Some Really Cool News!

Larry, my barrel horse, suffers from navicular syndrome. I knew this when I purchased him and he is managed pretty well with some special farrier work. I just have to limit how much I practice the barrels on him because the tight turns cause him to be a little sore, he's absolutely fine for poles and everything else though. I was concerned because navicular, like so many other things, often gets worse instead of better. I want to prolong Larry's life and make him as comfy as possible, because the sounder he is, the better we can do competition wise. In search of some info on navicular, which I have little knowledge of, my local vet directed me to a clinic in AZ that is actually doing a clinical study on a new drug that is not only masking the symptoms of Navicular, but reversing damage and keeping it from getting worse. I called, just to see if there were any openings in the program, and there were! I'm taking him tomorrow for his first visit! I have no out of pocket expense immediately, they are doing xrays, nerve blocks, and a comprehensive lameness exam at no charge to me. If everything works out ok, and he qualifies for the program, I will pay $500 for an MRI, which is a TINY fraction of what it actually cost, the clinical study group is covering the rest. After that, if everything goes as planned, we will begin this new treatment (it is injections, but not into a joint, I believe it is IV.) over a course of around eight weeks, God willing, at the end of the eight weeks, he will be symptom free and on the road to a sound life!

I am so excited, this came at such a perfect time and the nice thing is that I have the money for the MRI at the moment, so it really is a blessing. At the very least, even if he doesn't qualify for the program, I have a 2k vet visit for free!

On another note, I had my ultrasound today, which confirmed what my CT said. My ovary is enlarged still, so two months and I will get another one to see if it has grown. If it has, out it goes! I'm ok with all this though, I'm just going to wait and see!

Oh! I also passed my state board exam for my CNA thing, so I am officially a CNA! I did really well, glad it's all over! Now I can get to work to pay for horsie feed. I was just really excited about the clinical study, just thought I'd share

Congrats!

Keep me updated on this study. My ole Nick has navicular and is well managed co nsidering he is almost 30 and has been navicular for at least 11 yrs.

denise

Hey Jolese where is this clinic? I have a horse here being boarded that has Navicular.. Let me know..

That's great news about the navicular study. Let us know how it all goes.

The program is at:

AZ Equine Medical & Surgery Centre
(480) 962-6660
It's in Gilbert, super nice facility and phenomenal vets. I would use them in the future for any sports medicine problems I have.

Well here's the verdict, we didn't make it into the program because Larry's navicular has been present for a long time, long enough for the tendon to wear a good portion of his navicular bone away. But, on the up side, we have a LOAD of info from all the x-rays and lameness exam! His right front is affected by the navicular, but NOT his front left. His front left, the bone is perfect and when we blocked his right front, he was still sound on his left. He blocked perfectly, right to the heel, which would normally make him a cantidate for nerving, but because of the bone deteriation, he runs a higher risk of his tendon bursting. That is completely out of the question, I didn't really want to do it in the first place. He was a really good trooper through it all, becuase they end up blocking both front completely and he has a needle phobia. He had a deer caught in headlights look the whole day.

The good news that came out of it is that other than the navicular is his right front, Larry has clean legs. No arthritis, nothing. His back legs checked out find, right up to the stifle and hips. His shoulders and back are good, everything. The vet told me that he probably has another 5-7 serviceable years in him if I keep him active and healthy, which is what I'm doing. I was told that the worse thing I can do for him is to retire him to a stall, he said he's still good for the performance work, I just have to make a few modifications I actually left there feeling pretty happy, he's on a regimen of:

--1/2 gram Bute Daily to manage inflamation and to help the unaffected foot because it bears the brunt of weight.

--Dynamite Free & Easy (this stuff is really great, one of the few products I think actually works.)

--Silver Lining Navicular Relief (Larry hates this stuff, I have to hide it... lol.)

Awesome. I will let him know..


Thanks so much

well my client has an appointment next Thursday.. Hopefully he gets in..That would be awesome..