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Veteran
Posts: 185
 
| I've been recommended Osphos for my navicular barrel horse. He is doing well actually broke into the 1D at his last race....but I would like to keep him that way! I've read through some threads but I've been wondering how those horses have fared 2, 3 or 5 years down the road.
Anyway I was wondering everyones experience with Osphos (particularly with navicular and long term how the horses have fared). What level was your horse able to run at and for how long? How long since your first injection and how often do you inject?
I've heard it increased the chances of large bone fractures in humans and jaw necrosis...which makes me nervous. I would hate to have it help him short term only to have him break a leg in 2-3 years or something. I believe the drug is only used for cancer patients in humans now?
Thanks for the help! |
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Veteran
Posts: 155
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  Whack and Roll
Posts: 6342
 
Location: NE Texas | There is a reason it's no longer used in human osteoporosis or osteopenia patients. Drug companies have billions of dollars invested into these medications and have to have somewhere to go with them. I personally don't think it's been used long enough in the equine industry to truly know the long term effects. It would be a last resort for me and my agenda with using it would be to keep on pasture sound. The drug and the consequences scare me based on what I have read in human studies and what my friend and her family have experienced with their osteoporosis. |
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Expert
Posts: 1409
Location: Oklahoma | I am one of the ones that has jumped on board and I am so glad I did. There is always side effects in everything! even natural stuff. and herbs and so forth. When I see my horse standing correctly after 3 years and everyone telling me that just the way he is. I have done a lot of things to try to make my horse to stand correctly. I even had myself convinced that he just gonna stand that way. I had no clue that he had a bone cyst and I was running him and it could have easily broke with us running! I thank God for the protection that it didn't! I will always continue to pray over my horses and runs. Any time you run you take huge chances anyways. I know there is negatives to osphos but there is also positives too. And I know they quit using it in humans, well there is a lot of stuff that is no longer used for humans that work and same with equines. Its bc sometimes people abuse (Im not saying osphos was abused in humans and that's why they quit). I hate it for the people that it didn't work for. I also decided to do this bc my vet is with me every step of the way. And my horse is young, even tho bone cysts are very painful, my horse worked his barrels! For me and my horse it was worth the chance of using osphos! In my case it is working. Long term I cannot say yet. Good luck on making the right choice for you and your horse! |
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 Born not Made
Posts: 2937
 
