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has anyone tried OSPHOS, similar to tildren? Or know of anyone who did? Results?

I have an older gelding that is lame at the trot. He has seen multiple vets over the years. I’ve had his foot blocked several times by different vets and he shows no improvement. I’ve had his foot injected twice, no improvement. His xrays are fine, and also I have several sets taken over the past few years. I thought it was his pastern, so we injected that, but he only showed a little improvement at first, and is now lame again.

Someone mentioned Osphos. I haven’t heard of it before but it sounds like a miracle drug. $350 per treatment according to the internet. Supposed to be similar to tildren but less expensive and easier to give. IV only.

He’s been on previcox for months. There is no swelling, heat or anything else obvious.

I would very much appreciate any comments about this. Thank you.

fwiw my horse is like this and it turns out he has lyme disease. The test is $40-$50

I used it on a mare with nagging RF lameness that was coming and going. I recall it being intramuscular and not IV? I was not there when it was given, but we did not see any visible side effects. Mare is doing much better. Working diagnosis on the mare was that we had a bone bruise. I liked that we did not have to do the whole Tildren rigmarole, with sedation, fluid bag, banamine, etc. Was quick and to the point. It has been about 3.5 months. Mare had been on Equioxx leading up to this and now is not on any NSAID. Something interesting…this mare is insured, insurance company suggested that they would disallow the claim if I used the Previcox and not the Equioxx. Moot point now as she is not on either. But something to consider if horse is insured. Long story short… I think it worked.

My horse got this about 2 weeks ago. He has shown definite improvement but we also made some other changes and he’s on previcox so I can’t say 100% that it’s from Osphos.

However, he colicked IMMEDIATELY. The vet was barely out of his stall and he started yawning, head shaking, biting his sides, and went down and rolled a few times before we got some banamine into him. Colic is a possible side effect and it came on FAST.

My trainer has used it for SI/ stifle issues and thought it was great.

Osphos/Tildren and Previcox are completely different drugs with different effects and different pharmacology.
If your horse is lame and you just blindly give him one or both you might hit it or not and you waste time and $$$.
Please get your facts right before you inject your horse.
Osphos is not IV only, it is a biophosphonate that affects bone resorption. Often used for navicular syndrome.
Previcox or Equioxx are NSAIDs for Tx of arthritis.
Nag your vet to give you good info or find a better vet.

Any updates OP?

[QUOTE=kinscem;8202960]
Osphos/Tildren and Previcox are completely different drugs with different effects and different pharmacology.
If your horse is lame and you just blindly give him one or both you might hit it or not and you waste time and $$$.
Please get your facts right before you inject your horse.
Osphos is not IV only, it is a biophosphonate that affects bone resorption. Often used for navicular syndrome.
Previcox or Equioxx are NSAIDs for Tx of arthritis.
Nag your vet to give you good info or find a better vet.[/QUOTE]

Considering what the side effects of biophosphonates are in humans, I’d use this only as a course of last resort. Ditto because of the risk of colic.

I tried it 2 months ago and it has really helped my horse. He has a bone cyst on navicular bone.

Osphos is very unlikely to help your horse. It’s labeled to treat navicular and is used off label for other bone issues that would benefit from reduced bone resorption. Since your horse doesn’t block to the foot (repeatedly), you’ll be blindly treating an unknown injury with a very specific drug.

[QUOTE=blueribbonpanel;8148658]
I have an older gelding that is lame at the trot. He has seen multiple vets over the years. I’ve had his foot blocked several times by different vets and he shows no improvement. I’ve had his foot injected twice, no improvement. His xrays are fine, and also I have several sets taken over the past few years. I thought it was his pastern, so we injected that, but he only showed a little improvement at first, and is now lame again.

Someone mentioned Osphos. I haven’t heard of it before but it sounds like a miracle drug. $350 per treatment according to the internet. Supposed to be similar to tildren but less expensive and easier to give. IV only.

He’s been on previcox for months. There is no swelling, heat or anything else obvious.

