So what’s the verdict on a coming 14 yr old horse with hocks that appear to be fusing…Depo Medrol only injection? Depo with HA? Or should I try Osphos? I see this being used more and more. But is it effective? What gives us the best result for our money when looking at treating the hocks?
I had my 13 yr old gelding injected in his coffins in February and then an injection of osphos a few days ago. Kind of early to see any improvement but I am hopeful. It cost about $350 in Northern VA.
My 16 yo mare with arthritis all through her neck and back made a BIG improvement on osphos, I love the stuff! No negatives from my personal experience. Lasted about 6 months and now she is just starting to go back to her old stiff ways, so we just gave her another dose of osphos to see if it helps her again. It really made a world of difference for my girl 
Took a few weeks to start seeing improvement the first time, and then she kept steadily improving until she finally “peaked” around the 3 month mark.
I’m reviving this thread to note that our son’s 18yo Quarter Horse gelding received Osphos shots 2.5 weeks ago for persistent lameness in both fronts, but particularly in his left front foot. I thought I noticed a slight difference in his gait a couple days ago, but it was so slight I thought I might be seeing things. The next morning, showing his enthusiasm for breakfast, he managed a couple stiff crow hops and a double barrel kick into the air. Just now I saw him stride purposefully across the pen toward the fence. He’s still short-strided, but not limping and moved out pretty free.
Keeping my fingers crossed for continued improvement!
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Actually glad to see the thread revived as this is a possibility for Dexter with all of his navicular bone remodeling due to infection. Waiting to see a good view of his last xrays.
Anyone who has experience with both osphos and tildren that has seen a difference between the two?
One of my horses got Osphos injection 2 weeks ago for a hock that is starting to fuse, and also to hopefully ‘settle down’ (as vet put it) a small chip on RF cannon bone – horse either banged himself or got kicked by his buddy during rough play or something. Leg blew up, he wasn’t lame, but we took rads anyway and found the chip.
Vet thinks chip is quite old and simply got aggravated. So far not a sequestrum; swelling resolved with cold hosing etc.
Vet didn’t mention Tildren, maybe because we’re not dealing with navicular. He only said ‘Osphos’ as best course of action in my horse’s case for bone pain.
The shots seemed to be fairly painful – 3 jabs total, both sides of neck – horse wasn’t happy about it. And he got a little queasy right after but did not colic.
I hope to start seeing hock improvement soon.
My concern with the osphos is that Dex is proned to Colic. But the price difference makes me keep it on the list.
I did Osphos on my TB gelding last year and it sent him into kidney failure. The response from the company was, “oh yeah, that happens sometimes.” That was a MUCH more expensive component of the Osphos shot than the actual set of shots.
I’m so sorry to hear your horse went into kidney failure.
I too was worried about Osphos side effects and did some research. All I could gather is that horses with a history of renal disease should not get Osphos – and – if a horse is already on an NSAID the addition of Osphos can greatly increase the risk of kidney failure – and – if a horse colics from Osphos, treating with an NSAID can increase the risk + decreases the efficacy of the Osphos.
My horse had bute for a few days to help with the bone chip aggravation, and since Osphos and bute do not play well together I was going to tell my vet that I wanted to wait a week (after stopping bute) to give him the Osphos. Turns out my vet’s appointment manager couldn’t schedule me in for a week anyway, so the bute factor was a moot point.
After the injection my vet hung around for an additional 20 minutes to make sure we weren’t going to have a colic episode that would require the use of banamine. (no!) Very scary 20 minutes to say the least!
During this time I hand walked my horse (which is post Osphos colic prevention) and then turned him out so he would keep moving around. His head shaking (like a fly was bugging him) + queasyness totally went away after 30-40 minutes.
The other scary thing is that my vet did NOT ask me if my horse was still on bute prior to injection. He just assumed I had stopped giving it. But you’d think that 'knowing for sure’ about NSAIDS would be seriously important given the risk of kidney failure. Moral to that story is that horse owners really have to be their horse’s own health advocate when it comes to drugs and treatments. I dread to think what could have happened had my horse still been on bute.
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I believe the risk of side effects from Osphos is lower than Tildren, it’s easier to administer, and it’s cheaper which is probably why more vets are giving it. (The pharmaceutical company probably also has some good sales people selling it to the vets…)
My vet ran through the warnings and side effects before we gave the Osphos the first time - no other NSAID for a week prior, can cause spasmodic colic, caustic to the tissues at the injection site, kidney failure is possible especially if horse is on an NSAID.
I think the colic it usually causes is spasmodic, so my vet will give buscopan if needed (which my horse does) after administering the Osphos. And this last time we gave it, he was also sedated for IA injections, which can also help with spasmodic colic. We ran a kidney panel after my horse was on a lot of antibiotics this winter, so we knew his kidneys were ok at the start and my vet told me symptoms to watch for.