Location: North Dakota | I plan on trying it for my horse this spring. Supposedly it may help his hock continue to fuse - it's worth a try to me. |
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Member
Posts: 19
| We had a 3 year old filly in 2015 had never been crippled but every once in a while close to needing to be reshod she would get short loping to the right. We had her going really decent and didn't think much of it. Honestly, we chalked it up to her maybe just getting long and having thin soles. We had her with a Futurity trainer for 4 months and they never said a word about her being lame. After going all summer she was ready for a little break. We pulled the shoes off of her in August it was so hot, and thought we'd turn her out for 30 days give her a small break - 24 hours after the shoes coming off she was so lame we thought she was foundering. We took her to the vet, and to everyone's surprise, she had a chip on her coffin bone. Aside from that chip, her x-rays showed solar fractures in both front feet and one foot had a broken palmar angle on her right front. We operated on her the first of September, gave her 90 days of stall rest. She then went swimming. We picked her back up March of 2016 and sent her back to the trainer. She was not staying sound. We injected her coffin joints. Came back 45 days later did her Bursas. She would not stay sound through a full set of shoes. Finally, a vet recommended Osphos. We did 3 shot on a Wednesday by Sunday the mare was sound. She stayed sound about 4 months, we did another 3 shots. Its now 2018 she has never needed it again or injections since. We sold that mare about 5 months ago, the new home vet checked her and their vet couldn't believe the mare he did xrays of was the same as the 2015 xrays.
Sometimes products they stop using in humans, they stop using because if we had them readily available the pharm industry sure would lose a lot of business on symptom treating issues those products can cure.
I have never had any other experiences, and when we did the Ophos we were not told we'd need to follow up. But, since the first time we got 4 months out of our vet said since its so new lets give it one more shot and again a year and a half of never needing 1 more injection, no equioxx, or bute.... I am a firm believer and will use it again if we run into an issue.
(Also, it's $298 so why not try it... If it doesn't work it sure can't hurt much is the way I looked at it.)
Edited by YoullNeverGuess 2018-01-17 4:37 PM
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 595
Location: North Dakota | It was recommended to me as a last hope in helping my mare after the news of her osteoarthritis in her upper hock and bone degeneration in that area but when I read the FDA site for the use in equines and it said "Increased bone fragility has been seen in animals given bisphosphonates at high doses or for long periods of time. Because bisphosphonates inhibit bone resorption and decrease bone turnover, the body may be unable to repair microdamage within a bone." I just can't get that out of my head.
My mare is being retired after 6 months of giving whatever I could financially afford as a college student..short of Osphos. She is still not 100% sound today but her quality of life has improved as the inflammation is being controlled and she gets around really well in the pasture. I am not going to do anymore just so she can have a few more years of running. It feels selfish to me. She will retire and go to a home to have some babies. It's a heart breaking decision but in the end those few extra years of running I might get are not worth the risk in my mind.
Each person has their own boundaries set up in their head.
To the OP I think you just need to weigh your options and just decide what sits right with you. If my horse was a gelding maybe I would have given it ago as geldings who are retired literally are pasture ornaments. I didn't want to take away my mare's chances of living a full life raising some babies as she has adored the 3 she has already raised. |
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 Owner of a ratting catting machine
Posts: 2258
| It's helped my gelding a ton with hock fusion. As far as OsPhos being a human drug that was dixconinued in humans, well, so was bute. |
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Regular
Posts: 67
Location: TN | Recently this article (actually a video but I can't get it to post) came across my path on facebook.
https://www.paulickreport.com/horse-care-category/bramlage-price-pay-bisphosphonate-use-delayed-healing/
Very interesting to say the least and wonder how it will affect how these drugs are prescribed/used in the future. I know vets that still recommend Osphos and Tildren. Osphos was recommended and used on my horse this past winter. I know several other people that have used one or the other and and highly praised the drug with helping their horses. I was never told of any side-effects..........lesson learned: ask and review any drugs that you are not familiar with before using on your horse. Thank goodness my horse is older (15) and not a young one that these drugs could be seriously detrimental to.
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Gettin Jiggy Wit It
Posts: 2734
| Turnin3inTN - 2018-04-12 11:37 AMRecently this article (actually a video but I can't get it to post) came across my path on facebook.
https://www.paulickreport.com/horse-care-category/bramlage-price-pay-bisphosphonate-use-delayed-healing/
Very interesting to say the least and wonder how it will affect how these drugs are prescribed/used in the future. I know vets that still recommend Osphos and Tildren. Osphos was recommended and used on my horse this past winter. I know several other people that have used one or the other and and highly praised the drug with helping their horses. I was never told of any side-effects..........lesson learned: ask and review any drugs that you are not familiar with before using on your horse. Thank goodness my horse is older (15) and not a young one that these drugs could be seriously detrimental to.
I watched this video from rood and riddle last week about osphos. I almost threw up. My good mare received osphos the first part of August in 2016. The first week of September she was diagnosed with a fractured pelvis... A year and a half later I'm finally seeing her first run back marked on the calendar. My other horse received osphos twice in 2016. Once in June and the other in October. Then in February of 2017 he fell at the vet while sedated. He fractured his point of buttocks on his pelvis when he fell.... He was out for 6 months. Now bisphosphonates slow bone healing in fractures and, like stated above, stop the body from repairing micro fractures. A normal fracture heals in 6 to 8 weeks. A fracture with bisphosphonates heals in close to 6 to 8 months or more! So there is a huge chance in delayed wound healing... Is that all coincidence with my horses? I don't know... But 20,000 in vet bills later I won't ever take the chance again. Also using it for anything other then navicular, like for hocks is off label usage....
Edited by WetSaddleBlankets 2018-04-13 1:42 AM
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Gettin Jiggy Wit It
Posts: 2734
| Here is the video link https://vimeo.com/257695901?ref=fb-share
Edited by WetSaddleBlankets 2018-04-12 12:45 PM
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