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Dropped Fetlock in Older Horse

Not sure where you live but you don’t want to deal with a downed horse stuck in a stall that has to be euthanized in freezing temperatures in January.

There is no supplement that will alleviate the grinding of bone on bone that occurs with late stage osteoarthritis, which is probably what you’re dealing with.

Drug this horse up until it’s not enough then make the right call.

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I’ve fed various joint supplements over the years and my gelding (only 14yo) went lame with arthritic changes in his hocks. The feed-through joint supplement was no match for that.

It took daily Equioxx to get him feeling better and a course of Adequan injections to really make him feel better! He’s on the Equioxx for the remainder of his life as far as I’m concerned. But even on the Equioxx, he still starts to get a bit creaky when he’s due for his next round of Adequan shots (every six months).

I think my dude is probably fusing, and if he manages to fully fuse and have no more pain, I’ll see about taking him off the Equioxx. But if he needs it, he will have it forever.

I’d start there with your guy. Daily Equioxx. You have to be consistent though. Every. Day.

If pain persists despite medication, it’s time to say goodbye. Don’t let him hurt. That’s not fair. He’s lived a long life. Let him end it with dignity. Equioxx may be able to give him a few more years of pain-free life.

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One point in the AAEP guidelines to assist in making humane decisions regarding euthanasia
of horses is…

A horse should not have to receive continuous analgesic medication for the relief
of pain for the rest of its life.

These are guidelines, not rules. My vet always says “you’ll know when it’s time” (and that you’ll probably go back and forth, then wait too long, then wish you had done it sooner.)

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https://www.hiltonherbs.com/us/releaf-gold

I’m suggesting this because I just put my pony on their Multi-Flex joint supplement; I didn’t think anything would change since he’d been on MSM and Cosequin for years and a two week Equioxx trial. After five days my pony stands square 90% of the time (never did before).

Releaf Gold is for fast relief and has ingredients not found in most joint supplements. As a liquid, it will be fully absorbed within two weeks.

Dr. Eleanor Kellon has a website and web group for DSLD; maybe you can find more information there to see if this is what your horse has now.

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I think it’s wonderful that you were able to get a horse into his 30s without pain. I do not think that it is wonderful that you have let him suffer for 8 weeks just because he was fine up until then. You really do have to get this horse comfortable or let him go. Stop worrying about potential side effects of medications, the alternative is death so you literally have nothing to lose.

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I hear this if it’s something like 4 grams of bute a day or something. But modern medicine has given us options that don’t have such severe consequences. If it’s a reasonable dose of something to ease arthritic pain, I don’t agree with this assessment.

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shame on you for such accusations. claiming someone has left a horse to suffer for 8 weeks with zero first hand experience of the situation is a ballsy and unfounded accusation. The veterinarian team has been very much involved over the past 8 weeks and has seen him on more than one occasion to reassess the situation and make efforts to get him comfortable. I came here to see if others had experience with this and what they tried, if anything, that may have brought more comfort and a pain-free environment. So shame on you for telling someone they have let an animal suffer like they are an animal abuser while that person is losing sleep and throwing the kitchen sink and their wallet as a last ditch effort to give this guy a chance. there are other select words I would love to throw at you as you hide behind your computer keyboard; but I will refrain from doing so.

I agree. there are many horses on daily doses of medications in later years to ease arthritic pain and keep them comfortable; especially sport horses in retirement. If you are having to significantly overmedicate for every day to keep a horse going then I agree, quality over life over quantity.

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But… you really have. You could have increased his bute, but you didn’t.

You could have tried the Equioxx, but you didn’t.

8 weeks is a long time to not try those two things.

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thank you very much. I can pick up some Multi-Flex today and give it a go. I will also check out Dr Kellon’s website. The vet did not believe it was DSLD and if it was not a significant case of it (yet); more-so arthritis combined with tired joints or suspensory. This horse spent years chasing any horse that walked by his pasture at a full gallop and sliding like a reining horse at the end of the fence to a jolted stop… multiple times, daily. He was, and is, a bit of a hellion (he was gelded late) and I can’t imagine doing that on hard ground for a lifetime is good for the legs and joints. He still did so up until a few weeks ago. It is possible that his last token of doing so was the final straw and his legs said no more.

I will be honest and say I do not have a warm fuzzy feeling about this situation but I owe it to him to try everything we can to see if his quality of life can be maintained. If 2 weeks from now; that maintenance meds prove that cannot be done; I will make the right decision for him.

Actually; I did. he was on a much smaller amount of bute and it was increased. and in the last 4 days it was increased to 1gm a day. He has also been on equioxx since the vets’ last visit a few days ago. Equioxx takes time to take effect; so we have a little bit of time to see if it does anything.

