Arthritis Supplements? Founder also...

[wildhorses]

I have a 22 year old mare. She has had foundered feet since I got her home 3 or 4 years ago, but never seemed to bother her. In the last couple of months, she has been having a harder time getting around.

Last month I took her to the vet. He stated that she is very arthritic and he thought that was most of her problem. She is very slow to walk and stiff, especially in the mornings. The vet examined her hooves very well, tested them, didn't find any ulcers, etc. The vet also wanted the farrier he works closely with to examine her hooves and give her a really good trim. We did that...farrier said, yes she has some arthritis, but she has foundered in the past and as a result grows more hoof faster, and had more hoof than she needed and felt good trims would help her get around better.

Well, she did get around a bit better for the first week or so following her trim, but is getting slower again.

I have 2 questions. I know I should put her on a supplement for the Arthritis. I am looking for suggestions. Someone told me of one a couple months ago, but can't remember the name...it just consisted of 3 letters, like TLC, but don't remember what it was. Said it was a daily supplement I could mix with her feet or just give it to her with a syringe in the mornings.

Second questions...is there anything I can give her for the founder pain that is safe for a mini? With the big horses we use Bute daily on one of the old ones to help with the pain and it's made a tremendous difference...however I have always been told not to use Bute with mini's. I know Banamine isn't a long term solution for daily use either. I am wondering if there are any supplements, over the counter meds, etc. that would help her. I prefer something I can just administer to her daily rather than mix into feed as she is in a small pen with 3 other older mares and isn't seperated at feeding time.

Thank you in advance for the imput and suggestions.

 

[Miniv]

You may be thinking of MSM for the arthritis....... It comes in a powdered form for horses and can be mixed into their feed very easily.

 

[targetsmom]

Check with local feed stores or online suppliers for combination (Chondroitin and Glucosomine) or separate joint supplements that come in wafer form to be hand fed. I feed a powdered form of one or the other - or both - to my 23 year old big horse and to my mare with Lyme Disease. I think it really helps.

For founder - or to prevent it in my insulin resistent mare - I feed Remission, which is a magnesium and chromium supplement. I don't think they have that in a wafer or "treat" form.

Good luck...

 

[rabbitsfizz]

You may be thinking of MSM??

But I recommend you to try this

http://www.nutrecare.co.uk/Product_images/...0ha_1_small.jpg

Sorry, it's a UK site, I am sure they do it in the states, if you Google it?

I have to tell you, in an animal this old, I would be going straight on to Bute, but you know your horse, and if you feel it is worth trying a supplement first, go for it.

I have used MSM but in a much younger horse, it did work, however, it is expensive, but it might work, I think the Cortaflex with Hyaluronic acid is better for arthritis, personally.

Good Luck with her, I hope you find an answer.

 

[chandab]

Since she is laminitic, I'm going to assume you don't plan to breed her, so my suggestion would be to try B-L paste or solution on her for pain (its an herbal anti-inflammatory - not to be used on pregnant or lactating mares), it worked pretty good for my mini mare with laminitis (after a week's worth of bute to get her pain under control). I usually use the pellets, but mine are all fed individually, so they are easy to drop in her daily feed (the paste is pretty easy to administer - the solution sounds messy so I haven't tried it). You can get it from most on-line vet supply places (sometimes its hard to find it using the search feature, don't know why). Horse.com (Country Supply) has it, its item number BWL56 for the solution and paste. I've had no tummy issues using this product, its not supposed to cause stomach issues, but each animal is an individual, so just try it and see.

There are many joint supplements for arthritis. I'm using Absorbine Flex+ for my senior half-Arab gelding (I've also used Corta-Flx for him), and it seems to keep him limber. I'm using Springtime Joint Health Treats for two of my mini mares (one is pregnant and one lactating), inquired with company and they said the ingredients are safe but to check with my vet to see if this particular product would work for my situation; it does seem to be helping both of them get around.

 

[MountainMeadows]

This stuff works wonders, spendy,but worth it: http://www.lubrisyn.com

Stacy

 

[wildhorses]

This mare is possibly in foal. She foaled last year but we lost the foal as it didn't get out of the sac and was an unattended birth. She was doing well at that point, infact the vet examined her and found no reason not to breed her again. Found her to be in good health and weight and breeding sound for her age. It was only late this fall when the mare began having trouble ambulating. Since winter weather has set in, she has gotten worse. She lays down more, I am assuming because it hurts to stand, she is very stiff and acts as if every step is taking all of her effort.

I have been giving her banamine every other day to help take some of the pain away until I get figure out the right course of treatment for her.

Is daily bute a possible solution for her if carefully dosed? If she is possibly in foal? I have my old QH mare on daily bute and has made a world of difference in her. She was in the same boat as this mare last year, but is a new horse on the bute. But I know there is a low safety margin with dosing the bute, and I of course not only worry about the unborn foal if she is pregnant, but also the ulcers, bute toxicity, etc. If used with an ulcer guard medication, would that help?

Would daily banamine be a safer solution? Can a horse be on banamine for a long period of time? I have always been told no more than 5 days on banamine, or you start to have tummy problems as well.

I have also looked at starting on the Corta-Flx. It seems to have all the right ingredients in it, including the MSM in a liquid form that i can give orally daily.

I have also wondered if it would help to start with Remission combined with the Corta-Flx...or do both do the same thing and only necessary to do one or the other?

I do have a call in to my vet...he is a good vet and his specialty is lameness....however like most vets he has little experience with the minis. That is why I am very much interested in what the forum members advice is so that I can relay that information to him as well, and we can make the right decisions on a course of action and treatment for this mare. Thanks for any advice, and for answering my questions.

 

[targetsmom]

Could she possibly have Lyme Disease? I would start her on the joint supplement anyway, but that is easy for me to say because I already have a big container for my big horse! Remission is totally different - it is magnesium and chromium - so I don't see that it would hurt to feed that too, but I would check with the vet.

 

[Becky]

A foundered/laminitic horse needs to be on a very low NSC diet. No pasture. Supplements with glucosamine are not recommended. Nothing with yucca either. Supplemented magnesium is good depending on what else you are feeding. I wouldn't use Bute in a mini. I'm using Banamine on a laminitic mare now. Low dose, once a day. Hope to get her off of it before long.

You might look at the Yahoo Cushings Group and the Yahoo Metabolic Group for helpful information.

 

[MountainMeadows]

My vets believe that the daily low dose banamine that I gave Sonata as a yearling for her eye injury more than likely contributed to her current kidney failure condition - I will never "just use" banamine or bute without getting blood drawn to make sure that I am not doing more harm than good - it is heart wrenching to think that something that I did to try to ease the inflamation of an eye injury 5 years ago is now likely the reason I will lose my precious mare.

Stacy

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Has anyone tried Ceytrl-M? I heard its very good for cases like these but its pricey, but I haven't personally tried it but was curious to see if anyone else tried this product?

 

[wildoak]

All of the good joint supplements unfortunately are pricey. I took Cetyl M myself for awhile, seemed to be helpful but it was expensive and mostly I couldn't handle the number of big capsules it required daily. When Artie was injured last year, I put her on bute after surgery. I would have been horrified if someone had suggested keeping her on it long term - and still wouldn't recommend it unless absolutely necessary - but we did end maintaining her on it for nearly 7 months, daily. She never had ulcers, never lost appetite....without it she just quit trying. It can be done, but again I stop short of recommending it, at least without closely monitoring your horse. She was also not in foal, that always adds another level of concern

Jan

 

[MiLo Minis]

If you are going to give the mare a daily dose of banamine I would also use a stomach buffer along with it daily such as Ulcer Guard.