I would very much appreciate any comments about this. Thank you.[/QUOTE]

Have you had any imaging done besides x-rays? How do you know it isn’t a soft tissue issue?

[QUOTE=blueribbonpanel;8148658]
I have an older gelding that is lame at the trot. He has seen multiple vets over the years. I’ve had his foot blocked several times by different vets and he shows no improvement. I’ve had his foot injected twice, no improvement. His xrays are fine, and also I have several sets taken over the past few years. I thought it was his pastern, so we injected that, but he only showed a little improvement at first, and is now lame again.

Someone mentioned Osphos. I haven’t heard of it before but it sounds like a miracle drug. $350 per treatment according to the internet. Supposed to be similar to tildren but less expensive and easier to give. IV only.

He’s been on previcox for months. There is no swelling, heat or anything else obvious.

I would very much appreciate any comments about this. Thank you.[/QUOTE]

So which foot is he lame on? You didn’t say. I’m assuming it’s a front foot?

What have you done to view the SOFT TISSUE structures of the foot? Ultrasound? MRI? Thermal scan?

My 4-year-old was recently diagnosed with desmitis (sp?) of a ligament in his right front foot. Nerve blocking kinda helped us find the location, but x-rays were clean. It was the ultrasound that found the spot of fluid.

I could have injected him all day or done any number of things, but what he needs is rest to let it heal.

Honestly, if your horse has perfect x-rays, I would not consider Osphos or Tildren. From what my vet has told me, they are more directed if you have bony changes seen on the x-ray that you want to treat.

Have you tried Legend or Pentosan or Adequan?

If you don’t know where the problem is, it is really hard to inject because you need to inject into the correct location.

I would say before spending money on a “miracle drug”, I’d focus my money on another vet to try to find the actual CAUSE of the problem. If you don’t know the cause it is awful hard to find the treatment.

Is he barefoot or shoe’d? Can you post pictures of his feet? Sometimes a bad trim will make a horse consistently lame.

Have you had the horse checked by a chiro or tried massage? Often times there are other issues that the horse will develop if they are compensating for pain.

This is a timely thread for me…

My mare has been experiencing a mild lameness in her front foot a few times over the last 12 months.

We took x-rays and did not find anything notable, however she did block to the heel.

Thinking that this may be a soft tissue injury, I took her to get an MRI last week to see if we could get a definitive diagnosis, and treatment plan.

The good and the bad… Soft tissues were healthy, but we did find degeneration and edema in the navicular bone.

With this being said, we are getting the Osphos treatment done tonight, as she is a good candidate for this therapy.

I had to weigh the benefit of the therapy with the very real risk of colic, and potential long term effects.

Other horses that I know have had Osphos and/or Tildren, and we have seen the immediate colic symptoms on some, but have also seen good results treating everything from navicular to kissing spines.

All were diagnosed via radiograph / MRI and treatment was specific to some sort of bone related issue.

I think that the fact that your horse does not show any improvement when blocked, or from injections, you might want to think about some additional diagnostic work before trying Osphos. It may save you time, money, and frustration in the long run.

Also… Osphos is given IM. Tildren is given IV.

I hope you get this figured out! Mystery lamenesses are so frustrating!!

My vet suggested OsPhos as a possible treatment for my horse with kissing spines. That said, the vet said he scheduled OsPhos injections in the morning and then vet stays on site for 2 hours because the horse can colic almost immediately after receiving the injection.

Yesterday I was talking with our trainer about two of her clients’ horses who have received OsPhos about 5 weeks ago. One she said has issues with lower leg arthritis and has shown marked improvement. The other horse they did not see a big difference.

Can anyone explain to me why OsPhos can have the side effect of sudden colic?

I was reading an article about it and the article stated they weren’t exactly sure, but felt it was related to calcium. The article also stated that the colic’s were mild, all resolved. They also stated that if the dose was given slower, it tended to result in fewer colic’s. This is the reason tildren is dosed over 90 minutes by IV.