I beg to differ on the Adequan/Legend combo. I’m doing it because it works very well for my horse, and because I have a vet who doesn’t inject joints as a generic band-aid thing. Are ther horses that require joint injections? Absolutely. But those two shots together work very well for mine.
[QUOTE=Tegan;4582681]
Didn’t read all the replies, but…
I have no problem with regular (ie 2x/year) joint injections on a horse that needs it. If the horse is young, then I think that might need a personal evaluation, but for middle aged-older horses, it doesn’t bother me.
It all comes with a limit though. If a horse needs hocks, stifles, SI joints, etc etc etc at age 12, that’s pushing it. If a horse at age 8 needs hocks done once a year… not ideal, but I can accept it.[/QUOTE]
My (now retired) horse was never actually lame, but between ages 13 and 14, he got progressively stiffer behind. He was on a joint supplement and had been for a number of years. We started then with hock injections and they always lasted at least 6 months and made a BIG difference. Perhaps I was just “lucky” but never any problems due to the injections.
I think that 30-40 years ago, a horse like mine, who merely shortened stride and wasn’t as forward or engaged, would have been regarded as “lazy” or “resistant” and pushed until he was actually, visibly lame. I think it is great that now we can do something to help them.
His hocks gradually fused and by 18 or 19, I no longer had to inject him. (Legend). THe first time he was injected, he was given Legend IV. A week later, another IV shot and the joints, and a week later another IV shot. Thereafter, the joints were done at approx.6 month intervals. I think it definitely prolonged his useful life and made him much more comfortable. Sadly, at about 21.5, his hocks fully fused, he developed arthritic stifles. I did that joint twice, and the effects did not last very long, so I retired him.
I do agree that it should not be done “just to do it,” or at an early age without a clinical diagnosis of the necessity. If MSM, IV Legend or other supplements and less invasive procedures can do the job, that’s great. My guy needed the joint injections and did well for almost 10 years with them. After 6 years, we only needed to continue with one joint, and then no more injections. I wish we could have alleviated his stifle problems, but that is much larger joint and the injections just were as successful in that area.
Seems that a lot of people look at IA hock injections as something evil. They are wonderfully beneficial. Doing nothing is not going to make arthritis go away. I agree with Ms. Stevenson. I do use Adequan and Legend regularly to make ‘me’ feel like I’m doing something worthwhile for my horse, but I really have not noticed any difference with them. I would not go to IA just for the sake of doing it, but if my horse showed even the smallest positive on flexion or noteworthy changes on radiographs, I’d inject.
IRAP is wicked spendy for most people.
I would not inject the hocks for random hopes of performace enhancement or as a first step, but I certainly would if recommended by the vet on an older, arthritic horse after x-rays and positive flexions. I’m talking about injecting the lower joints once or maybe twice a year with an antibiotic, a steroid, and Legend (HA) As someone pointed out, different joints are different ranges of motion and carry different risk.
The cancer info is interesting, btw, hadn’t read about that.
Hock pain leads to back pain, imo. Why make them suffer if you’ve tried everything else and it is easily treatable? Are we ruining the 17 year old, arthritic horse’s cartilage? For many horses daily bute is not an option due to ulcer issues.
Talking about joint pain, I’m going to go buy myself some msm right now. Stupid knees.
Our vets in the UK tend to be far more cautious with joint injections as PaddyUK has already said and then will only tend to inject if the joint responds to a nerve block on the basis that if a nerve block doesn’t work then chances are neither will the injection!!
For example with suspected hock problems often horses that flex positive have pain that originates from other sources than the hocks even if x-rays show degenerative changes. Common issues are low grade Suspensory or Annular ligament inflammation, stifle and or SI injury and IA injections into the hocks will not help those!
As far as human injections go, prior to his first hip replacement, my husband had a HA injection which lasted pretty well for about 6 months. However, when it came to the second one, it didn’t work at all because he had so many bone spurs in the hip.
However, he was supposed to be on stage two weeks before the replacement was scheduled, and the poor guy was in horrible pain. I said to him “if you were a racehorse, someone might shoot that joint full of cortisone and get you through the big event…”
Nex thing I knew he was on the phone to his surgeon’s office, saying “my wife says…” to a stunned silence from the other end, then the office saying “well, we don’t normally do that in humans because of the damage cortisone can do to the joint.” When it was pointed out that the joint wasn’t going to exist in two weeks time, they pulled him in and shot him up–he sang and danced and then went into hospital.
I’ve had a cortisone shot in my shoulder–I had a rotator cuff repair about 5 years ago, and a couple of years later I managed to annoy it again (holding 14 foot gates over your head is a bad idea for a repaired shoulder.) The ortho surgeon shot it with cortisone, which wasn’t a fun experience, and it took about 4 days to come into effect, but it worked like a charm and I haven’t had an issue since, but that was really a soft tissue issue.
I have no objection to joint injections in horses for therapeutic purposes. I’d not do them for the sake of it.
[QUOTE=ToN Farm;4584134]
Seems that a lot of people look at IA hock injections as something evil. They are wonderfully beneficial. Doing nothing is not going to make arthritis go away. I agree with Ms. Stevenson. I do use Adequan and Legend regularly to make ‘me’ feel like I’m doing something worthwhile for my horse, but I really have not noticed any difference with them. I would not go to IA just for the sake of doing it, but if my horse showed even the smallest positive on flexion or noteworthy changes on radiographs, I’d inject.[/QUOTE]
As usual I completely agree with ToN. Why not inject joints for maintenance? Even less experienced vets do a million of them a week around here. Why not make a horse more comfortable?
I have had my knee injected probably 20 times or so… Its not painful at all and helps a ton.
As for only having so “many sticks” for a hock joint… I personally know of a mare who has had hers done every 3 months for going on 8 years. I wouldn’t want that high maintenance of a horse and its not my cup of tea but I certainly don’t think its unethical. The horse is schooling PSG last I chatted with the owner.
Adequan and legend do work great as a preventative and for to extent time between injections but I don’t believe they take the place of some steroids directly in the joint.
I have found mixed information on injecting joints on the web. It seems that a lot of people are doing it for therapeutic reasons. Our horses can’t tell us when they are in pain. My vet does this quite often and I have faith in his practices.
I would start out with oral joint supplements and a round of legend and/or adequan (they work by different mechanisms, so it can be useful to use both together if you don’t mind paying for it). I would ONLY consider IA injections if the horse is showing signs of being uncomfortable due to degenerative changes in his joints. Steroids will destroy the joint if overused (saw an ex-racehorse that this happened to… he was totally crippled in his early-teens, could barely walk). Even if your vet only injects HA, you must remember that you risk joint infection every time you stick a needle in the joint.
IRAP is quite expensive, and there are still some vets out there that are skeptical about how well it works. I’ve also heard some great things about it, but I’ve only known it to be used as a last-resort for a horse that has somehow injured a joint.