For me, comparing the risks and costs of Tildren, IA injections, and Osphos, I am comfortable using the Osphos when indicated for an issue.
We’ve been considering Osphos but are currently administering Bute for foot soreness so good to be reminded about the NSAID/Osphos protocol. Both vet and farrier enamoured of Osphos but the Ramey article and some of the registered side effects have made us wary. Horse isn’t prone to colic. Will wait until boots are on and Bute is off for a week and maybe take the Osphos plunge.
So, is this drug legal to have in the horse’s system for showing? TIA.
I think I’ll try it on 2 of my horses after reading what others have said on this thread.
Have used it for 3 years --always saw improvement; however, gelding may be past the point where it will help this spring --we’ll have to x-ray to see --but it did keep him in the show ring for the past 3 years .–about $400… .
Osphos and Tildren are bisphosphonates, which is the gold standard drug for treating osteoporosis in humans. Albeit nowhere near as potent as Zolendronate, etc. It’s a systemic drug that inhibits bone resorption. The reason it was initially used to treat navicular was because that disease is associated with bone loss in the navicular bone. Simplistic thought process: stop the bone loss, stop the navicular.
However, no study has (yet) been published that directly evaluates any effect on bone remodeling in horses. All of the studies done have been based on clinical outcomes in the presence of many diseases (navicular, osteoarthritis, etc). As far as I can tell, the drugs only significantly improved clinical lameness, which is notoriously unreliable. And neither drug made any of the horses sound. Just “less lame”.
Recent research has shown that neither drug influences bone remodeling in horses (links below). Osphos has been shown to have analgesic properties, which may be causing the improvements in clinical outcomes in horses.
The thought process here is similar as above; any influence on bone remodeling (i.e. via bisphosphonate administration), would in theory improve clinical outcomes in diseases affected by abnormal bone remodeling. As stated above, no study has demonstrated any effect on the disease process. Only lameness, and those conclusions are flawed.
Horse owners and trainers love to use anecdotal evidence for their treatment recommendations, so I think this is why these drugs are so popular now.
Recent research on these drugs.
https://www.ors.org/Transactions/62/0694.pdf
http://www.fasebj.org/doi/10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.902.25
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I would say beware!! The vets are really pushing it and my understanding is it was taken from human use because women’s jaws were breaking. I just recently started doing research because on New Year’s Day we had to put our beloved Lola down a 13 year old quarter horse mare who was super healthy except for fusing hocks. She had been on osphos for about a year , two doses. I turned her out into our outdoor sand arena like alwAys while I cleaned her stall and she suffered a spiral fracture just from running and bucking. The prognosis was 6 weeks tied her stall. Four days later a complete break. We were devastated. We have had her since she was a yearling and my daughter grew up with her. Though there is no proof I would use osphos with caution.
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Beware of osphos! We gave to our 13 year old quarter horse mare twice over a year for fusing hocks. Did nothing for her hocks but we did just have to put her down from a spiral fracture while she was out in the arena doing nothing unusual. I just find it strange as I read they quit giving to humans because women’s jaws were breaking.
My 14 year old Morgan gelding has been injected with Osphos at least 4X over the last 3 years (approx every 9 months with (I believe) an initial loading dose, but am not sure as I did not own him at the time) .
We do this because he has arthritis/bone on bone in his right hock. Trying to fuse that joint. He had been getting these shots for at least 1+ years prior to my acquiring him over 1 year ago.
Note that these shots are quite painful and my horse requires a sedating shot to get them (and indeed for any shot because he assumes now that all shots are Osphos) .
They work! I can tell when he needs it because his right rear leg starts to occasionally slip out (he is shod on all four). When I got him, he was about 5 months in on his last Osphos. His vet (who has been with him for at least 4 years) said that they are good for about 9 months) and so when he started to slip after 4 months - Vet suggested that we give him the shots (there are three at one time) and within about 1-2 weeks - it was all good and he stayed that way for 9 months.
I just noticed that he was slipping again - called the vet - 9 months almost to the day. Got shots today. should be good again in a week or so.
He is a fancy pants ex-show Morgan - one of those “saddle seat/hunt seat” high steppers. In between the hock and behaviour issues, he washed out of the show circuit, went to rehab and was restarted using “relax and focus” training techniques and is now a very lovely riding horse. No shows. No high stepping. I am a big believer in the results of Osphos and other than the pain and need to sedate, have no issues with any side effects.
Price here in the Bay Area of Northern California is about $390
I tried it on a mare who had navicular. I did not re-do radiographs post-Osphos, but between the Osphos and corrective shoeing, she “improved.” She was still not sound for barrel racing, so I donated her to a vet center to be a recip mare. She’s happily carrying very pricey babies for others now.
One of mine has had it twice. Seems to really help. Unlike the poster above, I didn’t notice him feeling any more pain than with other injections. If I remember correctly, we did it in 3 locations (both sides of neck and chest).
