| Arthritis
in Horses
Syn-flex
has been a proven supplement to degenerative joint disease
and has been veternarian recommeneded. While it is primarily
marketed to smaller pets, the truth is, it works for all
animals suffering from joint disease. The dosage is based
on an animals weight. For horses, the recommended dosage
is 1 oz. per day for horses under 1800 lbs and 1-1/2 oz
per day for horses over 1800 lbs.
 |
Mr.
William Bigler, race horse owner, was kind enough to share
his experience with Syn-flex in this testimonial:
|
 |
 |
"My standardbred racehorse, NOMAR, is a classy veteran who has earned
over $250,000 in his racing career. He has miscellaneous aches and pains. In
a race, the soreness bothers him more in the turns and makes it uncomfortable
for him to give his best performance. After reading about Syn-Flex on the internet,
I decided to purchase a months supply to see if I could notice any change in
his performance. I read that you would not notice much of a change for possibly
3 weeks. After 1 week NOMAR was noticably better. Not every horse will respond
that quick, but he was completely different in a weeks time. He receives 30cc
(1 ounce) once a day, 7 days a week."
William Bigler
|
|
 |
|
 |
The
Age Event: Arthritis in Horses
What
it is: Also known as degenerative joint disease (DJD),
it's progressive joint inflammation due to trauma or wear
and tear, leading to erosion of articular joint cartilage,
which becomes frayed and thinned, causing pain and loss
of function. Arthritis mainly affects your horse's weight-bearing
joints.
Why
your senior horse is at risk: Regardless of how good his
conformation is, his risk of arthritis increases with every
passing year. That's because the longer he lives, the bigger
a target he becomes for injuries and wear and tear that
lead to joint degeneration. His joints almost never get
a break. Even standing at rest they're bearing his weight
on tiny patches of cartilage.
Plus,
there's a metabolic shift that occurs around age 15, leading
to an escalation of cell death within bone, cartilage,
and fibrous tissue. Tendons and ligaments become less elastic,
more easily torn. Cartilage thins, absorbing less shock.
Its shape changes, too, due to a lifetime of pressure and
torque, causing joint bones to be less aligned and the
cartilage, ligaments, and tendons more susceptible to strain.
And, your horse's reactions slow down with age-especially
if he's retired to an inactive life- style-making him more
prone to a misstep.
The
faster you identify arthritis in your horse, the quicker
you can attack it. There are two kinds of equine arthritis:
the sneaky kind and the obvious kind. In the obvious kind,
the joint's been traumatized or infected, so is sore enough
to cause lameness. Your horse is lame-you call the vet.
In the sneaky kind, the joint isn't sore at first, so there's
little or no lameness. But that doesn't mean that arthritis
isn't marching forward. The first signpost will be a little
joint puffiness. If you don't look for it, you'll likely
miss it-and miss out on your chance to help minimize future
joint damage. Watch for these subtle but telltale signposts:
Slight puffiness
in lower-leg joints.
Stiff, choppy gait when you first begin
work, which improves when he warms up.
Reluctance and/or resistance to perform maneuvers that
previously came easily for him, such as stops and collection. He may
raise his head and hollow his back
The
article below is an excerpt from Hands-On Senior Horse
Care, published by Primedia Enthusiast Publications.
Degenerative
Joint Disease
What it is: Also known as degenerative joint disease (DJD),
it's progressive joint inflammation due to trauma or wear
and tear, leading to erosion of articular joint cartilage,
which becomes frayed and thinned, causing pain and loss
of function. Arthritis mainly affects your horse's weight-bearing
joints.
Why
your senior horse is at risk: Regardless of how good his
conformation is, his risk of arthritis increases with every
passing year. That's because the longer he lives, the bigger
a target he becomes for injuries and wear and tear that
lead to joint degeneration. His joints almost never get
a break. Even standing at rest they're bearing his weight
on tiny patches of cartilage.
Plus,
there's a metabolic shift that occurs around age 15, leading
to an escalation of cell death within bone, cartilage,
and fibrous tissue. Tendons and ligaments become less elastic,
more easily torn. Cartilage thins, absorbing less shock.
