Handling Horse Arthritis

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 them appropriately and go with the flow. The best equine care is found at software veterinary.

For joint pains that may need your horse to be confined for a long period of time, ensure you make him comfortable by using a box stall with lots of cushy hay and soft grass. Some horses are herd sour and needs their buddy at all times so make sure you place his buddy at a near distance. The last thing you want is your irritated horse to be worrying and pacing more hunting for his friend.

You can place an ice pack on the swollen joint for 5 minutes to relieve pain. Repeat 3 times in a row with 15 minutes gap right after every application. Wrap the joint with a standing bandage to alleviate the swelling. In lowering edema, try Neo-Ice Equine bandages or an ice gel to significantly penetrate on the affected area and ease the pain.

There is certainly a tendency that the joint may get stiff if left unmoved so take your horse out twice daily for a hand walk. To get limber, remove his bandage first and walk for about 15 minutes. When you take him back to his stall or pen, rewrap the bandage. Exercises should be gradually improved each day. 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.

We recommend that you perform controlled exercises for your horse. Best examples are hand-walking, slow trot and ponying at a walk. The level of exercises may depend on what condition your horse is in. We advised you use this with discretion. If you will find signs that the swelling is coming back then slow down.

Gradually increased his exercises to his normal routines if there is no inflammation an hour after each exercise. 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.