you need to get quite a lot down them for it to be even potentially remotely useful.

I have a 5lb bucket of the stuff in my feed room that has been there for at least 10 years. I have no idea how to safely get rid of it at this point.

[walkinthewalk]

Ditto not using aspirin.

My 26 yr old has hock/ankle arthritis with the ankle being worse.

He tried to slice that ankle off a few months back. Having to keep the wound wrapped taught me a lot about the benefits of wrapping it to keep it warm.

the warmth of a wrap seems to do more for him than the Lubrisyn HA he is on. The Lubrisyn helps but I am still wrapping the ankle when he comes in at night to keep it warm; amazingly he walks out of his stall barely “stumping” on that leg since I started the night wrapping.

As an FYI, this horse has insulin issues, is so drug sensitive he has reactions to rabies shots even when given in his butt. The Lubrisyn HA is one of the few things I can give him and the vet won’t slap me for letting him have it.

Try cutting the toe out of a white thermal sock, slide it up around the hock, then wrap with a standing wrap for the night. Take it off for turnout which, horses with arthritis do a lot better when they’re out getting exercise:)

[sublimequine]

[QUOTE=walkinthewalk;7342411]
Ditto not using aspirin.

My 26 yr old has hock/ankle arthritis with the ankle being worse.

He tried to slice that ankle off a few months back. Having to keep the wound wrapped taught me a lot about the benefits of wrapping it to keep it warm.

the warmth of a wrap seems to do more for him than the Lubrisyn HA he is on. The Lubrisyn helps but I am still wrapping the ankle when he comes in at night to keep it warm; amazingly he walks out of his stall barely “stumping” on that leg since I started the night wrapping.

As an FYI, this horse has insulin issues, is so drug sensitive he has reactions to rabies shots even when given in his butt. The Lubrisyn HA is one of the few things I can give him and the vet won’t slap me for letting him have it.

Try cutting the toe out of a white thermal sock, slide it up around the hock, then wrap with a standing wrap for the night. Take it off for turnout which, horses with arthritis do a lot better when they’re out getting exercise:)[/QUOTE]

Unfortunately my mare lives out 24/7 so no really good way to wrap. I’d be a millionaire if I could invent a hock boot/hock wrap that stayed on for pasture use. :no:

[mswillie]

Aspirin is the least effective of the NSAIDS for pain and inflammation in horses. If the horse is retired and you just want something to ease a little pain and stiffness once in a while it’ll probably do what you want it to. It is a pretty good anti-coagulant so you want to be careful of bleeding. I wouldn’t use it on a daily basis for your purposes.

If the horse is working, I’d use previcox or try one of the injectables like Adequan or Pentosan.

[kcmel]

Aspirin has a typical half life of 30 min in horses. Not worth the bother IMO. Bute is not that expensive.

[Liberty]

I put my 27-yr-old gelding on Previcox a couple of months ago, and it has definitely helped. It’s the 57 mg. “dog dosage” size, and he gets 1 a day. I make a small slit and press it into a Majesty Flex wafer rather than put it in his feed so I am sure he gets it. The cost is minimal - my vet sells me 60-count bottles for $65, so it’s only about $1.00/day.

I also have him on SmartPak’s SeniorFlex, and a teaspoon (both am and pm) of herbal Mov-Ease. Link to Mov-Ease if interested (it’s relatively inexpensive):
http://mybesthorse.com/productinformation/movease.html