Its shape changes, too, due to a lifetime of pressure and
torque, causing joint bones to be less aligned and the
cartilage, ligaments, and tendons more susceptible to strain.
And, your horse's reactions slow down with age-especially
if he's retired to an inactive life- style-making him more
prone to a misstep.
The
faster you identify arthritis in your horse, the quicker
you can attack it. There are two kinds of equine arthritis:
the sneaky kind and the obvious kind. In the obvious kind,
the joint's been traumatized or infected, so is sore enough
to cause lameness. Your horse is lame-you call the vet.
In the sneaky kind, the joint isn't sore at first, so there's
little or no lameness. But that doesn't mean that arthritis
isn't marching forward. The first signpost will be a little
joint puffiness. If you don't look for it, you'll likely
miss it-and miss out on your chance to help minimize future
joint damage. Watch for these subtle but telltale signposts:
Slight
puffiness in lower-leg joints.
Stiff, choppy gait when you first begin work, which improves
when he warms up.
Reluctance and/or resistance to perform maneuvers that previously
came easily for him, such as stops and collection. He may
raise his head and hollow his back.
HOW TO IDENTIFY THE SIGNPOSTS
Inspect your senior horse's joints every day: Visually inspect
and feel each leg joint, preferably an hour after mild
exercise (such as hand-walking or at-liberty grazing),
which will minimize any puffiness (such as stocking up)
resulting from inactivity. Press your fingers gently
over each joint, feeling for smooth, well-defined "peaks" (bones)
and fluid-free
"valleys" (soft-tissue areas). As a joint becomes
puffy, you'll feel bone edges become obscured, and valleys
begin to fill, like a springy water balloon. If you're unsure,
look for asymmetry. Compare the left leg to the right leg,
or compare a suspicious joint to the same joint on a young,
sound horse.
Find
a puffy joint? Then do the soundness check, below. If the
lower joints of all four legs are swollen, and the cannon
bone (shin) areas are swollen too, the swelling is more
likely to be edema due to an underlying health problem,
such as poor circulation or hypoproteinemia. Call your
vet TODAY.
Perform
a soundness check. Use the guidelines below. If your horse
is lame, call your veterinarian TODAY-synovitis in that
affected joint may be escalating, resulting in joint degeneration.
If he's not obviously limping, check his soundness. If you
find he's unsound, or if you're just not sure, call your
vet TODAY.
If there's no hint of lameness, gently probe the joint with
your fingers, including the puffy part, while watching your
senior horse for signs of pain, such as a wringing tail,
flinch, or snatching the leg away from you. If you find any
sign of tenderness, call your veterinarian TODAY- your horse's
synovitis is on the move. If there's no sign of lameness
or tenderness, you won't need to call your veterinarian unless
you want to. If the swelling fails to improve within an hour
after your home treatment, the synovitis is not responding.
Call your veterinarian.
Use these steps to help battle degenerative joint disease
in your senior horse.
ARTHRITIS
ARTILLERY
Step 1: Take Him Out Of Retirement.
Why it helps. Regular exercise, tailored to your senior
horse's condition, increases circulation of nutrients into,
and wastes out of, his joints while strengthening muscles
that protect them from stress. A well-conditioned horse
generally has significantly thicker and healthier cartilage
than does an unfit horse of any age. Plus, fitness enhances
stamina and athletic ability, which helps protect your
horse from the most common 3-part cause of joint injury:
FATIGUE, which leads to POOR FORM, which leads to a MISSTEP.
Finally, regular exercise works wonders for a horse's attitude,
appetite, digestion, and overall sense of well-being.
How
to do it. Turn your horse out, and/or put him to work-carefully.
Pasture living is ideal; paddock turnout is better than
a stall. Your senior horse evolved to graze and step-with
each step, he gently compresses and releases the spongelike
cartilage in his joints, promoting joint-fluid circulation
that helps keep his cartilage as healthy as possible. Grazing
on pasture also is best for his mental outlook and digestion.