You also need to understand that the vast majority of the past 8 weeks was approaching this as he was having another laminitis case; not a sudden leg issue. We are now on the right path and upping and adding some meds to see if we make improvement

I didn’t come here for judgement. I came here to see if anyone else experienced this with a horse and what, if anything, helped make them more comfortable. The horse’s spirits are good and his body condition is great. If we can make an effort in 2 weeks to get a quality of life back, I am willing to make that effort and the expense. I fully understand that this may not end well. But I also fully understand that I owe it to this guy to try , not just give up on him 5 days into a diagnosis.

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You LITERALLY said he was fine 8 weeks ago so you didn’t want to put him down yet. Not me. Regardless, the horse is not comfortable now, you owe it to him to change that or put him down.

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I am giving him 2 to 3 weeks to see if increase/added meds bring him back to a more normal state. If not; the right decision will be made.

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That is not what I said. I said he was fine 8 weeks ago until he suddenly became sore and stiff in movement that replicated a bit like laminitis. He was being treated for the first several weeks as if this was a laminitis issue. As of a week ago; we now understand that is not the case. I came here asking if anyone else had experienced this and what they found success with, if anything. Instead; you have mis-read my posts or skipped over them entirely and shot judgmental accusations without knowing the full story. I don’t owe you a full explanation of what is going on in this case, how he has been treated, how the vets are currently treating him. I came here asking all of you what you have done in your experiences. I don’t need you to tell me that the horse needs to get comfortable or be dug a grave. I already know that. That’s why I came here asking for my fellow horse-people’s experiences.

But… bute, and lots of it (ie, not 1/2g) is in the treatment for laminitis.

I’m wondering about your vet’s competence here.

Better late then never. I’d be careful stacking bute and equioxx just yet. You won’t know which one worked.

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So you are going to tell me not to stack drugs because you won’t know which one worked but 5 posts up you’re telling me to throw it all at him , get him comfortable now, or dig him a grave. Which is it.

We are going to stack the drugs now, for a week or slightly more. See if he gets comfortable. If he does, we are going to wean him off the bute to either 0 or a low dose and see if he maintains on the equioxx. The equioxx worked wonders for the rescue I had with a much more severe case of this and arthritis and gave that rescue a very high quality of life; I am trying to maintain some optimism with that. I am in agreement that we will do what it takes to see if we can get him more comfortable now, then wean off the daily bute and see if we can maintain. the goal is comfort now then reassess

Hey, you do you. Getting salty doesn’t change the bottom line.

Bottom line is that your horse of 30+ years of age has been in pain for over two months and you’re just now getting after it. You’re even hoping that some joint supplement will help keep you from utilizing modern medicine.

Personally: I’d start with one of the two at an appreciable dose, not a wimp dose, and then stack if it’s not working.

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No, don’t stack the Bute and Equioxx because it’s dangerous - I think to the kidneys but maybe liver? I’ve cut it close before when coming off Equioxx and going on banamine to treat cellulitis and fever, but I’ve never stacked Equioxx and bute.

Equioxx is a 3-day flush to get it out of the system. Bute and banamine is about 12 hours (24 to be safe).

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The last comments directed at you were for these reasons.

3 days of 1/2gm bute is nothing to a horse who was in this type of discomfort

The things you said were done, doesn’t constitute a big effort

You started with a pitifully low, maintenance dose without any buildup in the system. You can’t expect adding another 1/2gm to make a big impact in a short time. There’s a reason there’s a high loading dose, then you ramp down to the lowest dose that keeps him comfortable enough.

DO NOT stack NSAIDs. More doesn’t double the effect, and you could easily start causing kidney damage. And if your vet team suggested this, then in combination with the rest of what you’ve told us they have had you do, I’d say it’s time for a new vet

Everyone here is just trying to help you get the answers you came looking for, but the information/history keeps changing a bit, which is very confusing.

Do ONE NSAID at a loading dose for a few days, then go to a reasonably high maintenance dose, see what happens after a couple weeks, then start reducing the dose from, say, 1gm bute (preferably 1/2gm twice a day, per my last comment) and then maybe even 1/2gm/day, and see how things go.

If you find improvement on bute, but wonder if there could be more, give the bute a washout period, and try Equioxx.

Or, do it the other way around since you already have and use Equioxx. My guess is, what you are describing in this horse needs bute, not firocoxib.

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You can stack NSAIDs while monitoring kidney and liver values in extreme cases, but without founder risk or obvious trauma, I would seriously question whether that is the right thing here.

Just saw an older DSLD horse go from manageable to unable to walk without a very high dose of Bute over the course of some weeks. Only one fetlock was markedly dropped (the other was low but not as bad or as swollen) but had been for some time. Unfortunately I think that owner waited a week too late. Having seen several DSLD cases, you really can’t predict comfort or longevity just by looking at degree of drop. Seen horses manage pasture sound for a long time and others progress to being very painful and limited very quickly and sometimes at a younger age. And not just with mobility in the hinds, but they stop laying down to sleep, arthritis in other areas progresses faster due to overloading and compensating. Maybe climate and living conditions differences. It might just be more painful for some than others.

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