Off label Osphos use - anyone done it?

[RedHorses]

My senior (26 next month) has been struggling a bit lately and we saw the vet yesterday. The vet suggested potentially doing an Osphos treatment to slow down arthritic bone remodeling with the hope of making my horse more comfortable. It’s about $500 - within reasonable budget range.

It’s not something we can do now as my horse is on daily Previcox and would have to come off it for minimum two weeks. Right now, due to the recent abscesses, he is clearly uncomfortable with Previcox, and stopping it isn’t an option.

I did some reading about Osphos last night, and wondered if anyone here had used it off label. Please tell me about your experience using it for navicular as well.

[stargzng386]

I use it in a young retired horse with an awful hock. No navicular pain but a lot of bone arthitis pain that bute or previcoxx doesn’t help. It’s made a huge difference for him and he’s significantly more comfortable.

[RedHorses]

Thanks, stargzng386!

How often do you have to repeat the treatment? How quickly do you see positive results?

[stargzng386]

Once a year it’s Not recommended any more often then that. It’s a drug that takes awhile to fully work. I noticed positive improvements in about 2-3 weeks but it takes about 2 months to see the full effects.

[lenapesadie]

I had an Osphos treatment done for dearly departed Norman. Not technically off label as he did have navicular changes. He also had a plethora of other bony issues in his front feet: sinking founder, mild rotation, pedal ostitis and more. The Osphos made no difference for him unfortunately.

[walktrot]

My Paint geldlng had a lump on his knee when I bought him at age 7 in 2001. It was outside the joint and didn’t bother him at all. He was on pasture board and I rode him 5-6 days per week. He started losing a bit of flexion when he hit his 20s but remained perfectly sound. I put him on HorseTech’s joint supplement and started Previcox.

He remained perfectly sound until the pandemic. The BO lied, locking all the horses in their turnout claiming the governor ordered it. Owners were totally banned from the property. She knew, in fact, that the state had guidelines for us to provide daily care. After 30 days he had problems getting back in shape and developed periodic bouts of lamenss but recovered. Until October, when he remained lame. In NovemberI moved to a new barn where he got much better care.

I had a lameness specialist do a full exam and he used Osphos. It really did help. I could feel the difference hand walking him. I learned how to long line. But the arthritis was getting much worse. I had the farrier on a 4-week schedule and the vet sent him the xrays we did every couple of months. That kept his hooves balanced and he was comfortable. The vet asked me to agree to put him down when she said it was time. I did.

One day in July she said it. Ultrasound confirmed how much worse the arthritis was. His knee no longer could control his hoof. He dragged the toe or arced it and landed on the outside. I could feel him getting stronger from the most recent Osphos shot. He was not in pain. But it was only fair to put him down. I had promised him that I wouldn’t let him turn into a decrepit old man. I had promised him I would not inject the joint or push him to keep going.

It was so hard. He had plenty of friends in the area. A couple of dozen came to be with us when he was put down on 7/20/2022. That helped. I’m glad I did the Osphos and that he didn’t suffer. I had him composted and buried him with a dogwood tree in the backyard.

[atr]

I use it for navicular. It works excellently for my 15 year old. But I find that it also does a fine job on his hock arthritis. No more need for hock injections. We use it every 6 months with the blessing of my vet. Yes, we come off equioxx for 6 days before and 6 days after. We find it works very quickly. We usually run a course of Adequan at the same time to keep things lubed up.

I have a friend who uses it for idiopathic coffin pain. Works well for her horse too. She’s also on a 6 month protocol.

It’s basically just very effective for bone pain as well as slowing the bone loss of navicular. I wouldn’t be happy using it on a 4 year old, but on a mature horse I think its a very useful drug.

[Obsidian_Fire]

On a horse that age, my vet would want to run bloodwork to make sure there are no kidney issues. Last thing you’d want is to have him go down to kidney failure.
My experience with Osphos, and prior to that, Tildren, is hit or miss. I used Tildren on a former horse and the first time it seemed to help. After that, no benefit. This horse had hock issues and was young.
The horse I have now I use because she has very minor navicular changes and I’d like to keep them that way. She also has KS and SI issues and my personal theory is if it helps those also, so much the better.
With this horse, Osphos seems to be beneficial, the navicular changes have not progressed at all since I bought her 6 1/2 years ago.

[RedHorses]

Thanks for the warning! My vet did make it very clear. that kidney and liver function must be normal (blood work before) because of the risk of kidney failure, and also emphasized that bad things happen if Osphos is given with Previcox on board!

Did anyone have their horse on any other medication when they got Osphos? My horse started his summer heaves meds (Prednisolone and Hydroxyzine) last week, and is on Prascend.

[lenapesadie]

Mine was on Pergolide if I recall correctly

[atr]

Mine is on hydroxyzine.

[RedHorses]

I saw on the Osphos site that it can be used every six months. Do you just do it as a regular treatment every six months, or are you seeing signs of reduced comfort?

I had wondered about using a course of Adequan. How do you space the injections around the Osphos? Which form of Adequan do you use?

[RedHorses]

Thanks. I will ask about pergolide specifically.

Was Osphos a sort of last ditch attempt at helping your horse, or did the vet think that it had a good chance of success?

[lenapesadie]

Hard to say. That horse’s entire time with me was his last ditch effort at life. He had been struggling w front foot lameness for a decade prior to my ownership.

The hope was that Osphos would help stabilize him to prevent further deterioration and perhaps offer some pain relief.

ETA the attending vet felt it had a strong probability of success. Unfortunately that didn’t pan out. I would likely try the treatment again with another horse if indicated. But IME it’s not as reliable as say joint injections into a known problem joint.

[RedHorses]

I’m sorry it didn’t work for your guy. It’s so hard when we try to help, and can’t quite manage to make a difference.

[lenapesadie]

It is.

I don’t regret trying Osphos.

[atr]

We are trying not to have his navicular bones get any more holey than they already are, and we try to stay ahead of any discomfort, so we keep it as regular as we can. But at 6 months his hocks are starting to need some attention anyway so it works out.

As far as the Adequan goes, I’ve done it at the same time without any ill-effects.

I found the Osphos works better and is to me a lot less invasive than IA injections in the coffins and hocks every 6 months. And frankly it is more cost effective.

He’s a 15 year old upper level schoolmaster who is worth his weight in gold, so I do everything in my power to keep him happy and comfortable and watch him like a hawk to make sure nothing is changing. He works 4 days a week at least in excellent footing, is carefully shod by a really good farrier on a regular schedule, and all the other things.