Avoid
stall confinement unless advised by your vet for a specific
condition. Horses weren't designed to stand still in a "cave." Doing
so freezes up joints already compromised by years of weight-bearing
and wear and tear. You'll be doing your senior a big favor
if you allow him, and encourage him, to move within his
capabilities.
Step
2: Make his diet joint-friendly.
Why it helps. Specific nutrients can have a significant impact
on joint health. There's evidence that adding the dietary
supplements at right can help your senior horse avoid serious
arthritis and/or live more comfortably with it. They're rated
according to how well they've been studied and supported
by well-designed research. Always consult with your veterinarian before changing
your senior horse's diet or medications.
Step
3: Work The Affected Joint Passively.
Why it helps. Passive range-of-motion exercises are well
documented to en-courage cartilage and soft-tissue healing
in inflamed joints while decreasing scar-tissue formation
(which causes a loss of range of motion).
How
to do it. Pick up the affected leg. Gently bend and straighten
the affected joint(s), repeating about 10 times per joint.
Perform the exercise 3 or 4 times a day, if possible-the
more you do it, the better.
Step
4: Improve Your Senior Horse's Flexibility.
Why it helps. Stretching breaks down adhesions, improves
circulation, warms and limbers muscles and ligaments, improves
range of motion, and helps prevent injury
How
to do it: Perform prework stretching exercises with your
horse, along with a warm-up session before each day's exercise.
Step
5: Keep Him Comfortable-Safely.
Why it helps. Breaking the pain cycle can help break the
inflammation cycle and speed healing.
How
to do it. Talk to your veterinarian about a treatment that
not only relieves your senior horse's joint pain but also
is in his best interest as an individual. There are side
effects to consider, which can become more of a problem
with increasing dosage and duration. In many cases, your
senior may benefit from a combination of conventional medications
with alternative therapies. The most common conventional
pain-relieving options are explained below.
ARTHRITIS
HOME TREATMENT
Confine your horse to a box stall or small paddock for 24
hours (or longer, as prescribed by your veterinarian).
If necessary, place a familiar companion nearby, to keep
your horse from fretting and pacing.
Ice the swollen joint. Using a flexible ice pack (such as
a bag of frozen corn or peas) inserted between the folds
of a clean cloth (a hand towel works great), hold ICE ON
for 5 minutes; ICE OFF 15 minutes. Repeat 3 times in a row.
Apply a standing bandage. If the joint is wrappable, apply
a standing banding to help reduce swelling and inflammation.
(If you're unsure about how to wrap your horse's legs, consult
your veterinarian.)
Hand-walk your horse. Twice a day remove your senior horse's
bandage, hand-walk him for 15 minutes, then rewrap and return
him to his stall. Gradually increase his exercise. After
the prescribed period of confinement, leave the bandage off
but keep your senior horse confined for half the original
length of time. (If he was to be confined for 24 hours, confine
him now for 12 more.) Provide 15 minutes of mild controlled
exercise 4 times a day. Examples of controlled exercise:
hand-walking, ponying at the walk and/or trot, or riding
at the walk and trot, depending on your senior horse's condition
before the problem appeared, and on how he's responded to
treatment. If swelling, tenderness, and/or pain persist or
return, you're going too fast.
Follow up. Check for return of swelling 1 hour after final
exercise session. If it hasn't returned, go to Step 6. If
it has, call your veterinarian for a re-evaluation, and keep
your horse confined.
Turn him out. If he's symptom free, he can be turned out
and resume a gradual return to work, if applicable. If not,
call your vet. There may be a more severe problem than was
originally thought.
| Arthritis | glucosamine | liquid
glucosamine | osteoarthritis | dog
arthritis |pet
arthritis | cat
arthritis |horse
arthritis |canine
arthritis | hip
dysplasia | joint
pain relief | arthritis
pain | 8
tips to ease arthritic pain | usage
instructions | synflex
F.A.Q. |
sales@syn-flex-usa.com
D and D Enterprises
Established since 2004
|
