Handling Horse Arthritis
January 26th, 2012 by KittyKitty
There are an assortment of do-it-yourself solutions or treatments you can use for your senior horse companion if he is having a lot of pain and inflammation with his arthritis. The great thing is, some of these can be done all at the same time. Since every single horse is unique, please remember that some treatments may not work for him and a few may do. Treat your horses in line with their needs. The best equine care is found at software veterinary.
Prepare a box stall with lots of hay and soft grass underfoot if your horse needs to be confined for at least 24 hrs due to arthritis. Put your horse’s buddy near him if he’s the type to throw a fit when his buddy’s not around. The last thing you want is your aching horse to be worrying and pacing more attempting to find his friend.
Ice compress may be needed to relieve joint pain. Place an ice pack or a bag of frozen peas on the affected area for 5 minutes. Repeat 3 times in a row with 15 minutes gap right after every application. To help relieve the swelling and inflammatio, wrap the joint with a standing bandage. We suggest trying Neo-Ice Equine bandages or an ice gel over the affected region.
Since he’ll just get as rigid as all get out if left standing in a stall, take him out twice daily and hand walk him. To get limber, remove his bandage first and walk for about 15 minutes. After walking, you may rewrap the bandage as soon as you get back to his stall. Each day progressively increase his exercise. You will need to do this about 4 times a day as he advances and then also lessen the length of time he is to be confined to about half the original period of time.
Controlled exercises like hand walking, slow trot, ponying at a walk or riding at a walk is recommended. Use in discretion as this may highly depend on what condition your horse is in. If the swelling comes back, you need to slow down.
If there is no swelling an hour after the exercise session(s) you should be able to turn your senior back out into this regular pasture and then slowly get back into an easy exercise program. Call your veterinarian immediately if signs of swelling are recognized.
As a licensed animal medical practitioner, Cornelia Haul has been using the best veterinary computer programs software in her practice. Within her specialties are veterinary advantage using veterinary computer programs in offering the best equine care.
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