Osteoarthritis

Question
My 17 yr old Friesian Mare has osteoarthritis in her left knee.  We have done IRAP, steroid injections, Legend, Adequan, and icing her knee.  Is there anything else I can try to help her?  She is unsound when we start to work and eventually works out of it.  We are in dressage training.

Answer
Pat,

Unfortunately it looks like you've pretty well exhausted the options from "modern" medicine.  You do have to remember that she is 17 yrs. old, the equivalent of a 53 yr. old person.  Trust me, I can tell you from personal experience that you can't do at 53 what you did at 23!  Osteoarthritis is a progressive condition which, at best, you can slow down but not halt.

I would suggest that you look up a holistic vet, they are out there.  I'm  no expert on homeopathic remedies but I know that a German-made combination formula, Zeel, is helpful with osteoarthritis. There are also essential oils, wintergreen, peppermint, cypress, lavender and sweet orange which help with the inflammation.  Get a bottle of carrier oil, I like almond because it is very stable and doesn't go rancid.  Add 15 drops lavender, 10 drops each of wintergreen and peppermint, 12 drops each of cypress and sweet orange per ounce of oil and massage into the knee, all around the joint and for several inches above and below it, a couple of times a day to give her some relief.   If you are going to show you can't use herbs like yucca or devil's claw, both of which help because they act much like bute but don't have the nasty side effects of ulcers like bute does.  They will test positive so cannot be used in show horses subject to drug testing.  If not showing then look into some herbal supplements that contain these herbs.  Be aware that herbs can take some time to achieve their full effects so you have to use them at least 30 days to decide whether they are helping or not.  

You do not mention whether or not you have her on an oral supplement for joints that has chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine and MSM.  This adds support to the Adequan and Legend injections to prolong their action.  If she got relief, at all, from the injections then you need to add this to her diet.

But, in all honesty, I would begin looking for another horse to replace her if you are big into dressage work.  That's very hard on the horse's legs and in her case not really fair to her to ask her to do it given her arthritic issues.  If you haven't done so please get her x-rayed to assess the degradation of the joint.  

I wish I could be more encouraging but this is a tough one to deal with.  I've tried to give you as many alternative therapies as I can think of.  I would suggest you get some bodywork done on her because she's going to have some muscle issues related to this condition and it will help her be more comfortable.  I hope this helps you and her.

Lyn